E Kipa Mai Hawai`i!
Welcome to Hawai`i!
Hawai’i is located in the Pacific Ocean. It lies about 3,800 kilometers (2,400 miles) west of the coast of California, and 8,500 kilometers (5,300 miles) east of the Philippines.
Hawai’i is comprised of some 137 islands covering about 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles). There are eight main islands: Ni‘ihau (The Forbidden Isle), Kaua‘i (The Garden Isle), O‘ahu (The Gathering Place), Moloka‘i (The Friendly Isle), Lāna‘i (The Pineapple Isle), Koho‘olawe (The Target Isle), Maui (The Valley Isle), and the island of Hawai‘i (The Big Island). Technically, Hawai’i is part of Oceana, but because Hawai’i is a US state, it is often considered part of North America. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) or time zone for Hawai’i is UTC-10.
The capital of Hawai’i is Honolulu, on the island of O‘ahu, also its largest city. Population of Hawai’i is 1.45 million (2020 census). Hawai’i’s official language is English, along with Hawaiian. Hawaiian Creole English, better known as Pidgin or Pidgin English, is also widely spoken.
The state’s largest industries are tourism, sugarcane, pineapple, seeds, and the military. Exports are mainly agriculture-based; pineapple, sugar (sugarcane), coffee, macadamia nuts, livestock, honey, and honey bees.
Hawai’i went from being the Republic of Hawai’i following the overthrow of Queen Lili‘uokalani on 17 January 1893 (Queen Lili‘uokalani was the last monarch to rule in Hawai’i), to the Territory of Hawai’i when it was annexed by the United States on 7 July 1898, and finally to the State of Hawai’i when it was admitted to the United States as its 50th state on 21 August 1959. The third Friday in August is a state holiday known as Admission Day.
For more information about Hawai’i, see Britannica, History, and Wikipedia.
Read more about Hawai’i:
- Travel stories from Hawai’i
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