Pbacsich: entry

2012-04-08T06:09:34Z

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''Easter Island'' (Rapa Nui: '''Rapa Nui''', Spanish: '''Isla de Pascua''') is an island in the [[Pacific Ocean]] that belongs to [[Chile]].

Although geographically part of [[Polynesia]] in [[Oceania]], we treat it along with [[Chile]] in [[Latin America]].

Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle.

It is a special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888. In July 2007, a constitutional reform gave Easter Island and the Juan Fernández Islands (also known as Robinson Crusoe Island) the status of "special territories" of Chile. Pending the enactment of a special charter, the island continued to be governed as a province of the V Region of Valparaíso. As of 2011 a special charter for the island was under discussion in the Chilean Congress.

Administratively, the island is a province of the Valparaíso Region and contains a single commune (comuna). Both the province and the commune are called Isla de Pascua and encompass the whole island and its surrounding islets and rocks, plus Isla Salas y Gómez, some 380 km (236 mi) to the east.

Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people. It is a World Heritage Site (as determined by UNESCO) with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park. In recent times the island has served as a warning of the cultural and environmental dangers of overexploitation. Ethnographers and archaeologists also blame diseases carried by European colonizers and slave raiding of the 1860s for devastating the local peoples.

Easter Island is claimed to be the most remote inhabited island in the world.

The population is estimated as just over 5000. Both Rapa Nui and Spanish are spoken.

The capital is Hanga Roa.

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[[Category:Chile| Easter Island]]

Easter Island - Revision history

Pbacsich: entry