Native name: Mokupuni o Hawai‘i | |
|---|---|
 Location of Hawaii within the United States | |
| Geography | |
| Location | North Pacific |
| Archipelago | Hawaiian Islands |
| Total islands | Approximately 132 islands (including 4 of the Midway Atoll) |
| Major islands | Hawaiʻi, Maui, Kahoʻolawe. Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, Niʻihau |
| Area | 6,423 sq mi (16,640 km2) |
| Length | 1,500 mi (2400 km) |
| Coastline | 750 mi (1210 km) |
| Highest point | 13,796 ft (4,205 m) (Mauna Kea) |
| Administration | |
United States | |
| State | Hawaii (excluding the federally governed Midway Atoll) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 1,455,271 (2020) |
The following is a list of the islands in Hawaii. The state of Hawaii, consisting of the Hawaiian Islands, has the fourth-longest ocean coastline of the 50 states (after Alaska, Florida, and California) at 750 miles (1,210 km). It is the only state that consists entirely of islands, with 6,422.62 sq mi (16,634.5 km2) of land. The Hawaiian Island archipelago extends some 1,500 miles (2,400 km) from the southernmost island of Hawaiʻi to the northernmost Kure Atoll. Despite being within the boundaries of Hawaii, Midway Atoll, comprising several smaller islands, is not included as an island of Hawaii, because it is classified as a United States Minor Outlying Islands and is therefore administered by the federal government and not the state.
Contents
- Hawaiʻi County
- Honolulu County
- Northwestern Hawaii Islands
- Kalawao County
- Kauaʻi County
- Maui County
- References
- External links
Hawaii is divided into five counties: Hawaiʻi, Honolulu, Kalawao, Kauaʻi, and Maui. Each island is included in the boundaries and under the administration of one of these counties. Honolulu County, despite being centralized, administers the outlying Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Kalawao (the smallest county in the United States in terms of land area) and Maui, both occupying the island of Molokaʻi, are the only counties that share the same island. Hawaii is typically recognized by its eight main islands: Hawaiʻi, Maui, Kahoʻolawe, Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, and Niʻihau.
The state of Hawaii officially recognizes only 137 islands in the state which includes four islands of the Midway Atoll. [1] An island in this sense may also include much smaller and typically uninhabited islets, rocks, coral reefs, and atolls. For that reason, this article lists 152 separate islands (but also names smaller island chains such as the French Frigate Shoals, which includes 13 islands of its own). Some of these are too small to appear on maps, and others, such as Maro Reef, only appear above the water's surface during times of low tide. Others, such as Shark and Skate islands, have completely eroded away.
The majority of the Hawaiian Islands are uninhabited, with Niʻihau being the westernmost island with a population of around 130 natives, no one else is allowed on the island. All the islands west of Niʻihau—those categorized as the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands—are unpopulated and recently incorporated into the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. The island of Oʻahu has just over one million residents (about 70% of the state's population), and the island of Hawaiʻi is by far the largest island with an area of 4,028 sq mi (10,430 km2)—62.7% of the state's land area. The islands were first settled as early as AD 300 by Polynesian long-distance navigators. British captain James Cook was the first European to land on the islands in January 1778. [2] The islands, which were governed independently up until 1898 were then annexed by the United States as a territory from 1898 to 1959. On August 21, 1959, they were collectively admitted as the 50th state.
The islands are the exposed peaks of a great undersea mountain range known as the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain, formed by volcanic activity over a hotspot in the Earth's mantle. The archipelago formed as the Pacific plate moved slowly northwestward over a hotspot in the mantle at about 32 miles (51 km) per million years. The islands in the northwest of the archipelago are older and typically smaller, due to longer exposure to erosion. The age of the archipelago has been estimated using potassium-argon dating methods. [3] It is estimated that the northwesternmost Kure Atoll is the oldest at approximately 28 million years, while the southeasternmost Hawaiʻi Island is approximately 400,000 years old and still subjected to ongoing volcanism—one of the most active hotspots on Earth. [4] [5]
