Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island, a Chilean possession in the South Pacific approximately 2,000 miles west of South America. This territory became part of Chile in 1888. This small isle, known for its monumental statues, was originally inhabited by a Polynesian people who were decimated by European diseases and forced work on Peru's Chincha Islands, remained largely isolated. It attracted the attention of Chile, which coveted a Pacific enclave and saw Easter Island as both economically valuable and strategically important. After Chilean occupation, the land's economy remained primitive, from a lack of resources to support agriculture and an unwillingness by the Chilean government to provide assistance. Easter Island's economy remained essentially pastoral until the development of jet aviation made the island a tourist attraction, thus diversifying its economic base.
See alsoChile, Geography; Tourism.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
John Dos Passos, Easter Island: Island of Enigmas (1971).
J. Douglas Porteous, The Modernization of Easter Island (1981).
Additional Bibliography
Flenley, John, and Paul G. Bahn. The Enigmas of Easter Island: Island on the Edge. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
William F. Sater