island in the South Pacific, c. 1,864 mi (3,000 km) west of Valparaiso, Chile, & governed as an integral part of Chile: 46 sq mi (119 sq km); pop. 1,900
from the fact that it was discovered on Easter Sunday, 1722
See Easter Island in American Heritage Dictionary 4
Known locally as Ra·pa Nu·i
An island of Chile in the southern Pacific Ocean about 3,701 km (2,300 mi) west of the mainland. Inhabited by Polynesians since the fifth century A.D. and encountered by Dutch explorers on Easter Day, 1722, the island is famous for its hieroglyphic tablets and colossal heads carved from volcanic rock, which were probably produced by the Polynesian inhabitants during a period from roughly 1000 to 1600.