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Where is Easter Island located?

Pacific Ocean. Easter Island forms one of the vertices of Polynesia (Hawaii and New Zealand are the other two). It is 2,237 miles west of continental Chile.

What is the meaning of "moai", the famous rock statues on Easter Island?

Living Faces. There are over 800 moai on Easter Island and they were mainly carved from compressed volcanic ashes, found at Rano Raraku crater. Most of them were carved between 1250 and 1500 A.D.

Easter Island is an independent nation.

f. Chile governs Easter Island. It a province of the Valparaiso Region. It was annexed in 1888 and it is an integral part of the country. It is not treated as a colony.

What is Easter Island's area?

63 sq. miles. Very small!

What is the name of the most impressive Ahu where we can see 15 moai standing next to each other?

Ahu Tongariki. In 1960 an earthquake in the coast of Chile generated an enormous tidal wave on Easter Island's coast, hitting Ahu Tongariki, destroying the platform and sweeping the moai hundreds of meters inland. In 1992 a Japanese restoration team brought cranes to the island and restored the massive Ahu, placing the 15 moais back to were they used to be.

What is the original name of Easter Island, their people and their language?

Rapa Nui. Rapa Iti: is the largest island of the Bass Islands, French Polynesia. Repa Hoa: means "friend" in Rapa Nui language Raparenga: one of Hotu Matua's sons (Hotu Matu'a is said to be the first settler and king of Easter Island) Easter Island has this name because it was discovered on Easter Sunday, 1722 by a Dutch explorer called Jacob Roggeveen . Rapa Nui, according to Thor Heyerdahl, is the original name for Easter Island and Rapa Iti was named by people escaping from Easter Island after the Peruvian slave deportation during the 1870's. (Nui means big, and Iti means little)

Ahu Akivi, with its seven moai, is famous for being unique in the island. Why is it so unique?

Its the only inland Ahu. Ahu Akivi is unique because it is inland. Pople used to think it uniqueness came from the moai facing the sea, but they looked upon a very large village in ruins nowadays.

What are the names of the two main beaches on Easter Island?

Anakena and Ovahe. Anakena and Ovahe are the only two natural beaches on Easter Island.

How do you say "Hello" in Native Easter Island language?

Iorana. The language is called Rapa Nui, as well as the island and the people. Aloha: "Hello" in Hawaii Mahalo: "Thank you" in Hawaii Maururu: "Thank You" in Rapa Nui "Hanga rahi a tu au kia koe mahatu" means "I love you"...a bit long, don't you think?!

Which cult featured a swimming race to bring the first Sooty Tern egg from Motu Nui to Orongo, where the winner was then named "Tangata Manu"?

The Birdman Cult. "Tangata Manu" means "Birdman". The winner was given great power on the island for one year, becoming military and political Chief of the island for that period of time.