Easter Island Attractions

Evidence suggests the first Polynesians arrived on Easter Island (also known as Rapa Nui or Isla Pascua) around 800 AD. It was first "discovered" by Europeans in 1722. The Dutch mariner Admiral Jacob Roggeveen landed on the island on Easter Day, thus naming it Easter Island.

Although the history of the island is the subject of some debate it is generally thought that as the islands population grew, clans developed and eventually battled each other over the limited resources of the island. There is evidence of stronger and weaker clans, suggesting one group controlled most of the resources. Estimates of the island's maximum population in the early 1800s range from 4,000 to 20,000. The total area of the island is only 117sq.km/72.5sq.mi.

It is thought that the moai (stone statues for which the island is well known) were the pride of the individual clans who made them. As a result of the tribal warfare, many of the moai were damaged when clans would vandalize moai of other clans.

In the mid 1800s, the island was recognized by Europe and North America as a prime "resource" for slaves and many of the islanders were captured and taken from the island. In 1862, on a particularly large raid, approximately 1,000 islanders were taken by Peruvian slavers to harvest guano on the Chincha Islands. After some international outrage over the event, Peru agreed to return them to Easter Island. However, most of them had already been killed by disease and working conditions and of the few that were still alive, most died of smallpox on the return voyage. Those who survived the journey brought the disease to the island, decimating the population. Following the outbreak only a couple of hundred islanders survived.

Today the island has a population of about 3,000, the majority of which are Polynesian. The rest are primarily Chilean's from the mainland. The economy is based almost entirely on tourism, and to a lesser extent, agriculture and fishing.

The flora and fauna of the island is limited compared to that of other islands in the South Pacific. With the islanders having cleared the forests during the population boom, most of the trees found on the island today have been imported and planted in the past 100 years. Native wildlife is almost non-existent, with even very few seabirds frequenting the area.