Easter Island is a special territory of Chile. Known in the Rapa Nui language as Rapa Nui and in Spanish as Isla de Pascua, it is a remote Chilean island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean.
Chile annexed Easter Island in 1888 through an agreement with Rapa Nui leaders. Administratively, the island forms Isla de Pascua Province and the commune of Isla de Pascua within Chile’s Valparaíso Region. Its constitutional designation as a “special territory” was granted in 2007, reflecting its distinctive geographic, cultural and administrative circumstances.
The island is best known for its moai, monumental stone statues carved by the Rapa Nui people between roughly the 13th and 16th centuries. Most were carved from volcanic tuff at Rano Raraku and transported to ceremonial platforms called ahu.
The name “Easter Island” was given after Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen arrived on Easter Sunday in 1722. Although Polynesian in cultural origin and thousands of kilometres from mainland Chile, the island is sovereign Chilean territory.