Easter Island Wallpapers

Easter Island (Polynesian: Rapa Nui ("Great Rapa"), Spanish: Isla de Pascua) is an island in the south Pacific Ocean belonging to Chile. Although located 3,515 km (2,185 miles) west of continental Chile, it is administratively a province of the Chilean Valparaíso Region. The island is approximately triangular in shape, and is located at 27°09′ S 109°25′ W (http://kvaleberg.com/extensions/mapsources/index.php?params=27_09_S_109_25_W_). The latitude is similar to that for the Chilean city of Copiapó, north of Santiago. The nearest inhabited land is Pitcairn Island, located 2,075 km (1,290 miles) to the west. The island has an area of 163.6 km² (63 sq. miles), and a population of 3,791 (2002 census), mostly in its capital city Hanga Roa. The island is famous for its numerous moais, 400-year-old stone statues now located along the coastlines. Easter Island's human history began with the settlement of the island by Polynesians, who are likely to have arrived from the islands of Mangareva or Pitcairn to the west. The history of Easter Island can be related with the aid of a reconstructed king list of Easter Island, complete with events and approximate dates since 400. These Polynesian settlers brought bananas, taro, sweet potato, sugarcane, and paper mulberry, as well as chickens. The island at one time supported a relatively advanced and complex civilization. The European discovery of the island, by the Dutch navigator Jakob Roggeveen, occurred in 1722 on Easter Day. Roggeveen found about 2,000-3,000 inhabitants on the island, but it appears that there were as many as 10,000-15,000 of them in the 16th and 17th centuries. The civilization of Easter Island had degenerated drastically during the 100 years before the arrival of the Dutch, owing to the overpopulation, deforestation and exploitation of the extremely isolated island with its limited natural resources. However, by the mid-19th century the population had recovered to about 4,000 inhabitants. Then in a mere 20 years, deportation to Peru and Chile and diseases brought by Westerners almost exterminated the whole population, with only 111 inhabitants left on the island in 1877. The island was annexed by Chile in 1888 (by Policarpo Toro). The native Rapanui have gradually recovered from their low of 111 inhabitants. Note that the name "Rapa Nui" is not the Rapanui's original name for the island. It was coined by labour immigrants from the original Rapa in the Bass Islands who likened it to their home island. The Rapanui name of Rapa Nui is Te pito o te henua ("Navel of the World") due to its isolation, but this too seems to be derived from another location, possibly a Marquesan landmark. Recent events have shown a tremendous increase of tourism on the island, coupled with a large inflow of people from mainland Chile, threatening to alter the Polynesian identity of the island. The possession of the land has created political tensions in the past 20 years, with part of the native Rapanui opposed to private property and in favor of the traditional communal property of the land. [br]

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Easter Island Wallpapers @ Mega Wallpapers (08 Edition)
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