Pitcairn Islands is an archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean, about 500 miles (800 kilometers) east of Easter Island. The islands were discovered by Dutch captain Willem Schouten in 1643 and named for British naval officer Sir Richard Pitcairn. By 1814, all eight of the main islands had been settled. In 1907, the British colony of Norfolk Island was merged into the Pitcairn Islands Colony, and in 2009 the Pitcairn Islands became an independent country with a population of about 50 people. The country's main economic activity is subsistence agriculture.