Easter Island

Why Easter Island is special
Easter Island is noted for its stone human statues (called "moai") carved from volcanic rock.

Easter Island tips and insights
When to visit?
Summer or winter? Which is best? Climate plays a major role.

• Summer climate
  The Southern Hemisphere summer (mid-December to mid-March) has the best climate - expect clear skies and comfortable temperatures.
  Yes, must-see sites can sometimes be populated with tourists in the summer, but not as much as you would experience in most other major wonder destinations in the world. Key reason: The island’s extreme remoteness prevents mass tourism.
• Be aware
  Tourism appreciably thins the rest of the year, but I don’t recommend coming then. On Easter Island, you do a lot of outdoor sightseeing, which can become unpleasant because of chilly, ground soaking winter rains during the off season (especially from April to July).

Moai count
The moai number nearly 1000 and dot the hillsides above the rocky shores.

Largest
The biggest standing moai is 10 meters (33 feet) tall. An unfinished moai in the quarry is over twice that length and would have weighed about 135,000 kilograms (150 tons).

Purpose
The moai's purpose is a mystery. The most popular theories say they depict gods or ancestors.

Remote
Few places are as remote as Easter Island. It is about 3000 kilometers (2000 miles) away from the two nearest population hubs: Tahiti (to the west) and Chile (east). Geographically, it's in the South Pacific.

First inhabitants
Experts are now fairly certain that Rapa Nui (as the locals call Easter Island) was inhabited by seafaring Polynesians around 400 AD. The Easter Island culture slowly evolved and peaked around 1400 AD.

Decline
At the time of its cultural peak, tiny Easter Island became over populated. To meet short term needs, the people committed conservational suicide by denuding the landscape of trees that future generations would need for fuel, boats and buildings. The topsoil soon eroded, the economy collapsed, civil war ensued and moai sculpting abruptly halted.

Easter Island is part of the Polynesia triangle