Chilean toponymy: "the far-away possesion"

The toponymy of Easter Island is almost completely dominated by names in Ra pa Nui, the native language. This dominance has increased in spite of the D utch, Spanish and English expeditions during the eighteenth century as well as the French religious missions, the slave raid from Peru, and the Chilea n administration of the island during the following century. All of these, particularly the Spanish expedition of 1770, should have resulted in the ex tinction of Rapa Nui toponymy, as has happened with other native languages in Chile. Quit the contrary, many native place names were already establish ed by the middle of the nineteenth century; under Chilean administration th ere has been an increase in the vernacular place names, to such an extent t hat the latter are dominant at present. The survival of Rapa Nui as a livin g language is just one of the factors accounting for this dominance.