Easter Island

Easter Island (Rapa Nui) is an island in the south Pacific Ocean belonging to Chile. The island is famous for its numerous moai, the stone statues located along the coastlines. Superb travel resources.

Until the 1960s, the surviving Rapanui descendants were forced to live in a settlement at the outskirts of Hanga Roa because the island was rented to a Scottish sheep company. Since being given Chilean citizenship in 1966, the islanders have re-embraced their ancient culture, or what could be reconstructed of it. A yearly cultural festival, the Tapati, celebrates native pastimes. Recent events have shown a tremendous increase of tourism on the island, coupled with a large inflow of people of European descent from mainland Chile which threatens to alter the Polynesian identity of the island. Land disputes have created political tensions since the 1980s, with part of the native Rapanui opposed to private property and in favor of traditional communal property. Mataveri International Airport serves as the island’s only airport. The airport’s single 3,318 m (10,885 ft) runway was lengthened by the U.S. space program to serve as an alternate emergency landing site for the space shuttle.

Coordinates: 27°7′14″S, 109°21′5″W