Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, contains the famous moai statues.
Easter Island is a remote Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean and forms part of Chile. The Rapa Nui people created the monumental human figures, generally called moai, between about 1250 and 1500. Many were carved from volcanic tuff at Rano Raraku quarry.
The statues were transported to ceremonial platforms called ahu around the island. Their exact meanings varied, but they represented important ancestors and social authority. The island's traditional name is Rapa Nui, while the European name Easter Island was recorded after Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen arrived on Easter Sunday in 1722.
The moai are not identical: they differ in size, features, and construction stages. The island is not in Polynesia's western core; it is one of the most isolated inhabited islands in the world.