EASTER ISLAND, CHILE (Port No. 11, 2/11/12)

∙ GEOGRAPHY 101
          ∙ Land Mass/ Continent: Small island (63 square miles) in the South Pacific
          ∙ About Easter Island: Easter Island is a Polynesian island (Polynesia is a large group of over 1,000 islands, scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean); Easter Island is a special territory of Chile, which was annexed (merged) in 1888
          ∙ Estimated Population: 4,000
          ∙ Distance From Home (San Diego, CA): 4,163 miles
          ∙ The Water That Got Us Here: Southeastern Pacific Ocean

∙ ITS PLACE IN HISTORY/INTERESTING FACTS
          ∙ Currency: Chilean Peso
          ∙ Official Languages:  Spanish and Rapa Nui; English is also spoken on the island
          ∙ Local time: 
          ∙ The name “Easter Island” was given by the island’s 1st recorded European visitor, a Dutch explorer who encountered it on Easter Sunday 1722
          ∙ Easter Island is famous for its 887 mystical monumental “moai” statues: human figures, carved from massive stones or rocks (monoliths) between 1100 to 1680
                    ∙ The moai were created by the early Rapanui People, the native Polynesian inhabitants of Eastern Island
                    ∙ Most of the statues depict the faces of deified ancestors
                    ∙ The statues were restored by a Chilean archaeologist in the 1990s
                    ∙ Almost all moai have overly large heads, 3/5 the size of their bodies
                    ∙ The tallest one is 33 feet high and weighs 82 tons
          ∙ Easter Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

LOCATION OF EASTER ISLAND

          ∙ Easter Island is the most remote, and one of the most isolated, inhabited islands in the world
          ∙ Its inhabitants have endured famines, epidemics, civil war, slave raids, colonialism and near deforestation
          ∙ Travel video:  http://www.youtube.com/user/THEWORLDOFTRAVEL#p/search/0/d33ng5OlE4g

∙ CLIMATE
          ∙ Easter Island has a subtropical maritime climate; its warmest month is February (perfect), with a maximum temperature of 82° F
          ∙ Its isolated location exposes it to winds, which help keep the temperature fairly cool
          ∙ Cyclones and hurricanes do not occur around Easter Island - hooray for that!