Hawaii is the 50th and most recent state of the
United States of America, receiving statehood on August 21, 1959. Hawaii is the only U.S. state located in Oceania and the only one composed entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in
Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central
Pacific Ocean. Hawaii is the only U.S. state not located in the Americas. The state does not observe daylight saving time.
The state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian archipelago,
which comprises hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles (2,400 km).
At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight main islands
are—in order from northwest to southeast:
Niʻihau,
Kauaʻi,
Oʻahu,
Molokaʻi,
Lānaʻi,
Kahoʻolawe,
Maui and the
Island of Hawaiʻi. The last is the largest island in the group; it is often called the "Big Island" or "Hawai
ʻi
Island" to avoid confusion with the state or archipelago. The
archipelago is physiographically and ethnologically part of the
Polynesian subregion of Oceania.
Hawaii's diverse natural scenery, warm tropical climate, abundance of
public beaches, oceanic surroundings, and active volcanoes make it a
popular destination for tourists, surfers, biologists, and
volcanologists. Because of its central location in the Pacific and
19th-century labor migration, Hawaii's culture is strongly influenced by
North American and Asian cultures, in addition to its indigenous Hawaiian culture. Hawaii has over a million permanent residents, along with many visitors and U.S. military personnel. Its capital is Honolulu on the island of O
ʻahu.
Hawaii is the 8th-smallest and the 11th-least populous, but the 13th-most densely populated of the fifty U.S. states. It is the only state with an Asian plurality. The state's coastline is about 750 miles (1,210 km) long, the fourth longest in the U.S. after the coastlines of Alaska, Florida and California.
The state of Hawaii derives its name from the name of its largest island, Hawai
ʻi. A common Hawaiian explanation of the name of Hawai
ʻi is that was named for Hawai
ʻiloa, a legendary figure from Hawaiian myth. He is said to have discovered the islands when they were first settled
.
The Hawaiian language word
Hawaiʻi is very similar to Proto-Polynesian *
Sawaiki, with the reconstructed meaning "homeland". Cognates of
Hawaiʻi are found in other Polynesian languages, including Māori (
Hawaiki), Rarotongan (
ʻAvaiki) and Samoan (
Savaiʻi) . According to linguists Pukui and Elbert, "[e]lsewhere in Polynesia, Hawai
ʻi or a cognate is the name of the underworld or of the ancestral home, but in Hawaii, the name has no meaning".
The Hawaiian islands were formed by volcanic activity initiated at an undersea magma source called the Hawaii hotspot. The process is continuing to build islands; the tectonic plate
beneath much of the Pacific Ocean continually moves northwest and the
hot spot remains stationary, slowly creating new volcanoes. Because of
the hotspot's location, all currently active land volcanoes are located
on the southern half of Hawaii Island. The newest volcano, Lō
ʻihi Seamount, is located south of the coast of Hawaii Island.
The last volcanic eruption outside Hawaii Island occurred at Haleakalā on Maui before the late 18th
century, though it could have been hundreds of years earlier. In 1790, Kīlauea exploded; it was the deadliest eruption known to have occurred in the modern era in what is now the United States. Up to 5,405 warriors and their families marching on Kīlauea were killed by the eruption. Volcanic activity and subsequent erosion have created impressive geological features. Hawaii Island has the third-highest point among the world's islands.
On the flanks of the volcanoes, slope instability has generated damaging earthquakes and related tsunamis, particularly in 1868 and 1975. Steep cliffs have been created by catastrophic debris avalanches on the submerged flanks of ocean island volcanoes.
After the arrival of Europeans and Americans, the population of
Hawaii fell dramatically until an influx of primarily Asian settlers
arrived as migrant laborers at the end of the 19th
century.
The United States Census Bureau estimates the population of Hawaii was 1,431,603 on July 1, 2015; an increase of 5.24% since the 2010 United States Census.
As of 2014,
Hawaii had an estimated
population of 1,431,603; an increase of 12,042
from the previous year and an increase of 71,302 (5.24%) since 2010.
This includes a natural increase of 48,111 (96,028 births minus 47,917
deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 16,956 people into the
state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net
increase of 30,068; migration within the country produced a net loss of
13,112 people. The center of population of Hawaii is located between the
two islands of O'ahu and Moloka'i. Large numbers of Native Hawaiians have moved to Las Vegas, which has been called the "ninth island" of Hawaii.
Hawaii has a
de facto population of over 1.4
million, due in part to a large number of military personnel and tourist residents. O'ahu
is the most populous island; it has the highest population density with
a resident population of just under one million in 597 square miles
(1,546 km
2), about 1,650 people per square mile. Hawaii's 1.4
million residents, spread across 6,000 square miles (15,500 km
2) of land, results in an average population density of 188.6 persons per square mile.
[94] The state has a lower population density than Ohio and Illinois.
The average projected lifespan of people born in Hawaii in 2000 is
79.8 years; 77.1 years if male, 82.5 if female—longer than the average
lifespan of any other U.S. state. As of 2011 the U.S. military reported it had 42,371 personnel on the islands.
