Easter Island, a World Heritage site, is an isolated island in the South East Pacific. Polynesians settled on the island some time between 300 AD and 700 AD. It was named Easter Island by Admiral Roggeveen, a Dutch explorer, who came upon the island on Easter Sunday in 1722. Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is famous for giant stone statues (moai). The stone figures are thought to have been carved from the tenth century to the sixteenth century. Easter Island was annexed by Chile in 1888.


Easter Island is part of Polynesia. Polynesia, which means many islands, is a name covering over a thousand islands between Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island. The Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue, Samoa, American Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Wallis and Futuna are in this grouping.

The islands of the Pacific are usually divided into three areas: Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.

Thanks to Pablo Retamal of the CPT Embassy of Chile in Washington DC for the photos