Hawaii: State of the United States of America

Hawaii (sometimes spelled Hawai'i) is a U.S.

state and the only U.S. State that is in Oceania. It is the last state that joined the United States, becoming a state on August 21, 1959. It is the only state made only of islands. Hawaii is also the name of the largest island. The capital and largest city of Hawaii is Honolulu on the island named Oahu.

Hawaii
Hawaiʻi  (Hawaiian)
State of Hawaii
Mokuʻāina o Hawaiʻi  (Hawaiian)
Official seal of Hawaii
Nickname(s)
The Aloha State (official), Paradise of the Pacific, The Islands of Aloha, The 808 State
Motto(s)
Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono
("The Life of the Land Is Perpetuated in Righteousness")
Anthem: Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī
(Hawaiʻi's Own True Sons)
Map of the United States with Hawaii highlighted
Map of the United States with Hawaii highlighted
CountryUnited States
Before statehoodTerritory of Hawaii
Admitted to the UnionAugust 21, 1959 (50th)
Capital
(and largest city)
Honolulu
Largest metro and urban areasHonululu
Government
 • GovernorJosh Green (D)
 • Lieutenant GovernorSylvia Luke (D)
LegislatureState Legislature
 • Upper houseSenate
 • Lower houseHouse of Representatives
JudiciarySupreme Court of Hawaii
U.S. senators
U.S. House delegation1: Ed Case (D)
2: Kai Kahele (D) (list)
Area
 • Total10,931 sq mi (28,311 km2)
 • Land6,423 sq mi (16,638 km2)
 • Water4,507 sq mi (11,672 km2)  41.2%
 • Rank43rd
Dimensions
 • Length1,522 mi (2,450 km)
 • Widthn/a mi (n/a km)
Elevation
3,030 ft (920 m)
Highest elevation13,796 ft (4,205.0 m)
Lowest elevation0 ft (0 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total1,455,271
 • Rank40th
 • Density221/sq mi (82.6/km2)
  • Rank13th
 • Median household income
$77,765
 • Income rank
4th
Demonym(s)Hawaii resident, Hawaiian
Language
 • Official languagesEnglish, Hawaiian
Time zoneUTC−10:00 (Hawaii)
USPS abbreviation
HI
ISO 3166 codeUS-HI
Traditional abbreviationH.I.
Latitude18° 55′ N to 28° 27′ N
Longitude154° 48′ W to 178° 22′ W
Websiteportal.ehawaii.gov
Hawaii state symbols
Hawaii: Name, Geography, History
Hawaii: Name, Geography, History
Living insignia
BirdNene
FishHumuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa
FlowerPua aloalo
InsectPulelehua
TreeKukui tree
Inanimate insignia
DanceHula
FoodKalo (taro)
GemstoneʻĒkaha kū moana (black coral)
OtherHeʻe nalu (surfing) (state individual sport)
State route marker
Hawaii state route marker
State quarter
Hawaii quarter dollar coin
Released in 2008
Lists of United States state symbols

Name

Hawaii is known as the "Aloha State". Aloha is a Hawaiian word that has many meanings like welcome, hello and goodbye. Aloha also means love and care. The different meanings are brought together in the term "Aloha Spirit" to describe the friendly people of Hawaii.

Geography

Hawaii is an archipelago, a long chain of islands. There are eight main islands and many small islands and atolls. They are the tops of underwater volcanos. The main islands are Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Maui and Hawaii.

History

The first people of Hawaii were Polynesians. They came to the islands sometime between 200 and 600 AD. Captain James Cook discovered the islands in 1778. Others may have been there before him. Captain Cook named the islands the Sandwich Islands for the fourth Earl of Sandwich, John Montague.

Kamehameha I was the first king of Hawaii. He united the separate small Hawaiian kingdoms into one large kingdom in 1795. In 1893, American soldiers stopped Queen Liliuokalani from leading Hawaii when American business people took over the government and made their own laws. She was the last monarch of Hawaii. She also wrote the original words of the song called Aloha Oe.

The Americans made Hawaii into a republic for a short time. The new leader, Sanford Dole was called the President of Hawaii. In 1898, the United States of America took over the government and made Hawaii into a territory.In 1907, University of Hawaiʻi is established. In 1959, Hawaii became the fiftieth American state. In other words, it was taken ("annexed") against the wishes of its native people. Their queen, Lili’uokalani, wrote that “it had not entered into our hearts to believe that these friends and allies from the United States… would ever go so far as to absolutely overthrow our form of government, seize our nation by the throat, and pass it over to an alien power”.

Reason for statehood

Early in World War II the U.S. Pacific Fleet was based on the Philippines. Perceiving that this was not safe, the navy moved its base to the Hawaiian islands, namely Oahu (the main island in the chain). It was there that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. That was significant in the later discussions about the future of the islands.

Economy

The biggest industry of Hawaii is tourism. Almost seven million people visited in 2000. Important exports are sugar, pineapple, macadamia nuts, and coffee.

Popular tourist sites include Waikiki Beach, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Polynesian Cultural Center, and the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.

State symbols

The state flower is the yellow hibiscus (Hibiscus brackenridgei or ma'o hau hele). The state bird is the Hawaiian goose (nene). The state fish is the reef triggerfish, also called the humu humu nuku nuku apua'a. The state tree is the candlenut, also called kukui. The state song is Hawaii Ponoi. The state motto is Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono. In English it says, The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.

References

Notes

Other websites

Hawaii: Name, Geography, History  Media related to Hawaii at Wiki Commons

This article uses material from the Wikipedia Simple English article Hawaii, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license ("CC BY-SA 3.0"); additional terms may apply (view authors). Content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
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Tags:

Hawaii NameHawaii GeographyHawaii HistoryHawaii EconomyHawaii State symbolsHawaii Other websitesHawaiiCapital (city)Honolulu, HawaiiIslandOahuOceaniaU.S. stateUnited States

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