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What do the locals call Easter Island?
The island’s official Spanish name, Isla de Pascua, also means “Easter Island”.
What are the Easter Island people called?
Rapa Nui
The Rapa Nui are the indigenous Polynesian people of Easter Island. The easternmost Polynesian culture, the descendants of the original people of Easter Island make up about 60% of the current Easter Island population and have a significant portion of their population residing in mainland Chile.
What is the city of Easter Island?
Hanga Roa
Hanga Roa (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈaŋɡa ˈro. a]) (Spanish: Bahía Larga) is the main town, harbour and seat of Easter Island, a municipality of Chile. It is located in the southern part of the island’s west coast, in the lowlands between the extinct volcanoes of Terevaka and Rano Kau.
What is the native word for the heads on Easter Island?
On average, they stand 13 feet high and weigh 14 tons, human heads-on-torsos carved in the male form from rough hardened volcanic ash. The islanders call them “moai,” and they have puzzled ethnographers, archaeologists, and visitors to the island since the first European explorers arrived here in 1722.
Do people in Easter Island?
Despite being located at the eastern edge of the Polynesian Triangle and a whopping 3,526 km from the nearest continental mass (the coast of Chile)—making it one of the most isolated human settlements in the world—people do live on Easter Island these days.
Is Easter Island safe for tourists?
According to the U.S. State Department, crime rates throughout Chile are fairly low. Most visitors to Easter Island travel through the capital city of Santiago which, like any big city, has a higher crime rate. Crime on Easter Island is infrequent, but it is always wise to keep an eye on your money.
What was Easter Island’s nickname?
Rapa Nui, or ” Easter Island ” as it was called by Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, is a small, 63-square-mile island at the southeast tip of what is referred to as the Polynesian triangle ( Hawaii is at the northernmost tip, and Aotearoa – New Zealand – in the southwest).
What is the story behind Easter Island?
The Story of Easter Island Easter Island (Rapu Nui) is considered to be the world’s msot isolated habitable land (Wolcott and Conrad 2011). The island is 64 miles², and lies in the Pacific ocean . When Jacob Roggeveen first discovered the island in 1722 he found 47 species of higher plants native to Easter and no animals bigger than insects.
What is another name for Easter Island?
Officially part of Chile, the official name of the island is Isla de Pascua, which also translates to “Easter Island.” Another name for the island is Rapa Nui, because of its resemblance to the Rapa island in the Bass Islands .
Why is Easter Island so important?
Easter Island is one of the most unique places to visit because of its remoteness, concentration of archeological sites, geography, sightseeing and cultural heritage.