Hawaii State Flag

Hawaii State Seal

Hawaii Location

Hawaii

Hawaii (Hawaiian/Hawaiian English: Hawai‘i, with the ‘okina) is the archipelago of the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Hawaii constitutes the 50th state of the United States, and as of the 2000 U.S. Census had a population of 1,211,537 people. Honolulu is the largest city and the state capital.

Hawaii, the state most recently admitted into the Union, has many distinctions. In addition to having the southernmost point in the United States, it is the only state that lies completely in the tropics. As one of two states outside the contiguous United States, it is the only one without territory on the mainland of any continent and is the only state that continues to grow due to active lava flows, most notably from Kilauea. Ethnically, it is one of only two states that do not have a Caucasian majority and has the largest percentage of Asians. Ecologically and agriculturally, it is the endangered species capital of the world and is the only industrial producer of coffee in the nation.

Geography

The state is comprised of nineteen major islands and atolls in the Central Pacific Ocean. The government also includes within its territoriality minor offshore islands and individual islets found in each atoll in its official count of 137 islands. The inhabited islands are those that lie between Ni‘ihau and the Big Island of Hawai‘i, but the island chain extends another 1000 miles (1600 kilometers) to the northwest.

The most important cities and towns Hilo, Lihu‘e, and Wailuku, as well as the largest city and state capital, Honolulu.

All of the islands were formed by volcanic activity; current volcanic activity is limited to the Island of Hawai‘i. The last volcanic eruption elsewhere in the archipelago was on the southwest flank of East Maui Volcano, near the end of the 18th Century.

The larger islands are listed below.

• Hawai‘i
• Maui
• Kaho‘olawe
• Lana‘i
• Moloka‘i
• O‘ahu
• Kaua‘i
• Ni‘ihau

Languages

The state of Hawai‘i has two official languages as prescribed by the Constitution of Hawai‘i adopted at the 1978 constitutional convention: Hawaiian and English. Article XV, Section 4 requires the use of Hawaiian in official state business such as public acts, documents, laws and transactions. Standard Hawaiian English, a subset of American English, is also commonly used for other formal business.

Origins

Before the arrival of Captain James Cook, the Hawaiian language was a spoken, not written language. The first written form of Hawaiian was developed by American Protestant missionaries in Hawai‘i during the early 19th century. The missionaries assigned letters to Hawaiian sounds identical to English sounds. Later, additional characters were added to clarify pronunciation. The ‘okina indicates glottal stops while macrons called kahako signify long vowel sounds. When a Hawaiian word is spelled without any necessary ‘okina and kahako, it is impossible for someone who does not already know the word to guess at the proper pronunciation. Omission of the ‘okina and kahako in printed texts can even obscure the meaning of the word. For example, the word lanai means stiff-necked. However, when spelled as lanai it means veranda while Lana‘i refers to an island. This can be a problem in interpreting 19th century Hawaiian texts recorded in the older orthography. For these reasons, careful writers use the modern Hawaiian orthography.

Revival

As a result of the constitutional provision, interest in the Hawaiian language was revived in the late 20th century. Public and independent schools throughout the state began teaching Hawaiian language standards as part of the regular curricula as early as the kindergarten grade level. With the help of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, also created by the 1978 constitutional convention, specially designated Hawaiian language immersion schools were established where students would be taught in all subjects using Hawaiian. Also, the University of Hawai‘i System developed the only Hawaiian language graduate studies program in the world. Municipal codes were altered in favor of Hawaiian place and street names for new civic developments.

Pidgin

Over the course of Hawaiian history, a third language was developed that is in common use throughout the state today. Originally considered a mere dialect of Hawaiian English, cultural anthropologists have recently reached consensus that Hawaiian Pidgin is a distinct language on its own. Hawaiian Pidgin finds its origins in the sugarcane and pineapple plantations as laborers from different cultures were forced to find their own ways of communicating and understanding each other. Laborer emigrants from different countries — China, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Portugal — began composing their own words and phrases based on their own language traditions merged with Hawaiian and Hawaiian English.

Debates

An increasingly divisive political issue that has arisen since the Constitution of Hawai‘i adopted Hawaiian as an official state language is the exact spelling of the state's name. As prescribed in the Admission Act of 1959 that granted Hawaiian statehood, the federal government recognizes Hawaii to be the official state name. However, many state and municipal entities and officials have recognized Hawai‘i to be the correct state name. Official government publications, as well as department and office titles, use the traditional Hawaiian spelling. Private entities, including local mass media, also have shown a preference for the use of the ‘okina. While in local Hawaiian society the spelling and pronunciation of Hawai‘i is preferred in nearly all cases, even by standard English speakers, the federal spelling is used for purposes of interpolitical relations between other states and foreign governments.

The delicate nuances in the Hawaiian language debate are often not obvious or well-appreciated outside Hawai‘i. The issue has often been a source of friction in situations where correct naming conventions are mandated, as people frequently disagree over which spelling is correct or incorrect, and where it is correctly or incorrectly applied.

History

Hawaiian history can be divided into the following episodes: ancient Hawai‘i under the rule of local chiefdoms; consolidation and establishment of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i; overthrow of the monarchy by the Provisional Government of Hawai‘i, followed by governance as the Republic of Hawai‘i; from 1898 to 1959, governance as the Territory of Hawai‘i; Hawai‘i becomes the State of Hawaii of the United States in 1959.

Hawaiin Antiquity

Anthropologists believe that the Hawaiian Islands were first populated by Polynesians from the Marquesas and Society Islands approximately 1500 years ago. Memories of the early migrations were preserved orally through genealogies and folk tales, like the stories of Hawai‘iloa and Pa‘ao. Relations with other Polynesian groups were sporadic during the early migratory periods and Hawai‘i grew from small settlements to a complex society in near isolation. Local chiefs called ali‘i ruled their settlements and fought to extend their sway and defend their communities from predatory rivals. Warfare was endemic. The general trend was towards chiefdoms of increasing size, even encompassing whole islands.

Vague reports by various European explorers suggest that Hawai‘i was visited by foreigners well before the 1778 arrival of British explorer Captain James Cook. Cook was credited for the discovery after having been the first to plot and publish the geographical coordinates of the Hawaiian Islands. Cook named his discovery the Sandwich Islands in honor of one of his sponsors, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich.

Hawaiin Kingdom

After a series of battles that ended in 1795 and peaceful cession of the island of Kaua‘i in 1810, the Hawaiian Islands were united for the first time under a single ruler who would become known as King Kamehameha the Great. He established the House of Kamehameha, a dynasty that ruled over the kingdom until 1872. That year, bachelor King Kamehameha V had died without having named a formal heir. After the election and death of King Lunalilo, governance was passed on to the House of Kalakaua. However, the power of the monarchy was made impotent with the promulgation of the Bayonet Constitution, stripping the king of his administrative authorities and depriving the rights of native Hawaiians in elections. The dynasty of King Kalakaua reigned until the overthrow of the kingdom in 1893, a coup d'état orchestrated by American plantation owners with the help of an armed militia and the United States Marine Corps. Governance was again passed, this time into the hands of a provisional government and then to an independent Republic of Hawaii.

Hawaiin Teritory

The Newlands Resolution was passed on July 7, 1898 formally annexing Hawai‘i as a United States territory. In 1900, it was granted self-governance. Though several attempts were made to achieve statehood, Hawai‘i remained as a territory for sixty years. Plantation owners like those that comprised the Big Five found territorial status convenient, granting them the ability to continue importing cheap foreign labor; such immigration was prohibited in various other states of the Union. The power of plantation owners was finally broken by activist descendants of original immigrant laborers. Because they were born in a United States territory, they were legal American citizens and expected full voting rights. They campaigned for statehood for the Hawaiian Islands. On March 18, 1959, President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Admission Act which made Hawai‘i the 50th state of the Union, a law that became effective on August 21, 1959.

Hawaiian statehood

Upon achieving statehood, Hawai‘i was accelerated through modernization with a construction boom and burgeoning economy. The Hawai‘i Republican Party, supported by the plantation owners was voted out of office and the Hawai‘i Democratic Party dominated state politics for forty years. The state also worked its way to achieving a restoration of the native Hawaiian culture that was suppressed after the overthrow. The Hawai‘i State Constitutional Convention of 1978 heralded what some called a Hawaiian renaissance. Its delegates created programs that sought to revive the indigenous Hawaiian language and culture, as well as having promoted native control over Hawaiian issues with the creation of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Prevalent in post-statehood Hawai‘i was an increase in combative attitudes by some native Hawaiians towards the federal government, seen by some as an occupying power. Regrets over the demise of the Hawaiian monarchy produced several political organizations that are collectively known as the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. The movement's most prominent success was the passage of the Apology Resolution of 1993 that made redress for American actions leading to the overthrow of the kingdom. The resolution was passed by Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton.

Government

The state government of Hawaii is modeled after the federal government with adaptations originating from the kingdom era of Hawaiian history. As codified in the Constitution of Hawai‘i, there are three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. The executive branch is led by the state governor who oversees the major agencies and departments. The legislative body consists of the 25-member Hawai‘i State Senate and the 51-member Hawai‘i State House of Representatives. The judicial branch is led by the highest state court, the Hawai‘i State Supreme Court. Lower courts are organized as the Hawai‘i State Judiciary.

Unique to Hawai‘i is the way it has organized its municipal governments. There are no incorporated cities in Hawai‘i except the City & County of Honolulu. All other municipal governments are administered at the county level.

Hawaii is the only state that does not have a Department of Motor Vehicles or a Registry of Motor Vehicles. Vehicle registration and driver licensing are performed by county governments.

Economy

The total gross output for the state in 1999 was USD $41 billion, placing Hawaii 40th compared to the other states. Per capita income for Hawaii residents was USD $28,221.

Historically, Hawaii is known for having a high amount of state taxes per capita. In 2002 and 2003, it had the highest amount of state taxes per capita, with $2,757 and $2,838 in state taxes per capita respectively. This can partly be explained by the fact that some services such as education, health care, and social services, are rendered at the state level, as opposed to the local level as in many states. Also, hundreds of thousands of tourists contribute to the figure by paying Hawaii's general excise and hotel room taxes. However, many business leaders in the state still consider Hawaii's tax burden to be too high.

Historically, the history of modern Hawaii can be traced through a succession of dominating industries: sandalwood, whaling, sugarcane, pineapple, military, tourism and education. Tourism is currently the state's largest industry while efforts are being made toward the diversification of the economy. Industrial exports include food processing and apparel. However, because of the considerable shipping distance to markets on the West Coast United States or Japan, they play a small role in the island economy. The main agricultural exports are nursery stock and flowers, coffee, macadamia nuts, pineapple, livestock, and sugar cane. Agricultural sales for 2002 (according to the Hawai‘i Agricultural Statistics Service) were USD $370.9 million from diversified agriculture, USD $100.6 million from pineapple, and USD $64.3 million from sugarcane.

Media

Newspapers

Two major competing Honolulu-based newspapers serve all of Hawai‘i. The Honolulu Advertiser is owned by Gannett Pacific Corporation while the Honolulu Star-Bulletin is owned by Black Press of British Columbia in Canada. Both are two of the largest newspapers in the United States, in terms of circulation. Other locally published newspapers are available to residents of the various islands. The Hawai‘i business community is served by the Pacific Business News and Hawai‘i Business Magazine. The largest religious community in Hawai‘i is served by the Hawai‘i Catholic Herald. Honolulu Magazine is a popular magazine that offers local interest news and feature articles. Apart from the mainstream press, the state also enjoys a vibrant ethnic publication presence with newspapers for the Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean and Native Hawaiian communities.

Television

All the major television networks are represented in Hawai‘i through KFVE (WB affiliate), KGMB (CBS affiliate), KHET (PBS affiliate), KHNL (NBC affiliate), KHON (FOX affiliate) and KITV (ABC affiliate), among others. From Honolulu, programming at these stations are rebroadcast to the various other islands via networks of satellite transmitters. The various production companies that work with the major networks have produced television series and other projects in Hawai‘i. Most notable were police dramas like Magnum P.I. and Hawaii Five-O.

Film

Hawai‘i has a growing film industry administered by the state through the Hawai‘i Film Office. Several television shows, movies and various other media projects were produced in the Hawaiian Islands taking advantage of the natural scenic landscapes as backdrops. Notable films produced in Hawai‘i or were inspired by Hawai‘i include: Jurassic Park, Waterworld, From Here to Eternity, George of the Jungle, 50 First Dates, Pearl Harbor, Blue Crush and Lilo & Stitch. Films made in Hawaii for Hawaii audiences are still few. One of the most notable is Beyond Paradise (1998), a coming-of-age story set in Kona.

Education

Hawaii is currently the only state in the union with a unified school system statewide. (Similarly, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico also has a commonwealth-wide system.) It is also the oldest public education system west of the Mississippi River. Policy decisions are made by the fourteen-member state Board of Education, with thirteen members elected for four-year terms and one non-voting student member. The Board of Education sets statewide educational policy and hires the state superintendent of schools, who oversees the operations of the state Department of Education. The Department of Education is also divided into seven districts, four on O‘ahu and one for each of the other counties.

The structure of the state Department of Education has been a subject of discussion and controversy in recent years. The main rationale for the current centralized model is equity in school funding and distribution of resources: leveling out inequalities that would exist between highly populated O‘ahu and the more rural Neighbor Islands, and between lower-income and more affluent areas of the state. This system of school funding differs from many localities in the United States where schools are funded from local property taxes.

However, policy initiatives have been made in recent years toward decentralization. Current Governor Linda Lingle is a proponent of replacing the current statewide board with seven elected district boards. The Democrat-controlled state legislature opposed her proposal, instead favoring expansion of decision-making power to the schools and giving schools more discretion over budgeting. Political debate of structural reform is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

Colleges and Universities

Demographics

The population of Hawaii (Hawai‘i) is approximately 1.2 million, while the de facto population is over 1.3 million due to military presence and tourists. O‘ahu is the most populous island, with a population of just under one million.

According to the 2000 Census, 6.6% of Hawaii's population identified themselves as Native Hawaiian, 24.3% were White or Caucasian, including Portuguese and 41.6% were Asian, including 0.1% Asian Indian, 4.7% Chinese, 14.1% Filipino, 16.7% Japanese, Okinawan, 1.9% Korean and 0.6%Vietnamese. 1.3% were other Pacific Islander which includes Tongan, Tahitian, Maori and Micronesian, and 21.4% described themselves as mixed (two or more races/ethnic groups). 1.8% were Black or African American and 0.3% were American Indian and Alaska Native.

The second group of foreigners to arrive upon Hawaii's shores, after the Europeans, were the Chinese who jumped off of trading ships in 1789. In 1820 the first American missionaries arrived in Hawaii to preach Christianity and teach the Hawaiians what the missionaries considered "civilized" ways. A large proportion of Hawaii's population has become a people of Asian ancestry (especially Chinese, Japanese and Filipino), many of whom are descendants from those waves of early foreign immigrants brought to the islands in the nineteenth century, beginning in the 1850's, to work on the sugar plantations. The first Japanese arrived in Hawaii on February 9, 1885. The largest city is the capital, Honolulu, located along the southeast coast of the island of O‘ahu. Other populous cities include Hilo, Kane‘ohe, Kailua, Pearl City, Kahului, and Kailua-Kona.

Famous people from Hawai‘i

• Benny Agbayani, professional baseball player
• Dan Akaka, first Native Hawaiian US Senator
• Akebono, sumo wrestler
• George Ariyoshi, first Japanese American governor
• Angela Perez Baraquio, Miss America 2001
• Hiram Bingham III, Connecticut politician and explorer
• Bernice Pauahi Bishop, princess and philanthropist
• Charles Reed Bishop, banker and philanthropist
• Tia Carrere, actress
• Steve Case, former Chairman and CEO of America Online
• Alexander Cartwright, father of American baseball
• Benjamin J. Cayetano, first Filipino American governor
• Father Damien, Catholic missionary
• James Dole, pineapple magnate
• Hiram Fong, first Chinese American US Senator
• Don Ho, entertainer
• Dan Inouye, first Japanese American US Senator
• Dwayne Johnson, professional wrestler and actor known as "The Rock"
• Jack Johnson, singer
• Duke Kahanamoku, Olympic athlete
• Henry J. Kaiser, industrialist
• Victoria Kaiulani, princess
• David Kalakaua, king
• Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole, singer
• Kamehameha the Great, king
• Nicole Kidman, actress
• Konishiki, sumo wrestler
• Brook Mahealani Lee, Miss Universe 1997
• Lili‘uokalani, queen
• Bette Midler, actress
• Barack Obama, Illinois politician
• Ellison Onizuka, astronaut
• Eric Shinseki, US Army general
• Claus Spreckels, industrialist
• John Waihee, first Native Hawaiian governor
• Michelle Wie, golfer

Miscellaneous Information

• Hawaii, being one of the United States, is included in the North American Numbering Plan; its area code within that plan is 808. It is also one of only three U.S. states that do not observe Daylight Saving Time, and the only one of those three that does not use DST anywhere in its territory.
• ‘Iolani Palace, the only royal residence in the United States, was once the home of King Kalakaua and Queen Lili‘uokalani, the last monarchs of Hawai‘i. It is open to visitors.
• Hawai‘i is the only U.S. state without a state police force.
• Hawai‘i is home to two of the largest independent schools in the United States: Punahou School and the Kamehameha Schools.
• Pele is the well-known goddess of Hawaiian volcanoes. Local legends and ghost stories often revolve around her visits, as well as sightings of Menehune and Nightmarchers.
• Local directions in Hawai‘i are not expressed in terms of compass points (i.e., north-south-east-west) but by a radial system that uses local landmarks. For example, mauka means inland (literally, "towards the mountain"), while makai means the opposite ("towards the sea"). In Honolulu "Diamond Head" is equivalent to "east," because that's the main landmark on the coast east of downtown Honolulu, and "‘Ewa" is equivalent to "west," because that place is on the coast west of Honolulu. So instead of saying something was on the north-west corner of an intersection in Honolulu, it might be described as the "mauka and ‘ewa" corner of that intersection.
• Hawai‘i is home to a number of endemic plant and animal species that are vulnerable to outside threats. Among the rarest is the Po‘ouli, a Hawaiian honeycreeper with only three surviving members, all of which live on the island of Maui.
• Hawai‘i is known for its many people of multiracial and multiethnic heritage, or hapa ancestry.
• Mount Wai‘ale‘ale (rippling waters), Kaua‘i is the wettest spot on earth, averaging 460 inches of rain a year.
• Hawaii (Hawai‘i) has an array of colorful beaches, with sand colors of white, black, red, grey, brown-black and green.
• Famous Crimes and superstitions Diane Suzuki, Morgan's Corner, Seven Bridges of Manoa, The Kahala Graveyard