Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States on August 21, 1959. It is situated
in the North Pacific Ocean, 2,300 miles (3,700 km) from the mainland, at 21°18'41?N,
157°47'47?W. During roughly 1778–1898, Hawaii was also known as the
Sandwich Islands.
Hawaii
was first inhabited in roughly AD 1000, by Polynesian settlers who came from
islands in the South Pacific, most likely the Marquesas. For nearly 800 years,
the people of Hawaii lived in a complex caste society governed by various
warring chiefdoms and an extensive system of religious and social taboos called
the kapu system. British explorer James Cook chanced upon the Hawaiian archipelago
in 1778 in what is commonly assumed to be the first European contact with
Hawaiians; however, substantial evidence (Stokes 1932 for example) exists
of earlier Spaniard visits to Hawaii. With the help of foreign advisors and
weapons, a Hawaiian warrior known as Kamehameha began a gradual ascent to
power. Before his death in 1819, Kamehameha had succeeded in conquering (through
military force, or in the case of Kauai and Niihau, by other political means)
all of the major Hawaiian islands, a feat never before accomplished in the
history of the islands.
The kingdom established by Kamehameha lasted until 1893, when the last Hawaiian monarch, Liliuokalani, was overthrown in a coup led by supporters of the Reform Party of the Hawaiian Kingdom and replaced by a Provisional Government, and later a Republic. During the kingdom and republic era, Hawaii's economy transitioned from that of an isolated state into that of a state integrated into the world's free market, producing and exporting more than two hundred thousand tons of sugar annually. In 1898, Hawaii was annexed to the United States of America and attained statehood in 1959.
Hawaii
is the southernmost state of the United States, and would be the westernmost,
if not for Alaska. It is one of the only two states (Alaska being the other)
that are outside the contiguous United States, and do not share a border with
another U.S. state. Hawaii is the only state that: (1) is without territory
on the mainland of any continent; (2) is completely surrounded by water; and
(3) continues to grow in area because of active extrusive lava flows, most
notably from Kilauea (Kilauea). Except for Easter Island, Hawaii is the furthest
from any other body of land in the world. Hawaii's tallest mountain stands
over 13,000 feet (4,000 meters).
The Hawaiian Archipelago comprises eighteen islands and atolls extending across a distance of 1,500 miles (2,400 km). Of these, eight high islands are considered the "main islands" and are located at the southeastern end of the archipelago. These islands are, in order from the northwest to southeast, Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Maui, and Hawaii. The latter is by far the largest, and is very often called the "Big Island" or "Big Isle". The use of that alternative name is often motivated by a desire to avoid ambiguity with "Hawaii" meaning the entire state (all of the islands), as opposed to only that one island.
All of the Hawaiian Islands were formed by volcanoes arising from the sea floor from a magma source described in geological theory as a hotspot. The theory maintains that as the tectonic plate beneath much of the Pacific Ocean moves in a northwesterly direction, the hot spot remains stationary, slowly creating new volcanoes. This explains why only volcanoes on the southern half of the Big Island are presently active.
The last volcanic eruption outside the Big Island happened at Haleakala (Haleakala) on Maui in the late 18th century (though recent research suggests that Haleakala's most recent eruptive activity could be hundreds of years older. The newest volcano to form is Loihi Seamount (Lo?ihi), deep below the waters off the southern coast of the Big Island.
The volcanic activity and subsequent erosion created impressive geological features. The Big Island is notable as the world's fifth highest island. If the height of the island is measured from its base, deep in the ocean, to its snow-clad peak on Mauna Kea, it can be considered one of the tallest mountains in the world.
Because of the islands' volcanic formation, native life before human activity
is said to have arrived by the "3 W's": wind, waves, and wings.
The isolation of the Hawaiian Islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean,
and the wide range of environments to be found on high islands located in
and near the tropic, has resulted in a vast array of endemic flora and fauna.
Hawaii has more endangered species per square mile than anywhere else.
Metropolitan areas by population
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