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Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 2 - Oceania - E

Bách khoa toàn thư nền nông nghiệp thế giới - Châu Úc - Vần E | Easter Island 53 Easter Island ETHNONYMS Isla de Pascua Pito-O-Te Henua Rapa Nui Orientation Identification. Easter Island the easternmost island in Polynesia was so named by Jacob Roggeveen who came upon it on Easter Sunday in 1722. Easter Islanders evidently never had a name of their own for the island. Rapa Nui also Rapa-nui Rapanui came into use in the 1800s and eventually became the preferred name for Easter Island throughout Polynesia. The origin of Rapa Nui is unclear but the name was evidently given by people from another island perhaps Rapa. In 1862 and 1863 Easter Island experienced a severe depopulation that led to the destruction of much of its traditional culture. Subsequent contact with Chile which took possession of Easter Island in 1888 has produced a culture containing many elements borrowed from South America. Easter Island is currently a dependency of Chile. Location. Easter Island is located at 27 8 S and 190 25 W about 4 200 kilometers off the coast of Chile and 1 760 kilometers east of Pitcairn Island the nearest inhabited island. It is a triangular-shape volcanic high island with a total area of 180 square kilometers. The most prominent physical features are the three volcanic peaks each located at one corner of the island. The land is either barren rock or covered by grass or shrubs although parts were heavily forested in the past. Only flocks of sea birds and the Polynesian rat were indigenous to the island with chickens dogs pigs sheep and cattle introduced by people from other islands or Europeans. The climate is tropical. Water was obtained from springs and by collecting rainwater. Demography. Population estimates by European explorers in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries ranged from 600 to 3 000 although none can be considered reliable. There are indications that the precontact population could have been as much as 10 000 people. From 1862 to 1871 severe depopulation resulted from the kidnapping of about 1 000 men by .