Easter Island: The World's Most Remote Island

It is small and located in the Pacific Ocean. This island received it's famous name in 1722 by the Dutch sea captain Jacob Roggeveen. He visited the island on Easter sunday and was the first european to visit the island.It is believed that the orginal inhabitants of the island were polynesian. At the time of their arrival the island was covered with trees and wildlife.Today that is not the case. Also less than 100 of them arrived.

The population grew because of the abundance of fish,birds,and plant food. Then the growing population outpaced the island's ability to renew itself ecologically. By the 1400s the forests were completely cut down, the springs dried up,and the birds disappeared from the island as well. With the depletion of wildlife food sources,declining crop yields, and no wood to build canoes famine set in. Then cannibalism set in. Chaos ensued because the chiefs and priests who ran the island could not feed themselves.During the 1700s rival clans began to topple each others statues.

Admiral Roggeveen,during his 1722 visit,reported the social strife and barren lands. That cultures famous feature are the stone statues called moai. 600 moai statues ,in various stages of completion, are scattered across the island. Some moai were 33 feet tall. Scholars are unable to explain the use of the moai statues.