Place details
Place nameEaster Island
Other namesIsla de Pascua, Rapa Nui, Rapanui, Pascua, Isla de
CountryChile
Latitude-27.117
Longitude-109.367
SourceThesaurus of Geographic Names
Overview
First inhabited by Polynesians from Marquesas ca. 400 CE; noted for volcanic stone monoliths shaped in human form (moai); slave raids by Peruvians decreased population by one-third by 1863; native culture further declined when Christianity was introduced in the 1860s.