Easter Island
Ancient site
A tiny island in the Pacific with hundreds of stone giants.
Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, lies in the Pacific Ocean about 3,500 kilometres from the coast of Chile. Hardly any place where people live is further from everything else.
The islanders carved about 900 huge statues from volcanic rock, the moai. On average they are four metres high. The island got its European name from the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who arrived on Easter Sunday in 1722.
- statues, roughly
- 900
- from the mainland
- 3,500 km
- Roggeveen arrived
- 1722
- 1
The statues are not just heads. Many have a body that is buried up to the shoulders.
- 2
The largest statue was never finished. It is 21 metres long and still lies in the quarry.
- 3
The islanders say the statues walked to their places. Researchers showed it can be done: rock a statue from side to side with ropes and it shuffles forward.
Question 1 of 2
Why is it called Easter Island?
- Galápagos IslandsIslands where the animals are found nowhere else on Earth.
- Nazca LinesGiant drawings in the desert that you can only see from the air.
- AconcaguaThe highest mountain in the world outside Asia.
- Atacama DesertThe driest desert in the world outside the poles, between the Andes and the ocean.
It is in Chile.
Read about Chile