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Why did the population of Easter Island fall to 111 people by 1877?
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Easter Island
Sculptures cut from volcanic rock, Easter Island.
The population of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) declined to 111 people by 1877 primarily due to the devastating impact of external forces during the 1860s.12
In 1862, a major slave raid launched from Peru forcibly removed a significant portion of the island's inhabitants. This catastrophic event was compounded by the introduction of smallpox epidemics, which further decimated the population. These combined factors of enslavement and disease brought the indigenous community to the brink of extinction before the population began to recover toward the end of the 19th century.12