[2] Upon Chile's claim of the island, the Rapa Nui were forced in Hanga Roa, and the rest of the land was leased to a sheep farm.

For the locals, it is a way to draw the line between the Chilean government's policy-making in the island, and the Rapa Nui's ancestral rights on their land.

[4] A week before, the Schiess family had personally shipped a special force squad from the Carabineros de Chile to remove the locals who squatted the hotel.

In 1998, the road was renamed after nineteenth century Rapanui king Atamu Te Kena; it had previously been named after Captain Policarpo Toro, the Chilean Naval officer who annexed Easter Island to Chile in 1888.

[8][9] The town has a number of hotels and guesthouses which cater for tourists who come to see the island's World Heritage Sites, in particular the famous moai statues.

[8] Every year, the city is home to the farandula cultural festival, a months-long event when the locals sculpt giant wooden statues.

[citation needed] In April 2018, the freighter Lago Icalma, parked in the port of Hanga Roa, was struck by a barge.

[citation needed] The regular consumer brands sold in grocery stores are expensive due to the costly and time-consuming trip required to import those products.