Located in the eastern South Pacific, although Easter Island belongs to Chilean territory, its geographical location is about 3600 kilometers away from chilean mainland, and it is more than 2000 kilometers away from other Polynesian islands, which is one of the isolated islands on the earth, which is also known as the "navel of the earth", the only means of transportation to reach the island is the aircraft, and currently only Chilean South American Airlines operates a route to Easter Island.
The island currently has a population of 5,761 (2012 data), most of whom speak Spanish, the indigenous easter island is called Rapa Nui, and there is an older name: Tepito Otehnuya, which means: the navel of the world. To people's surprise, the residents of Easter Island call the place where they live "the navel of the world." At first, people did not understand this name, until later, when the astronauts on the space shuttle looked at the earth from a high altitude, they found that this name was completely correct - Easter Island was suspended in the vast Pacific Ocean, which was indeed exactly the same as a small "navel".
The Easter Island in Chile was first discovered by the Dutch navigator Jacob Logarvin on April 5, 1722, when it was The Christian Easter, hence the name Easter Island.
Hanga Roa is the only town on Easter Island, located in the south of the West Coast. The island is inhabited by more than 5,000 people, mainly Polynesians. The island's economy is mainly based on tourism, and nearly 90% of the population lives in small towns, so almost all hotels, restaurants, shops and services are also located here. There are only one or two main streets in the town, but the streets are not lively at night.
From 1805 onwards, Western colonists began to capture the Rapa Nui as slaves on the island. At first, it was only occasional, but in 1862, Peruvian pirates came in eight ships and captured more than a thousand Rapa Nui, and the male Rapa Nui were almost completely wiped out, who were transported to Peru and sold to local slave owners. Condemned by international public opinion, the Peruvian government had to order slave traders to release the Rapa Nui, but only about 100 of them had died, and on the way back to Easter Island, they contracted smallpox and died of illness during the journey, and only 15 returned to their hometowns. The 15 people also brought smallpox to Easter Island. The last descendants of the legendary founding chief, Hotu Matu'a, died, as did all the chiefs and priests. Only a few hundred people remained on the island.
In 1888, also on Easter Day, the Chilean government announced the annexation of Easter Island, leasing most of the island's land to sheep husbandry companies until 1953, when sheep grazing made the island even more barren.
Today the island's population rises to more than 2,000, but only 5 percent of school-age children speak Rapa Nui.
Easter Island is dotted with nearly a thousand huge stone statues, either lying on the slopes of the mountains or lying on the seashore. Among them, there are dozens of statues erected on artificial platforms by the sea, alone or in groups, facing the sea, with their heads held high. To this day, archaeologists have been troubled by who carved the island's stone statues, what they symbolized, and how people transported them from the quarry to the sea tens of kilometers away.
The huge Moai that has not yet been completed will be the largest Moai on the island if completed.
The stone statues are generally 7-10 meters high and weigh about 90 tons.
Easter Island is triangular in shape, with one-degree larger volcanoes on each corner.
There are also many small volcanoes on the island. The crater is surrounded by moss and weeds. Lakes have formed in the larger craters, and reeds grow around the lake. All of this makes up the unique natural beauty of Easter Island.
The most beautiful "boy."
This is an unfinished Moai stone statue, the largest of all the stone statues, with a body length of 21.6 meters and a weight of about 160 to 182 tons.
On the altar at the end of the beach, there are seven stone statues of Moai with their backs to the sea, which is said to be the place where the seven sons of a Maori shaman are waiting for the arrival of King Otu Matua.
"In 1995 Rapa Nui National Park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and this national park covers about 42% of the island's total area.
So, the question is, who made these stone statues? How is it made? What is it for?