Economies and societies of the small insular spaces within the intertropical area are still marked by the colonial history that is and was based on the plantation economy since the 17th century.From a typology of ethno-religious variations in small island spaces, this communication establishes the link between human development level, identity and legacy of plantation economy in order to assess the risks of fragmentation and balkanization of spaces and insular societies.For the multicultural societies, which were born from plantation economy since the 17th century, identity and otherness can coexist if social peace is established (Reunion Island; some Caribbean Islands) Otherwise, multiculturalism presents some limits (Mauritius; Trinidad and Tobago). For Indigenous societies, which have not known the plantation economy, the identity unit is not necessarily a guarantee of harmonious human development and the balkanization becomes possible (Union of Comoros)Lastly, in island societies that combine, face to face, two dominant communities (bipolar societies), one from an indigenous societies and the other from Europe or India, the nation is the missing link, the mixing is not present or hidden, causing identities to exist mutually exclusive or at least ignore each other. The level of tolerance of others is very fragile, otherness is suffering from tightness of identities and imbalance of political, economical and social spheres between the two groups.This latter case was born tardily from the last period of plantation economy during the 19th century (Fiji, New Caledonia)