About Easter Island
Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, is the most remote inhabited island in the world. It lies 2300 miles from Chile (the country which currently oversees the island as a "territory") and 2500 miles from Tahiti.
Archaeological data suggests Rapa Nui was settled by Polynesians in approximately 500 AD. For about 1200 years, the descendants of these first settlers had no known contact with the outside world, until 1722 when a Dutch Admiral named Jacob Roggeveen came upon the island on Easter Day (hence its current name). This event marked a turning point in the island's history: After 1200 years of living in complete isolation, the islanders now knew there was a vast world beyond their own shores. Also, Roggeveen brought news to the world of what he had seen: hundreds of enormous stone statues called moai lined the island. How such a primitive people had carved and transported these statues was a great mystery, and soon, explorers from around the globe voyaged to the island in search of an answer.
Soon another mystery would perplex visitors: fifty years after Roggeveen's arrival, the enormous moai that had so impressed him had all fallen. No one knew why...
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