Facts about Hawaii
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Facts about Hawaii -- Where to start ...
Hawaii is an isolated archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and is one of the United States.
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Hawaii consists of eight main islands covering 6425 sq. miles. The majority of visitors arrive in Honolulu, which is the state capital, and then travel to the other islands via inter-island flights and/or cruises.
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| Hawaii is the only state of the United States that:
* is not geographically located in North America
* is completely surrounded by water
* does not have a straight line in its state boundary
* continuously grows in area due to currently active lava flows
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| Hawaii's State Bird is the Hawaiian Goose, also known as Nēnē. |
| The Hawaii State Flower is the yellow hisbiscus. |
| Hawaii time zone is known as Hawaii Standard Time (HST). |
| You can view the State Flag of Hawaii here and we also include a page on the Hawaii State Fish. |
| Learn about the Hawaii State Song and view the lyrics. |
Hawaiian Islands are the most isolated land masses and the longest island chain on the earth, and were formed by volcanic eruptions deep beneath the sea.
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The climate and weather in Hawaii is typical for a tropical area, although temperatures and humidity tend to be a bit less extreme than other tropical locales due to the constant trade winds blowing from the east.
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Although hurricanes are a rare occurrence in Hawaii, all main islands have been affected by named hurricanes. The worst hurricane to hit Hawaii was Hurricane Iniki in 1992, which showed that Hawaii was indeed vulnerable to a direct hit.
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Facts about Hawaii indicate the earliest habitation supported by archaeological evidence dates to the 4th century, probably by Polynesian settlers from the Marquesas, followed by a second wave of migration from Raiatea and Bora Bora in the 11th century. The first recorded European contact with the islands was in 1778 by British explorer James Cook.
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As of 2005, Hawaii has an estimated population of 1,275,194, which is an increase of 13,070, or 1.0%, from the prior year and an increase of 63,657, or 5.3%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 48,111 people (that is 96,028 births minus 47,917 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 16,956 people into the state. Facts about Hawaii indicate immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 30,068 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 13,112 people. Facts about Hawaii indicatet the center of population of Hawaii is located directly between the two islands of Oahu and Molokai.
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Ethnically, Hawaii is one of only four states in which non-Hispanic whites do not form a majority, and has the largest percentage of Asian Americans. Hawaii was the second majority-minority state in the United States. Both Hawaii and New Mexico have been majority-minority regions since the early 20th century, but New Mexico became a state before Hawaii. Hawaii also has the largest percentage of persons of mixed race, who constitute some 20% of the total population.
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The State of Hawaii has two official languages recognized in its constitution adopted at the 1978 constitutional convention: English and Hawaiian. Article XV, Section 4, specifies that "Hawaiian shall be required for public acts and transactions only as provided by law" [italic added]. Hawaii Creole English (locally referred to as 'Pidgin') is the native dialect of many born-and-raised residents and is a second dialect for many other residents. After English, the second-, third- and fourth-most spoken individual languages are Tagalog (most are bilingual in Wikang Filipino), Japanese, and Ilokano respectively. Significant European immigrants and descendants also speak their native languages; the most numerous are Spanish, German, Portuguese and French.
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Hawaii is currently the only state in the union with a unified school system statewide. Policy decisions are made by the fourteen-member state Board of Education, with thirteen members elected for four-year terms and one non-voting student member. The Board of Education sets statewide educational policy and hires the state superintendent of schools, who oversees the operations of the state Department of Education. The Department of Education is also divided into seven districts, four on Oahu and one for each of the other counties.
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The history of Hawaii can be traced through a succession of dominating industries: sandalwood, whaling, sugarcane, pineapple, military, tourism, and education. Since statehood was achieved in 1959, tourism has been the largest industry in Hawaii, contributing 24.3% of the Gross State Product (GSP) in 1997. New efforts are underway to diversify the economy. Facts about Hawaii indicate the total gross output for the state in 2003 was US$47 billion; per capita income for Hawaii residents was US$30,441.
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A notable (and much-discussed) aspect of Hawaiian government and economy is its health care system, which insures over 95% of residents.
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The state government of Hawaii is modeled after the federal government with adaptations originating from the kingdom era of Hawaiian history. As codified in the Constitution of Hawaii, there are three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial.
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