Located in the South Pacific Ocean is one of the most isolated islands in the world,

it's over a thousand miles from the nearest human settlement.

And it was here that a civilization unlike any other in the world arose and

ultimately fell.

While the story of the island doesn't end with the fall of that civilization, the physical

remains of that society have endured and have fascinated people for centuries.

Learn more about Rapanui, aka Easter Island, and the civilization and the people

who live there on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. There are several remarkable things about the island known as Rapanui, and the first

remarkable thing is about its geography. Rapanui is remote, very remote.

Depending on how you want to define it,

it is the most or one of the most remote islands in the world.

The closest human settlement is Pitcairn Island, which is 2,075 kilometers or 1,289 miles away.

And if you remember back to my episode on Pitcairn Island, it's about as small as a human settlement can be. Beyond that, the next proper settlement

is the island of Mangareva in French Polynesia, 531 kilometers or 330 miles further away.

Rapa Nui is a volcanic island,

a fact that is actually important in the history of the island,

which I'll explain in a bit.

The remoteness of Rapanui makes its settlement by humans

the second most impressive thing about the island.

I've previously done an episode on the incredible exploits of Polynesian navigators.

Without question, their ability to sail across the open ocean is impressive. But sailing to Rapanui might have been the most impressive thing that the Polynesians ever did.

Rapanui is the only speck of land within a thousand miles, and the odds of finding it were very slim to say the least.

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