Which Pacific island is known for its giant stone statues called moai?

The Pacific island known for its giant stone statues called moai is Easter Island.

Easter Island, whose Indigenous name is Rapa Nui, lies in eastern Polynesia and is internationally famous for its monumental moai. The statues were carved by the Rapa Nui people, largely from volcanic tuff quarried at Rano Raraku, an extinct volcanic crater on the island.

Moai were created to represent deified ancestors and were generally placed on ceremonial stone platforms called ahu around the island's coast. Although they are often called “Easter Island heads,” most have full bodies; many became partly buried over time by soil and natural erosion. The statues were carved with stone tools, including basalt chisels, and then transported from the quarry to different ceremonial sites.

The name Easter Island comes from the date of European sighting by Jacob Roggeveen on Easter Sunday in 1722. Rapa Nui is the preferred Indigenous name in many cultural and official contexts. Hawaii, Tahiti and Fiji are also Pacific islands, but the moai are specifically associated with Rapa Nui/Easter Island.