Discovery of Easter Island

The name "Easter Island" was given by the island's first recorded European visitor, the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who encountered it on Easter Sunday (5 April) in 1722, while searching for Davis or David's island. Roggeveen named it Paasch-Eyland (18th-century Dutch for "Easter Island"). The island's official Spanish name,Isla de Pascua, also means "Easter Island". The Dutch were shocked to see Indians of different colours (black and red). However, they were most surprised to see 20-meter tall monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapa Nui people.