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Rapa Nui -- christened "Easter Island" by Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen because he first arrived there on Easter Day in 1722 -- is one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth. It's 2,300 miles from Chile and 2,500 miles from Tahiti. The nearest land is Pitcairn Island (population 54) about 1,400 miles away. The island was colonized by Chile in the late 19th century and remains a Chilean possession. In Chile, the official name for the island is Isla de Pascua, and the islanders call it both Rapa Nui and Te Pito te Henua (the navel of the world). Aside from its isolation, Easter Island is best known for the giant stone heads called moai that dot the otherwise barren landscape. Almost 900 moai exist, and they average 13 feet tall and nearly 14 tons in weight. They were probably erected between 1400 and 1600 AD. Most researchers believe the moai represent important ancestors, such as chiefs. It doesn't appear that the statues were worshipped, but they may have acted as spiritual conduits between the people and their gods. Unfortunately, little of the culture that created the moai remains. Between 1600 and 1722, the island's population decreased dramatically. Evidence suggests that deforestation and soil depletion lead to food shortages, causing the population decrease. After European contact, Easter Island's history took an even darker turn. Peruvian slavers kidnapped about one-third of the island's population in the mid-19th century. These slavers also brought smallpox to the Rapa Nui people. In 1888, Chile claimed possession of Easter Island. Later, a Chilean business turned the island into a sheep ranch. Native islanders were treated like prisoners, and it wasn't until 1916 that the company's rule was overthrown. The Chilean Navy took control of Rapa Nui in 1952, and, once again, islanders were subject to autocratic controls. Islanders secured the right to vote for their governors through a revolt in 1964, and the military influence diminished. Some military sites remained -- the United States built a tracking station in the 1960s
and later expanded the island's airport runway as an emergency landing strip for the space shuttle. Today, Easter Island has a population of several thousand people. Agriculture, cattle ranching, fishing, artwork, and tourism are the main industries. Flights from Santiago, Chile, land on a regular basis. The moai still stand around the island with their backs to the ocean, while various research teams ponder how they were moved from an inland quarry to their coastal locations. As Easter Island admirer Lee Van Court notes, "You do not have to have all the answers to enjoy this place. Only the moai have the answers."
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