Easter Island

Easter Island is one of the most sequestered islands in the world that is also inhabited. Easter Island has an inscrutable feel about it. The island has spurred many speculations. The most common query that pops up in the mind is regarding those monumental statues that surround the island.

It seems that the original settlers of Easter Island were the Polynesians and there is ample evidence that they were later joined by the South Americans in the initial period of the island's history.

The original name of Easter Island was Rapa Nui. The insulated island had no touch with the outside world and developed a distinct culture of its own. Moai, the huge figures carved out of volcanic rocks is the distinguishing mark of this culture. These giant stone monoliths dot the landscape.

The majority of the Easter Island's population comprise of the descendants of its original inhabitants. If you visit this island you can get a feel of the ancient lifestyle through their distinctive language and cultural traditions.

The Hanga Roa town in the Easter Island is where residents live. Don't skip your visit to the Rano Raraku where about seventy moai seem to be emerging from the ground. Several other figures, either in a dilapidated or fragmented state lie in the nearby volcanic crater.

The Orongo Village has undergone a facelift and is situated between the Rana Kao volcano and a cliff drop–off. Easter Island is one of the most curious places in Chile for the visitors.

The population of Easter Island reached its peak at perhaps more than 10,000, far exceeding the capabilities of the small island's ecosystem. Resources became scarce, and the once lush palm forests were destroyed - cleared for agriculture and moving the massive stone Moai. In this regard, Easter Island has become, for many, a metaphor for ecological disaster.

Thereafter, a thriving and advanced social order began to decline into bloody civil war and, evidently, cannibalism. Eventually, all of the Moai standing along the coast were torn down by the islanders themselves. All of the statues now erected around the island are the result of recent archaeological efforts.

Contacts with western "civilization" proved even more disastrous for the island population which, through slavery and disease, had decreased to approximately 110 by the turn of the century. Following the annexation by Chile in 1888, however, it has risen to more than 2,000, with other Rapanui living in Chile, Tahiti and North America. Despite a growing Chilean presence, the island's Polynesian identity is still quite strong .

The open air museum of the island displays a fascinating but lost culture. The landscape is a synergy of motley elements like craters, lava formations, beaches, sparkling, blue water and sites of archaeological importance.

World Travel 4 Indians is an international travel site and a repository of useful information on Easter Island and other places of interest in Chile and other countries round the world.

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