Easter Island

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui as it is known locally, is a Chilean island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean that is more than 3,000 kilometers northwest of Chile's coast.

Composed of three volcanoes, the triangle-shaped island is one of the most secluded islands in the world. Pitcairn Island, more than 2,000 kilometers away, is the closest inhabited place. Like the Juan Fernández islands, Easter Island is a territory of Chile in the Southern Pacific Ocean.

Isolated as it is, people around the world keep flocking to this small island as it is home to several hundred mythical ancient human statues – the moai. The moais are giant carvings, with the tallest soaring upwards 21.6 meters. Interestingly, some moais wear huge stone hats, which remained a mystery for years. A British archeological team found out that the stone materials used for carving the hats were from a quarry that had never been researched and the hats are a symbol of power. The researchers believed that the first hats were created sometime between 1200 and 1300.