Hawaii
Pacific state of the USA; nicknamed Aloha State
Area:
16,800 sq km/6,485 sq mi
Capital:
Honolulu on Oahu
Towns and Cities:
Hilo
Physical:
Hawaii consists of a chain of some 20 volcanic islands, of which the
chief are: (1) Hawaii (or Big Island), with Hawaii Volcanoes National
Park (a World Heritage Site), which includes Mauna Kea (4,201 m/ 13,788
ft), the world's highest island mountain; Mauna Loa (4,170 m/ 13,686
ft), the world's largest active volcanic crater; and Kilauea, the world's
most active volcano; Kau Desert; the Waipio Valley with waterfalls (2)
Maui, the second largest of the islands, with Haleakala National Park
; (3) Oahu, the third largest, with Waikiki beach; (4) Kauai, with Waimea
Canyon (1,097 m/3,600 ft deep, 3.2 km/2 mi wide, and 16 km/10 mi long);
and (5) Molokai
Features:
(1) Hawaii: Mauna Kea has telescopes that make Hawaii a world centre
for astronomy; Honokaa (where the first macadamia trees were planted
in 1881); Puukohola national historic site (temples built in 1791);
Hulihea Palace (the king's summer residence, 1880s); (2) Maui has the
Alexander and Baldwin Sugar Museum; Wailuku historical district; Lahaina
(with a banyan tree planted in 1873); (3) Oahu, the most populated of
the islands, and the most frequented by tourists, includes Honolulu,
with the Mission House Museum (home of the first US missionaries, dating
from the 1820s), Kawaiahao Church (1842), Iolani Palace (1882, the only
royal palace in the USA), Aliiolani Hale (the old judiciary building),
Honolulu Hale (1929, the City Hall), the Honolulu Academy of Arts, and
Pearl Harbor naval base, including the USS Arizona Pearl Harbor Memorial;
(4) Kauai, a former plantation town, has Waioli Mission (founded in
1837 at Hanalei); (5) Molokai, a leper colony until 1888, has the Meyer
Sugar Mill (1878) and the Kalaupapa National Historic Park. Surfing
originated in ancient Hawaii.
Industries:
Tourism is the chief source of income; other industries include sugar,
coffee, pineapples, flowers, clothing
Population:
(1995) 1,186,800 (34% of European descent, 25% Japanese, 14% Filipino,
12% Hawaiian, 6% Chinese)
Famous People:
James Michener
History:
A Polynesian kingdom from the 6th century, the islands were united
as one kingdom in the late 18th century. The whaling industry
was important in the 19th century. American and European influence
grew in the 19th century as the sugar industry expanded and foreign
business and missionaries became influential. Because of US, British,
and French rivalry over the islands, Kamehameha III placed Hawaii
under US protection in 1851. Some members of the royal family
supported American - and some English - protection. Kamehameha
III's placing of Hawaii under US protection was not accepted,
but annexation of the islands to the USA was accepted by Congress
in 1898, after the US consul John Stevens had effectively taken
control of the kingdom in 1893 (for which the USA officially apologized
in 1993). Under the Reciprocity Treaty imposed in 1887, in exchange
for duty-free sugar transport, Pearl Harbor had been ceded to
the USA, who established a naval base there. Republican forces
overthrew the monarchy in 1893 (for which the USA officially apologized
in 1993), and the republican government agreed to annexation.
Hawaii became a US territory in 1900, and the 50th state of the
Union in 1959. Japan's air attack on Pearl Harbor (7 December
1941) crippled the US Pacific fleet and turned the territory into
an armed camp, under martial law, for the remainder of World War
II. Captain James Cook, who called Hawaii the Sandwich Islands,
arrived as the first known European in 1778. By 1842, the indigenous
population had fallen by 90% since Cook's arrival. This was mainly
because of the introduction of new diseases, to which the population
had no natural immunity, in particular smallpox, measles, tuberculosis,
leprosy, and syphilis. Another factor, especially in the earlier
part of the 19th century, was the exodus of young men who enlisted
as sailors on foreign ships.
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