Where are the Moai located?

Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island (a name given to it by Europeans), is located in the southeast Pacific and is famous for its approximately 1,000 carvings of moai, human-faced statues.

Where are the heads located on Easter Island?

The Easter Island heads are known as Moai by the Rapa Nui people who carved the figures in the tropical South Pacific directly west of Chile. The Moai monoliths, carved from stone found on the island, are between 1,100 and 1,500 CE.

Can you touch the Moai on Easter Island?

The Rapa Nui people still live and practice art on Easter Island. Descendants of the ancient Rapa Nui civilization who carved and erected the Moai continue to live on Easter Island. As a visitor, you can interact with them and learn about their culture in many ways.

What are the Moai and where are they located?

Moai statues are massive megaliths at Easter Island, and these are what this island is famous for. The moais were built in approximately 1400 – 1650 A.D. by the natives of this island also known as Rapa Nui. Many know them as the Easter Island heads.

Is there tourism on Easter Island?

In Easter Island Tourism you will find all the information you need on; hotels, tourist packages, and holidays, you can also find information about culture and archeology of this unique place. Find holiday programs for an exclusive adventure in Easter Island, learn about restaurants, rent a car, beaches.

Why are there no trees on Easter Island?

Easter Island was covered with palm trees for over 30,000 years, but is treeless today. There is good evidence that the trees largely disappeared between 1200 and 1650. However there is evidence the Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans) was present from 900 and it seems clear that these rats caused widespread deforestation.

Are there bodies under Easter Island heads?

As a part of the Easter Island Statue Project, the team excavated two moai and discovered that each one had a body, proving, as the team excitedly explained in a letter, “that the ‘heads’ on the slope here are, in fact, full but incomplete statues.”

Does Easter Island have a flag?

The flag of Easter Island (Rapa Nui: Te Reva Reimiro) is the flag of Easter Island, a special territory of Chile. It was first flown in public alongside the national flag on 9 May 2006.

What language is spoken on Easter Island?

Islanders smile, sing and dance in polyester costumes to cater to the mostly Spanish-speaking spenders. Ever since Chile annexed Easter Island more than a century ago, the Spanish language has been chipping away at the Polynesian-based language called Rapa Nui.

Does anyone still live on Easter Island?

Today, the people living on Easter Island are largely descendants of the ancient Rapa Nui (about 60%) and run the bulk of the tourism and conservation efforts on the island. Many locals living on Easter Island have livelihoods that involve the water—which makes sense!

Can you stay on Easter Island?

The best places to stay on Easter island provide a perfect base for enjoying and exploring this most unusual of locations and many are situated in and around Hanga Roa from where there is easy access to all its best bits. Easter island is not as inaccessible as you may think, with regular flights from Chile and Tahiti.

What makes Easter Island so special?

Easter Island, Spanish Isla de Pascua, also called Rapa Nui, Chilean dependency in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is the easternmost outpost of the Polynesian island world. It is famous for its giant stone statues.

Is Easter Island one of the Seven Wonders of the World?

HANGA ROA, Chile (Reuters) – On one of the world’s most remote outposts, Easter Island, inhabitants are adamant the giant stone statues that dominate their landscape should be recognised as one of the new seven wonders of the world. Chile annexed the island in 1888 and has governed it since.

How did the moai get moved?

With one rope around the head of the statue and another around the base, they “walked” the moai replica forward by swiveling and rocking it from side to side. Using this method, Pavel Pavel estimated that an experienced crew could move a statue approximately 650 feet each day.