Which island is home to the monumental moai statues?

Rapa Nui is the island home to the monumental moai statues.

Rapa Nui, commonly known as Easter Island, lies in the southeastern Pacific Ocean and is a special territory of Chile. Its Indigenous Polynesian inhabitants created the moai, large human figures carved mainly from volcanic tuff at the quarry of Rano Raraku. Many statues were transported and erected on ceremonial platforms called ahu.

The statues were made over several centuries, primarily between about 1250 and 1500. They generally represented important ancestors or leaders rather than gods in the narrow European sense. Some moai once wore red-stone topknots called pukao, quarried at Puna Pau.

“Easter Island” comes from the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen’s arrival on Easter Sunday in 1722. Rapa Nui is the island’s Indigenous name, and the Polynesian culture remains central to its identity. The moai are protected within Rapa Nui National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.