Easter Island, a province of Chile, lies between the west coast of South America and Pitcairn Island, its nearest inhabited neighbour. It is situated in approximately 28 deg 10 min S latitude and 109 deg 30 min W longitude. Santiago, the Chilean capital, is 3790 eastward; Pitcairn is about 1600 km westward. The official Spanish name for the island is Isla de Pascua. Other languages translate it similarly so that in French it is known as Ile de Pâques, German Österinsel and so on. It is known also as Rapanui, a Polynesian name dating back to the 1860s. Some early European explorers refered to it as Te Pito o Te Henua The navel of the world or Vaihu, both of which are local place names.

Website: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~ogden/piir/pacific/Rapanui.html