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Easter Island or Rapa Nui

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  Location: A remote Island 2,300 mi (3,700 km) off the coast of Chile (Continent of South America)
• Built by: Rapa Nui (the native people of the island)
• How long to build: Each Moai statue could take up to 2 years to crave
• Date built: Between the years 1400-1650
• Size: They are about 13 ft (4 m) tall and 5.5 ft (1.6 m) wide
• Weight: They weigh about 27,500 lb (12.5 tons) (about two elephants)
• The Moai (the big heads)represent the faces of ancestors who help protect the island and its people.
• All of the statues have bodies, but some of the bodies are partially underground.
• There are about 900 Moai on Easter Island, made from the rocks of the island’s volcanoes. They used handheld chisels made out of durable stones.
• Some statues still have the “pukao” (red hats), representing the topknot hair bun that the Rapa Nui wore. All high-ranking men never cut their hair and wore it in a top knot. They did this because they believed their hair was connected to spiritual power.
• The island was made by three volcanoes between 100,000 and 3 million years ago; they are all dormant (not active) now. There is a lake in the creator of one of the volcanos.
• The first people were said to arrive on the island between 700-800 AD (about 1,100-1,200 years ago).
• There are about 8,000 people who currently live on the island.
• The only way to get here is a 5-7 hour plane ride (depending on the city your plane leaves). There are no harbors for boats.
• In 1722, Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen was the first European to land on the island, naming it “Easter Island.”