Easter Island

Easter Island

Easter Island is one of the most isolated inhabited land in the World, and one of its most fascinating societies. When it was discovered by European sailors in the 18th Century, it had been populated for at least 400 years, and maybe as much as 1400 years.

While its original population was clearly of Polynesian descent, it is located almost 1500 nautical miles from the nearest Polynesian societies. It also developed a unique form of worship that includes the carving of gigantic statues that have made the island World famous. Unfortunately, devastation came in the 19th Century, when a combination of slave traders raids and imported diseases reduced its population to a small fraction of what it was decades earlier.

Chile annexed the island in 1888. While indigenous people were harshly treated for a long time, they were granted Chilean citizenship in the 1960s and the island has acquired special status due to its unique history. Its population of about 8000 is split 60%-40% between people of indigenous and Chilean origins.

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