| Counties of Hawaii | |
|---|---|
| Location | State of Hawaii |
| Number | 5 |
| Populations | 81 (Kalawao) – 998,747 (Honolulu) |
| Areas | 5.2 square miles (13 km2) (Kalawao) – 4,028 square miles (10,430 km2) (Hawaii) |
| Government | |
| Subdivisions | |
The fivecounties of Hawaii on theHawaiian Islands enjoy somewhat greater status than manycounties on the United States mainland. Counties in Hawaii are the only legally constituted government bodies below that of the state. No formal level of government (such as city governments) exists below that of the county in Hawaii.
Unlike the other 49states, Hawaii does not delegate educational responsibility to local school boards; public education is carried out by theHawaii State Department of Education.[1] Hawaiian counties collectproperty taxes and user fees in order to support road maintenance, community activities, parks (including life guards at beach parks), garbage collection, police (thestate police force, called theHawaii Department of Public Safety, is limited in scope), ambulance, and fire suppression services.[2]
All the counties were created in 1905 from unorganized territory, seven years after theTerritory of Hawaii was created.[2][3] Thecounty of Kalawao was historically exclusively used as aleper colony, and does not have many of the elected officials the other counties have.[4] Many services for Kalawao County are provided by Maui County. For example, the web site for the office of the Maui County Clerk says "The office is also responsible for the elections in the County of Maui and the County of Kalawao".[5]
TheFederal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, which is used by the United States government to uniquely identify counties, is provided with each entry. The FIPS code for each county links to census data for that county.
| County | FIPS code[6] | County seat[7] | Est.[7] | Etymology | Island(s) | Population (2020)[8] | Area[8] | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaiʻi County | 001 | Hilo | 1905 | Island of Hawaiʻi, with which the county iscoterminous; said to be named forHawaiʻiloa, a legendaryPolynesian navigator. | Hawaiʻi | 200,629 | 4,028 sq mi (10,432 km2) |  |
| Honolulu County | 003 | Honolulu | 1905 | "Sheltered bay" or "place of shelter" in theHawaiian language,[9] Named afterHonolulu, the capital and largest city of the state. | Oʻahu and theNorthwestern Hawaiian Islands (exceptMidway Atoll) | 1,016,508 | 597 sq mi (1,546 km2) |  |
| Kalawao County | 005 | 1905 | The village ofKalawao onMolokaʻi | TheKalaupapa Peninsula onMolokaʻi | 82 | 5.2 sq mi (13 km2) |  | |
| Kauai County | 007 | Lihue | 1905 | Kauai, the largest of the islands in the county; name possibly derived from Kauaʻi, the eldest son of Hawaiʻiloa. | Kauai,Niʻihau,Lehua, andKaʻula | 73,298 | 622 sq mi (1,611 km2) |  |
| Maui County | 009 | Wailuku | 1905 | Maui, the largest of the islands in the county; named forMāui, a demigod from native mythology. | Maui,Kahoʻolawe,Lānaʻi,Molokai (except theKalaupapa Peninsula), andMolokini | 164,754 | 1,120 sq mi (2,901 km2) |  |
State ofHawaii | |
|---|---|
Honolulu (capital) | |
| Topics | |
| Society | |
| Main islands | |
| Northwestern Islands | |
| Notable communities | |
| Counties | |
| Pre-statehood history | |
