Easter Island and New Zealand were the last islands to be colonized by the Polynesians. Easter Island was populated from around AD 400 by islanders from the Marquesas. It was the easternmost outpost of the Polynesian island world, and one of the furthest from any other Polynesian island. The closest, Pitcairn, lies 1250 mls (2000 km) away to the west.
Easter island was called by its original inhabitants 'Te Pito te Henua' - 'navel of the World'. Its most famous feature is its giant statues.
New Zealand is the largest Polynesian island nation; its islands were virtually the last to be colonized. No precise archaeological record exists of when and where the first settlers came from, but it is believed that they came from eastern Polynesia in the central Pacific probably around AD 800.
Like Easter Island, it was remote from other Polynesian islands and the journey there must have been dangerous. Even if a few canoes completed the journey, it would have been enough to produce the Maori population that still inhabit New Zealand.
The earliest settlers had a devastating impact on the native fauna, which was dominated by large flightless birds like the moa: these rapidly became extinct.
