Why Easter Island is special
Easter Island in the South Pacific is noted for its stone human statues (called "moai") carved from volcanic rock. They number nearly 1000 and dot the hillsides above the rocky shores. The biggest standing moai is 10 meters (33 feet) tall. An unfinished moai in the quarry is over twice that length and would have weighed about 135,000 kilograms (150 tons).

Why the statues were sculpted
The moai's purpose is a mystery. The most popular theories say they depict gods or ancestors.

Remoteness
Few places are as remote as Easter Island. It is about 3000 kilometers (2000 miles) away from the two nearest population hubs: Tahiti (to the west) and Chile (east).

Who settled secluded Easter Island?
Experts are now fairly certain that Rapa Nui (as the locals call Easter Island) was inhabited by seafaring Polynesians around 400 AD. The Easter Island culture slowly evolved and peaked around 1400 AD.

Easter Island's self-inflicted demise
At the time of its cultural peak, tiny Easter Island became over populated. To meet short term needs, the people committed conservational suicide by denuding the landscape of trees that future generations would need for fuel, boats and buildings. The topsoil soon eroded, the economy collapsed, civil war ensued and moai sculpting abruptly halted.

What leading travel books say about Easter Island
How the Polynesians arrived at Easter Island is an enigma as great at the Moai.
South America
Lonely Planet

Easter Island has a wonderful raw, unspoiled beauty.
South America
Insight Guides