Settled byPolynesians sometime between 1000 and 1200 CE, Hawaii was home to numerous independent chiefdoms.[15] In 1778, British explorerJames Cook was the first known non-Polynesian to arrive at the archipelago; early British influence is reflected in thestate flag, which bears aUnion Jack. An influx of European and American explorers, traders, and whalers soon arrived, leading to the decimation of the once-isolated indigenous community through the introduction of diseases such as syphilis, tuberculosis, smallpox, and measles; the native Hawaiian population declined from between 300,000 and one million to less than 40,000 by 1890.[16][17][18] Hawaii became a unified, internationally recognizedkingdom in 1810, remaining independent until American and European businessmenoverthrew the monarchy in 1893; this led toannexation by the U.S. in 1898. As a strategically valuableU.S. territory, Hawaii wasattacked by Japan on December 7, 1941, which brought it global and historical significance, and contributed to America's entry into World War II. Hawaii is the most recent state tojoin the union, on August 21, 1959.[19] In 1993, the U.S. governmentformally apologized for its role in the overthrow of Hawaii's government, which had spurred theHawaiian sovereignty movement and has led to ongoing efforts to obtain redress for the indigenous population.
Historically dominated by aplantation economy, Hawaii remains a major agricultural exporter due to its fertile soil and uniquely tropical climate in the U.S. Its economy has gradually diversified since the mid-20th century, with tourism and military defense becoming the two largest sectors. The state attracts visitors, surfers, and scientists with its diverse natural scenery, warm tropical climate, abundant public beaches, oceanic surroundings, active volcanoes, and clear skies on the Big Island. Hawaii hosts theUnited States Pacific Fleet, the world's largest naval command, as well as 75,000 employees of the Defense Department.[20] Hawaii's isolation results in one of the highestcosts of living in the U.S. However, Hawaii is the third-wealthiest state,[20] and residents have the longest life expectancy of any U.S. state, at 80.7 years.[21]
Etymology
The State of Hawaii derives its name from the name of its largest island,Hawaiʻi. A common explanation of the name ofHawaiʻi is that it was named forHawaiʻiloa, a figure from Hawaiian oral tradition. He is said to have discovered the islands when they were first settled.[22][23]
TheHawaiian language wordHawaiʻi is very similar toProto-PolynesianSawaiki, with thereconstructed meaning "homeland."[e]Cognates ofHawaiʻi are found in other Polynesian languages, includingMāori (Hawaiki),Rarotongan (ʻAvaiki) andSamoan (Savaiʻi). According to linguists Pukui and Elbert,[25] "elsewhere in Polynesia,Hawaiʻi or a cognate is the name of the underworld or of the ancestral home, but in Hawaii, the name has no meaning".[26]
Spelling of state name
In 1978, Hawaiian was added to the Constitution of the State of Hawaii as an official state language alongside English.[27] The title of the state constitution isThe Constitution of the State of Hawaii. ArticleXV, Section1 of the Constitution usesThe State of Hawaii.[28]Diacritics were not used because the document, drafted in 1949,[29] predates the use of theʻokina⟨ʻ⟩ and thekahakō in modern Hawaiian orthography. The exact spelling of the state's name in the Hawaiian language isHawaiʻi.[f] In theHawaii Admission Act that granted Hawaiian statehood, the federal government usedHawaii as the state name.
There are eight main Hawaiian islands. Seven are inhabited, but only six are open to tourists and locals. Niʻihau is privately managed by brothers Bruce andKeith Robinson; access is restricted to those who have their permission. This island is also home to native Hawaiians. Access to uninhabitedKahoʻolawe island is also restricted and anyone who enters without permission will be arrested. This island may also be dangerous since it was a military base during the world wars and could still have unexploded ordnance.
The Hawaiianarchipelago is 2,000 mi (3,200 km) southwest of the contiguous United States.[47] Hawaii is the southernmost U.S. state and the second westernmost afterAlaska. Like Alaska, Hawaii borders no other U.S. state. It is the only U.S. state not in North America, and the only one completely surrounded by water and entirely an archipelago.
In addition to the eight main islands, the state has many smaller islands and islets.Kaʻula is a small island near Niʻihau. TheNorthwestern Hawaiian Islands is a group of nine small, older islands northwest of Kauaʻi that extends fromNihoa toKure Atoll; these are remnants of once much larger volcanic mountains. Across the archipelago are around 130 small rocks and islets, such asMolokini, which are made up of either volcanic or marine sedimentary rock.[48]
Hawaiʻi's tallest mountainMauna Kea is 13,796 ft (4,205 m) above mean sea level;[49] it is taller thanMount Everest if measured from the base of the mountain, which lies on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and rises about 33,500 feet (10,200 m).[50]
Pāhoehoe (smooth lava) spills into the ocean, forming new rock
The Hawaiian islands were formed by volcanic activity initiated at an underseamagma source called theHawaiʻi hotspot. The process is continuing to build islands; thetectonic plate beneath much of the Pacific Ocean continually moves northwest and the hotspot remains stationary, slowly creating new volcanoes. Because of the hotspot's location, all active land volcanoes are on the southern half of Hawaiʻi Island. The newest volcano,Kamaʻehuakanaloa (formerly Lōʻihi), is south of the coast of Hawaiʻi Island.
The last volcanic eruption outside Hawaiʻi Island occurred atHaleakalā on Maui before the late 18thcentury, possibly hundreds of years earlier.[51] In 1790,Kīlauea exploded; it is the deadliest eruption known to have occurred in the modern era in what is now the United States.[52] Up to 5,405 warriors and their families marching onKīlauea were killed by the eruption.[53] Volcanic activity and subsequent erosion have created impressive geological features. Hawaii Island has thesecond-highest point among the world's islands.[54]
On the volcanoes' flanks, slope instability has generated damaging earthquakes and relatedtsunamis, particularly in1868 and1975.[55] Catastrophicdebris avalanches on the ocean island volcanoes' submerged flanks have created steep cliffs.[56][57]
Kīlauea erupted in May 2018, opening 22 fissure vents on its easternrift zone. TheLeilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens are within this territory. The eruption destroyed at least 36 buildings and this, coupled with thelava flows and thesulfur dioxide fumes, necessitated the evacuation of more than 2,000 inhabitants from their neighborhoods.[58]
The islands of Hawaiʻi are distant from other land habitats, and life is thought to have arrived there by wind, waves (i.e., by ocean currents), and wings (i.e., birds, insects, and any seeds that they may have carried on their feathers). Hawaiʻi has more endangered species and has lost a higher percentage of its endemic species than any other U.S. state.[59] The endemic plantBrighamia now requires hand pollination because its natural pollinator is presumed to be extinct.[60] The two species ofBrighamia—B. rockii andB. insignis—are represented in the wild by around 120 individual plants. To ensure that these plants set seed, biologists rappel down 3,000-foot (910 m) cliffs to brush pollen onto their stigmas.[61]
Terrestrial ecology
The archipelago's extant main islands have been above the surface of the ocean for less than 10million years, a fraction of the timebiological colonization and evolution have occurred there. The islands are well known for theenvironmental diversity that occurs on high mountains within a trade winds field. Native Hawaiians developed complex horticultural practices to utilize the surrounding ecosystem for agriculture. Cultural practices developed to enshrine values of environmental stewardship and reciprocity with the natural world, resulting in widespread biodiversity and intricate social and environmental relationships that persist to this day.[62] On a single island, the climate around the coasts can range from dry tropical (less than 20 inches or 510 millimeters annual rainfall) to wet tropical; on the slopes, environments range fromtropical rainforest (more than 200 inches or 5,100 millimeters per year), through atemperate climate, toalpine conditions with a cold, dry climate. The rainy climate impactssoil development, which largely determines ground permeability, affecting the distribution of streams andwetlands.[63][64][65]
Several areas in Hawaiʻi are under theNational Park Service's protection.[66] Hawaii has two national parks:Haleakalā National Park, nearKula on Maui, which features the dormant volcano Haleakalā that formed east Maui; andHawaii Volcanoes National Park, in the southeast region of Hawaiʻi Island, which includes the active volcano Kīlauea and its rift zones.
PresidentGeorge W. Bush proclaimed thePapahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument on June 15, 2006. The monument covers roughly 140,000 square miles (360,000 km2) of reefs, atolls, and shallow and deep sea out to 50 miles (80 km) offshore in the Pacific Ocean—an area larger than all the national parks in the U.S. combined.[67]
Partlycloudy conditions and a gentle breeze at 1:43 PMHDT;[68] north is oriented towards the lower right in this photo taken from theInternational Space Station onJune 24, 2022
Hawaiʻi has atropical climate. Temperatures and humidity tend to be less extreme because of near-constanttrade winds from the east. Summer highs reach around 88 °F (31 °C) during the day, with lows of 75 °F (24 °C) at night. Winter day temperatures are usually around 83 °F (28 °C); at low elevation they seldom dip below 65 °F (18 °C) at night. Snow, not usually associated with the tropics, falls at 13,800 feet (4,200 m) on Mauna Kea andMauna Loa on Hawaii Island in some winter months. Snow rarely falls on Haleakalā.Mount Waiʻaleʻale on Kauaʻi has the second-highest average annual rainfall on Earth, about 460 inches (12,000 mm) per year. Most of Hawaii experiences only two seasons; the dry season runs from May to October and the wet season is from October to April.[69]
Overall withclimate change, Hawaiʻi is gettingdrier andhotter.[70][71] The warmest temperature recorded in the state, inPahala on April 27, 1931, is 100 °F (38 °C), tied withAlaska as the lowest record high temperature observed in a U.S. state.[72] Hawaiʻi's record low temperature is 12 °F (−11 °C) observed in May1979, on the summit ofMauna Kea. Hawaiʻi is the only state to have never recorded subzero Fahrenheit temperatures.[72]
Climates vary considerably on each island; they can be divided intowindward and leeward (koʻolau andkona, respectively) areas based upon location relative to the higher mountains. Windward sides face cloud cover.[73]
Environmental issues
Hawaii has a decades-long history of hosting more military space for the United States than any other territory or state.[74] This record of military activity has taken a sharp toll on the environmental health of the Hawaiian archipelago, degrading its beaches and soil, and making some places entirely unsafe due tounexploded ordnance.[75] According to scholarWinona LaDuke: "The vast militarization of Hawaii has profoundly damaged the land. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there are more federal hazardous waste sites in Hawaii – 31 – than in any other U.S. state."[76] Hawaii State RepresentativeRoy Takumi writes in "Challenging U.S. Militarism in Hawaiʻi and Okinawa" that these military bases and hazardous waste sites have meant "the confiscation of large tracts of land from native peoples" and quotes late Hawaiian activist George Helm as asking: "What is national defense when what is being destroyed is the very thing the military is entrusted to defend, the sacred land of Hawaiʻi?"[74] Contemporary Indigenous Hawaiians are still protesting the occupation of their homelands and environmental degradation due to increased militarization in the wake of9/11.[77]
After the rise of sugarcane plantations in the mid 19th century, island ecology changed dramatically. Plantations require massive quantities of water, and European and American plantation owners transformed the land in order to access it, primarily by building tunnels to divert water from the mountains to the plantations, constructing reservoirs, and digging wells.[78] These changes have made lasting impacts on the land and continue to contribute to resource scarcity for Native Hawaiians today.[78][79]
According to Stanford scientist and scholar Sibyl Diver, Indigenous Hawaiians engage in a reciprocal relationship with the land, "based on principles of mutual caretaking, reciprocity and sharing".[80] This relationship ensures the longevity, sustainability, and natural cycles of growth and decay, as well as cultivating a sense of respect for the land and humility towards one's place in an ecosystem.[80]
The tourism industry's ongoing expansion and its pressure on local systems of ecology, cultural tradition and infrastructure is creating a conflict between economic and environmental health.[81] In 2020, the Center for Biological Diversity reported on the plastic pollution of Hawaii's Kamilo beach, citing "massive piles of plastic waste".[82]Invasive species are spreading, and chemical and pathogenic runoff is contaminating groundwater and coastal waters.[83]
Hawaiʻi is one of two U.S. states, along withTexas, that were internationally recognized sovereign nations before becoming U.S. states. TheKingdom of Hawaiʻi was sovereign from 1810 until 1893, when resident American and European capitalists and landholdersoverthrew the monarchy. Hawaiʻi was an independent republic from 1894 until August 12, 1898, when it officially became a U.S. territory. Hawaiʻi was admitted as a U.S. state on August 21, 1959.[84]
First human settlement – Ancient Hawaiʻi (1000–1778)
The date of the human discovery and habitation of the Hawaiian Islands is the subject of academic debate.[85] Early archaeological studies suggested that Polynesian explorers from theMarquesas Islands orSociety Islands may have arrived as early as the 3rd century CE.[86] Some archaeologists and historians think it was a later wave of immigrants fromTahiti around 1100 CE who introduced a new line of high chiefs, thekapu system, the practice of human sacrifice, and the building ofheiau.[87][88] This later immigration is detailed inHawaiian mythology (moʻolelo) aboutPaʻao. Other authors say there is no archaeological or linguistic evidence of a later influx of Tahitian settlers and that Paʻao must be regarded as a myth.[87] More recent archaeological studies further suggest that the first settlement of Hawaii was not until around 900–1200 CE.[15]
The islands' history is marked by a slow, steady growth in population and the size of thechiefdoms, which grew to encompass whole islands. Local chiefs, calledaliʻi, ruled their settlements, and launched wars to extend their influence and defend their communities from predatory rivals. Ancient Hawaiʻi was acaste-based society, much like that of Hindus in India.[89] Population growth was facilitated by ecological and agricultural practices that combined upland agriculture (manuka), ocean fishing (makai),fishponds and gardening systems. These systems were upheld by spiritual and religious beliefs, like thelokahi, that linked cultural continuity with the health of the natural world.[62] According to Hawaiian scholarMililani Trask, thelokahi symbolizes the "greatest of the traditions, values, and practices of our people ... There are three points in the triangle—the Creator,Akua; the peoples of the earth,Kanaka Maoli; and the land, theʻaina. These three things all have a reciprocal relationship."[62][90]
Possible European contact before 1778
Manila-Acapulco galleon trade route, showing onward route to Spain
From 1565 to 1815,Spanish trading ships, or galleons, crossed the Pacific along a route fromAcapulco inNew Spain (modern Mexico) toManila inSpanish Philippines. They made this trip once or twice yearly using a route kept secret to protect the Spanish trade monopoly against competing powers.[91] Some sources speculate that sightings of, or interaction with, Hawaii must have occurred.
“It seems improbable that Spanish mariners could have made several hundred trips … without becoming Hawaii’s first European discoverers.”[92]
By 1589,Ortelius was publishing theMaris Pacifici first ever Pacific map featuring an intriguing resemblance of the Hawaiian Islands"Los Bolcanes" and"La Farfania" in the middle of the Pacific by theTropic of Cancer.[93] The islands would therefore have been sighted by visitors to the point of being roughly mapped long before official records would confirm.
In 1743, British CommodoreGeorge Anson captured a Spanish galleon on which he found a chart of the Pacific that depicted a group of islands at the same latitude as the Hawaiʻian islands but with a longitude ten degrees to the east. One of these islands is labeledLa Mesa (‘the Table’). This is conjectured to be Hawaii Island since this “agrees very well with the appearance ofMauna Loa ... when seen at a great distance”.[94]
Many scholars have refuted claims of Spanish knowledge of Hawaii during this period.[95][96][97] However, based on accounts from native Hawaiianoral tradition, Oscar Spate leaves open the possibility of one-way contact and that it is “likely that Spanish castaways reached Hawaii and survived”.[98]
In January 1778, British CaptainJames Cook encountered the Hawaiian Islands serendipitously while crossing the Pacific during histhird voyage of exploration. This marked the first documented contact by a European explorer with Hawaiʻi.[99] Cook named the archipelago "the Sandwich Islands" in honor of his sponsorJohn Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. Cook returned to the Hawaiian Islands in 1779 to resupply and over-winter, anchoring inKealakakua off Hawaii Island for one month. Relations with the local people were peaceful then deteriorated andCook was among those killed when violence broke out between the British and local Hawaiians.
After Cook, Hawaii was not visited by any foreign ships for seven years but, after 1786, visits became increasingly frequent. At the end of the eighteenth century, themaritime fur trade developed between the northwest coast of North America and Asia bringing the ships of many nations to the North Pacific Ocean. The Hawaiian islands became established as a convenient source of supplies and destination for overwintering not only for fur traders but also ships engaged in general cross-Pacific commerce.[100]: 20–21
HistorianRalph Kuykendall has described the impact of these foreign visitors on the hitherto isolated Hawaiian Islands as an “invasion” which “little by little overwhelmed the old culture of the islands”.[100]: 12 Over the decades following the first contact, the foreign resident population slowly grew; foreigners imported iron tools, manufactured items, and household utensils; they also introduced firearms, alcohol, tobacco, non-native plants, and - inadvertently - insects previously unknown to the islands such as mosquitos and scorpions.[100]: 26–28 Native Hawaiians were vulnerable to Eurasian diseases for which they had less resistance.[citation needed] Forty years after Cook's arrival, it is estimated that the native population had declined by half and continued to decline throughout the 19th century.[16] During the 1850s, measles killed a fifth of Hawaiʻi's people.[101]
Kamehameha I conquered the Hawaiian Islands and established a unified monarchy across the archipelago.
During the 1780s and early 1790s, the Hawaiian Islands were divided among several warring chiefdoms. In 1795, the fighting ended when Kamehameha, then a chief (ali’i) of Hawaii Island, conquered most of the main islands in the archipelago (including Maui and Oahu) then founded theHawaiian Kingdom and theHouse of Kamehameha dynasty. Kauai (with nearby Niihau) remained independent until 1810 when itjoined the Hawaiian Kingdom peacefully.[100]: 29–60
AfterKamehameha II inherited the throne in 1819, American Protestant missionaries to Hawaiʻi converted many Hawaiians to Christianity. Missionaries have argued that one function of missionary work was to "civilize" and "purify" perceived heathenism in the New World. This carried into Hawaiʻi.[102][103][104][105][106] According to historical archaeologist James L. Flexner, "missionaries provided the moral means to rationalize conquest and wholesale conversion to Christianity".[102] But rather than abandon traditional beliefs entirely, most native Hawaiians merged theirIndigenous religion with Christianity.[102][103] Missionaries used their influence to end many traditional practices, including thekapu system, the prevailing legal system before European contact, andheiau, or "temples" to religious figures.[102][107][108]Kapu, which typically translates to "the sacred", refers to social regulations (like gender and class restrictions) that were based upon spiritual beliefs.
Under the missionaries' guidance, laws against gambling, consuming alcohol, dancing thehula, breaking the Sabbath, and polygamy were enacted.[103] Without thekapu system, many temples and priestly statuses were jeopardized, idols were burned, and participation in Christianity increased.[103][104] WhenKamehameha III inherited the throne at age 12, his advisors pressured him to merge Christianity with traditional Hawaiian ways. Under the guidance of hiskuhina nui (his mother and coregentElizabeth Kaʻahumanu) and British allies, Hawaiʻi turned into a Christian monarchy with the signing of the1840 Constitution.[109][104]Hiram Bingham I, a prominent Protestant missionary, was a trusted adviser to the monarchy during this period. Other missionaries and their descendants became active in commercial and political affairs, leading to conflicts between the monarchy and its restive American subjects.[110] Missionaries from theRoman Catholic Church and fromThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were also active in the kingdom, initially converting a minority of the Native Hawaiian population, but later becoming the first and second largest religious denominations on the islands, respectively.[111][112][113][114] Missionaries from each major group administered to the leper colony at Kalaupapa on Molokaʻi, which was established in 1866 and operated well into the 20th century. The best known wereFather Damien andMother Marianne Cope, both of whom were canonized in the early 21st century as RomanCatholic saints.
The death of the bachelorKing Kamehameha V—who did not name an heir—resulted in the popular election ofLunalilo overKalākaua. Lunalilo died the next year, also without naming an heir. In 1874, the election was contested within the legislature between Kalākaua andEmma, Queen Consort of Kamehameha IV. After riots broke out, the U.S. and Britain landed troops on the islands to restore order. TheLegislative Assembly choseKing Kalākaua as monarch by a vote of 39 to6 on February 12, 1874.[115]
1887 Constitution and overthrow preparations
In 1887, Kalākaua was forced to sign the1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. Drafted by white businessmen and lawyers, the document stripped the king of much of his authority. It established a property qualification for voting that effectively disenfranchised most Hawaiians and immigrant laborers and favored the wealthier, white elite. Resident whites were allowed to vote but resident Asians were not. As the 1887 Constitution was signed under threat of violence, it is known as the Bayonet Constitution. King Kalākaua, reduced to a figurehead, reigned until his death in 1891. His sister, QueenLiliʻuokalani, succeeded him; she was the last monarch of Hawaiʻi.[116]
In 1893, Liliʻuokalani announced plans for a new constitution to proclaim herself an absolute monarch. On January 14, 1893, a group of mostly Euro-American business leaders and residents formed theCommittee of Safety to stage acoup d'état against the kingdom and seek annexation by the United States. U.S. Government MinisterJohn L. Stevens, responding to a request from the Committee of Safety, summoned a company of U.S. Marines. The queen's soldiers did not resist. According to historian William Russ, the monarchy was unable to protect itself.[117] InHawaiian Autonomy, Liliʻuokalani states:
If we did not by force resist their final outrage, it was because we could not do so without striking at the military force of the United States. Whatever constraint the executive of this great country may be under to recognize the present government at Honolulu has been forced upon it by no act of ours, but by the unlawful acts of its own agents. Attempts to repudiate those acts are vain.[118][119]
In a message to Sanford B. Dole, Liliʻuokalani states:
Now to avoid any collision of armed forces and perhaps the loss of life, I do under this protest, and impelled by said force, yield my authority until such time as the Government of the United States shall, upon the facts being presented to it, undo the action of its representatives and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands.[120][121]
Overthrow of 1893 – Republic of Hawaiʻi (1894–1898)
The treason trials of 1892 brought together the main players in the 1893 overthrow. American Minister John L. Stevens voiced support for Native Hawaiian revolutionaries; William R. Castle, a Committee of Safety member, served as a defense counsel in the treason trials; Alfred Stedman Hartwell, the 1893 annexation commissioner, led the defense effort; and Sanford B. Dole ruled as a supreme court justice against acts of conspiracy and treason.[122]
On January 17, 1893, a small group of sugar and pineapple-growing businessmen, aided by the American minister to Hawaii and backed by heavily armed U.S. soldiers and marines, deposed Queen Liliʻuokalani and installed a provisional government composed of members of the Committee of Safety.[123] According to scholar Lydia Kualapai and Hawaii State Representative Roy Takumi, this committee was formed against the will of Indigenous Hawaiian voters, who constituted the majority of voters at the time, and consisted of "thirteen white men" according to scholar J Kehaulani Kauanui.[124][74][77] The United States Minister to theKingdom of Hawaii (John L. Stevens) conspired with U.S. citizens to overthrow the monarchy.[125] After the overthrow,Sanford B. Dole, a citizen of Hawaii and cousin to James Dole, owner of Hawaiian Fruit Company, a company that benefited from the annexation of Hawaii, became president of the republic when theProvisional Government of Hawaiʻi ended on July 4, 1894.[126][127]
Controversy ensued in the following years as the queen tried to regain her throne. Scholar Lydia Kualapai writes that Liliʻuokalani had "yielded under protest not to the counterfeit Provisional Government of Hawaii but to the superior force of the United States of America" and wrote letters of protest to the president requesting a recognizance of allyship and a reinstatement of her sovereignty against the recent actions of the Provisional Government of Hawaii.[124] Following the January 1893 coup that deposed Liliʻuokalani, many royalists were preparing to overthrow the white-led Republic of Hawaiʻi oligarchy. Hundreds of rifles were covertly shipped to Hawaii and hidden in caves nearby. As armed troops came and went, a Republic of Hawaiʻi patrol discovered the rebel group. On January 6, 1895, gunfire began on both sides and later the rebels were surrounded and captured. Over the next 10 days several skirmishes occurred, until the last armed opposition surrendered or were captured. The Republic of Hawaiʻi took 123 troops into custody as prisoners of war. The mass arrest of nearly 300 more men and women, including Queen Liliʻuokalani, as political prisoners was intended to incapacitate the political resistance against the ruling oligarchy. In March 1895, a military tribunal convicted 170 prisoners of treason and sentenced six troops to be "hung by the neck" until dead, according to historian Ronald Williams Jr. The other prisoners were variously sentenced to from five to thirty-five years' imprisonment at hard labor, while those convicted of lesser charges received sentences from six months' to six years' imprisonment at hard labor.[128] The queen was sentenced to five years in prison, but spent eight months under house arrest until she was released on parole.[129] The total number of arrests related to the 1895 Kaua Kūloko was 406 people on a summary list of statistics, published by the government of the Republic of Hawaiʻi.[128]
The administration of PresidentGrover Cleveland commissioned theBlount Report, which concluded that the removal of Liliʻuokalani had been illegal. Commissioner Blount found the U.S. and its minister guilty on all counts including the overthrow, the landing of the marines, and the recognition of the provisional government.[120] In a message to Congress, Cleveland wrote:
And finally, but for the lawless occupation of Honolulu under false pretexts by the United States forces, and but for Minister Stevens' recognition of the provisional government when the United States forces were its sole support and constituted its only military strength, the Queen and her Government would never have yielded to the provisional government, even for a time and for the sole purpose of submitting her case to the enlightened justice of the United States.[120][123] By an act of war, committed with the participation of a diplomatic representative of the United States and without authority of Congress, the Government of a feeble but friendly and confiding people has been overthrown. A substantial wrong has thus been done which a due regard for our national character as well as the rights of the injured people requires we should endeavor to repair. The provisional government has not assumed a republican or other constitutional form, but has remained a mere executive council or oligarchy, set up without the assent of the people. It has not sought to find a permanent basis of popular support and has given no evidence of an intention to do so.[123][120]
The U.S. government first demanded that Queen Liliʻuokalani be reinstated, but the Provisional Government refused. On December 23, 1893, the response from the Provisional Government of Hawaii, authored by President Sanford B. Dole, was received by Cleveland's representative Minister Albert S. Willis and emphasized that the Provisional Government of Hawaii "unhesitatingly" rejected the demand from the Cleveland Administration.[124]
Congress conducted an independent investigation, and on February 26, 1894, submitted theMorgan Report, which found all parties, including Minister Stevens—with the exception of the queen—"not guilty" and not responsible for the coup.[130] Partisans on both sides of the debate questioned the accuracy and impartiality of both the Blount and Morgan reports over the events of 1893.[117][131][132][133]
In 1993, Congress passed a jointApology Resolution regarding the overthrow; it was signed by PresidentBill Clinton. The resolution apologized and said that the overthrow was illegal in the following phrase: "The Congress—on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi on January 17, 1893, acknowledges the historical significance of this event which resulted in the suppression of the inherent sovereignty of the Native Hawaiian people."[125] The Apology Resolution also "acknowledges that the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States and further acknowledges that the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people over their national lands, either through the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi or through a plebiscite or referendum".[133][125]
AfterWilliam McKinley won the 1896 U.S. presidential election, advocates pressed to annex the Republic of Hawaiʻi. The previous president, Grover Cleveland, was a friend of Queen Liliʻuokalani. McKinley was open to persuasion by U.S. expansionists and by annexationists from Hawaiʻi. He met with three non-native annexationists:Lorrin A. Thurston, Francis March Hatch andWilliam Ansel Kinney. After negotiations in June 1897, Secretary of StateJohn Sherman agreed to a treaty of annexation with these representatives of the Republic of Hawaiʻi.[134] TheU.S. Senate never ratified the treaty. Despite the opposition of most native Hawaiians,[135] theNewlands Resolution was used to annex the republic to the U.S.; it became theTerritory of Hawaiʻi. The Newlands Resolution was passed by the House on June 15, 1898, by 209 votes in favor to 91 against, and by the Senate on July 6, 1898, by a vote of 42 to 21.[136][137][138]
A majority of Native Hawaiians opposed annexation, voiced chiefly by Liliʻuokalani, whom HawaiianHaunani-Kay Trask described as beloved and respected by her people.[139] Liliʻuokalani wrote, "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" in her retelling of the overthrow of her government.[140] According to Trask, newspapers at the time argued Hawaiians would suffer "virtual enslavement under annexation", including further loss of lands and liberties, in particular to sugar plantation owners.[141] These plantations were protected by the U.S. Navy as economic interests, justifying a continued military presence in the islands.[141]
In 1900, Hawaiʻi was granted self-governance and retainedʻIolani Palace as the territorial capitol building. Despite several attempts to become a state, Hawaii remained a territory for 60 years. Plantation owners and capitalists, who maintained control through financial institutions such as theBig Five, found territorial status convenient because they remained able to import cheap, foreign labor. Such immigration and labor practices were prohibited in many states.[142]
Puerto Rican immigration to Hawaiʻi began in 1899, when Puerto Rico's sugar industry was devastated bya hurricane, causing a worldwide shortage of sugar and a huge demand for sugar from Hawaiʻi. Hawaiiansugarcaneplantation owners began to recruit experienced, unemployed laborers in Puerto Rico. Two waves ofKorean immigration to Hawaiʻi occurred in the 20th century. The first wave arrived between 1903 and 1924; the second wave began in 1965 after PresidentLyndon B. Johnson signed theImmigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which removed racial and national barriers and resulted in significantly altering the demographic mix in the U.S.[143]
Prior to the postwar labor movement, Hawaii was governed by plantation owners. Here, three young women pack pineapples into cans in 1928.
In the 1950s, the plantation owners' power was broken by the descendants of immigrant laborers, who were born in Hawaiʻi and were U.S. citizens. They voted against theHawaiʻi Republican Party, strongly supported by plantation owners. The new majority voted for theDemocratic Party of Hawaiʻi, which dominated territorial and state politics for more than 40 years. Eager to gain full representation in Congress and the Electoral College, residents actively campaigned for statehood. In Washington, there was talk that Hawaiʻi would be a Republican Party stronghold. As a result, the admission of Hawaii was matched with the admission of Alaska, which was seen as a Democratic Party stronghold. These predictions proved inaccurate; as of 2017, Hawaiʻi generally votes Democratic, while Alaska typically votes Republican.[144][145][146][147]
During the Cold War, Hawaiʻi became an important site for U.S.cultural diplomacy, military training, research, and as a staging ground for the U.S.war in Vietnam.[148]: 105
In March 1959, Congress passed theHawaiʻi Admissions Act, which U.S. PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower signed into law.[149] The act excludedPalmyra Atoll from statehood; it had been part of the Kingdom and Territory of Hawaiʻi. On June 27, 1959, a referendum asked residents of Hawaiʻi to vote on the statehood bill; 94.3% voted in favor of statehood and 5.7% opposed it.[150] The referendum asked voters to choose between accepting the Act and remaining a U.S. territory. The United Nations'Special Committee on Decolonization later removed Hawaiʻi fromits list of non-self-governing territories.
In 1897, over 21,000 Natives, representing the overwhelming majority of adult Hawaiians, signed anti-annexation petitions in one of the first examples of protest against the overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani's government.[152] Nearly 100 years later, in 1993, 17,000 Hawaiians marched to demand access and control over Hawaiian trust lands and as part of the modern Hawaiian sovereignty movement.[153] Hawaiian trust land ownership and use is still widely contested as a consequence of annexation. According to scholar Winona LaDuke, as of 2015, 95% of Hawaiʻi's land was owned or controlled by just 82 landholders, including over 50% by federal and state governments, as well as the established sugar and pineapple companies.[153] TheThirty Meter Telescope is planned to be built on Hawaiian trust land, but has faced resistance as the projectinterferes with Kanaka indigeneity.[clarify][154]
After Europeans andmainland Americans first arrived during theKingdom of Hawaii period, the overall population of Hawaii—which until that time composed solely of Indigenous Hawaiians—fell dramatically. Many people of the Indigenous Hawaiian population died to foreign diseases, declining from an estimated 300,000 in the 1770s, to 60,000 in the 1850s, to 24,000 in 1920. Other estimates for the pre-contact population range from 150,000 to 1.5 million.[16] The population of Hawaii began to finally increase after an influx of primarily Asian settlers that arrived as migrant laborers at the end of the 19thcentury.[158] In 1923, 42% of the population was of Japanese descent, 9% of Chinese descent, and 16%Native Hawaiian descent.[159]
In 2010, 156,000 residents declared themselves to be solely of Native Hawaiian ancestry, just over half the estimated pre-contact population. An additional 371,000 declared themselves to possess Native Hawaiian ancestry in combination with one or more other races (including other Polynesian groups, but mostlyAsian orWhite).
In 2018, theUnited States Census Bureau estimated the population of Hawaii to be 1,420,491, a decrease of 7,047 from the previous year but an increase of 60,190 (4.42%) since 2010. This includes a natural increase of 48,111 (96,028 births minus 47,917 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 16,956 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 30,068; migration within the country produced a net loss of 13,112 people.[160][needs update]
The center of population of Hawaii is located on the island ofO'ahu. Large numbers of Native Hawaiians have moved toLas Vegas, which has been called the "ninth island" of Hawaii.[161][162]
Hawaii has ade facto population of over 1.4million, due in part to a large number of military personnel and tourist residents.O'ahu is the most populous island; it has the highest population density with a resident population of just under one million in 597 square miles (1,546 km2), approximately 1,650 people per square mile.[g][163] Hawaii's 1.4million residents, spread across 6,000 square miles (15,500 km2) of land, result in an average population density of 188.6 persons per square mile.[164] The state has a lower population density thanOhio andIllinois.[165]
The average projected lifespan of people born in Hawaii in 2000 is 79.8 years; 77.1 years if male, 82.5 if female—longer than the average lifespan of any other U.S. state.[166] As of 2011[update] the U.S. military reported it had 42,371 personnel on the islands.[167]
Hawaii has the highest percentage of Asian Americans and multiracial Americans and the lowest percentage of White Americans of any state. It is the only state where people who identify as Asian Americans are the largest ethnic group. In 2012, 14.5% of the resident population under age 1 was non-Hispanic white.[175] Hawaii's Asian population consists mainly of 198,000 (14.6%) Filipino Americans, 185,000 (13.6%) Japanese Americans, roughly 55,000 (4.0%) Chinese Americans, and 24,000 (1.8%)Korean Americans.[176]
Over 120,000 (8.8%) Hispanic and Latino Americans live in Hawaii. Mexican Americans number over 35,000 (2.6%); Puerto Ricans exceed 44,000 (3.2%). Multiracial Americans constitute almost 25% of Hawaii's population, exceeding 320,000 people. Hawaii is the only state to have a tri-racial group as its largest multiracial group, one that includes white, Asian and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (22% of all mutiracial population).[177] The non-Hispanic White population numbers around 310,000—just over 20% of the population. The multi-racial population outnumbers the non-Hispanic white population by about 10,000 people.[176] In 1970, the Census Bureau reported Hawaii's population was 38.8% white and 57.7% Asian and Pacific Islander.[178]
There are more than 80,000 Indigenous Hawaiians—5.9% of the population.[176] Including those with partial ancestry, Samoan Americans constitute 2.8% of Hawaii's population, and Tongan Americans constitute 0.6%.[179]
The five largest European ancestries in Hawaii are German (7.4%), Irish (5.2%), English (4.6%), Portuguese (4.3%) and Italian (2.7%). About 82.2% of the state's residents were born in the United States. Roughly 75% of foreign-born residents originate from Asia. Hawaii is amajority-minority state. It was expected to be one of three states that would not have a non-Hispanic white plurality in 2014; the other two are California andNew Mexico.[180]
Map of the largest racial/ethnic group by area; red indicates Native Hawaiian, blue indicates non-Hispanic white, and green indicates Asian. Darker shades indicate a higher proportion of the population
The third group of foreigners to arrive in Hawaii were from China. Chinese workers on Western trading ships settled in Hawaii starting in 1789. In 1820, the first American missionaries arrived to preach Christianity and teach the Hawaiians Western ways.[183] As of 2015[update], a large proportion of Hawaii's population have Asian ancestry—especially Filipino, Japanese and Chinese. Many are descendants of immigrants brought to work on the sugarcane plantations in the mid-to-late 19th century. The first 153 Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaii on June 19, 1868. They were not approved by the then-current Japanese government because the contract was between a broker and theTokugawa shogunate—by then replaced by theMeiji Restoration. The first Japanese current-government-approved immigrants arrived on February 9, 1885, after Kalākaua's petition toEmperor Meiji when Kalākaua visited Japan in 1881.[184][185]
Almost 13,000 Portuguese migrants had arrived by 1899; they also worked on the sugarcane plantations.[186] By 1901, more than 5,000 Puerto Ricans were living in Hawaii.[187]
English andHawaiian are listed as Hawaii's official languages in the state's 1978 constitution, in Article XV, Section 4.[188] However, the use of Hawaiian is limited because the constitution specifies that "Hawaiian shall be required for public acts and transactions only as provided by law".Hawaiʻi Creole English, locally referred to as "Pidgin", is the native language of many native residents and is a second language for many others.[189]
As of the 2000 Census, 73.4% of Hawaii residents age5 and older exclusively speak English at home.[190] According to the 2008 American Community Survey, 74.6% of Hawaii's residents older than5 speak only English at home.[181] In their homes, 21.0% of state residents speak an additionalAsian language, 2.6% speak Spanish, 1.6% speak otherIndo-European languages and 0.2% speak another language.[181]
After English, other languages popularly spoken in the state areTagalog,Ilocano, and Japanese.[191] 5.4% of residents speak Tagalog, which includes non-native speakers ofFilipino, a Tagalog-based national and co-official language of the Philippines; 5.0% speak Japanese and 4.0% speak Ilocano; 1.2% speak Chinese, 1.7% speak Hawaiian; 1.7% speak Spanish; 1.6% speakKorean; and 1.0% speakSamoan.[190]
According to Schütz, the Marquesans colonized the archipelago in roughly 300 CE[195] and were later followed by waves of seafarers from theSociety Islands,Samoa andTonga.[196] These Polynesians remained in the islands; they eventually became the Hawaiian people andtheir languages evolved into the Hawaiian language.[197] Kimura and Wilson say: "[l]inguists agree that Hawaiian is closely related to Eastern Polynesian, with a particularly strong link in the Southern Marquesas, and a secondary link in Tahiti, which may be explained by voyaging between the Hawaiian and Society Islands".[198]
Before the arrival of Captain James Cook, the Hawaiian language had no written form. That form was developed mainly by American Protestant missionaries between 1820 and 1826 who assigned to the Hawaiian phonemes letters from the Latin alphabet. Interest in Hawaiian increased significantly in the late 20th century. With the help of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, specially designated immersion schools in which all subjects would be taught in Hawaiian were established. TheUniversity of Hawaiʻi developed a Hawaiian-language graduate studies program. Municipal codes were altered to favor Hawaiian place and street names for new civic developments.[199]
Hawaiian distinguishes betweenlong and short vowel sounds. In modern practice, vowel length is indicated with amacron (kahakō). Hawaiian-language newspapers (nūpepa) published from 1834 to 1948 and traditional native speakers of Hawaiian generally omit the marks in their own writing. The ʻokina and kahakō are intended to capture the proper pronunciation of Hawaiian words.[200] The Hawaiian language uses theglottal stop (ʻOkina) as a consonant. It is written as a symbol similar to the apostrophe or left-hanging (opening) single quotation mark.[201]
The keyboard layout used for Hawaiian isQWERTY.[202]
Mixed Hawaiian/European-American family in Honolulu, 1850s
Hawaiian Pidgin, officially known asHawaiʻi Creole English (HCE), is a creole language that emerged inHawaiʻi during the 19th century as a means of communication among diverse groups working on sugarcane plantations.[203] Its lexicon is primarily derived fromEnglish, with significant contributions fromHawaiian,Chinese,Japanese,Portuguese,Ilocano, andTagalog.
The development of Hawaiian Pidgin began withPidgin Hawaiian, an earlier pidgin that formed in the 1790s during initial contact betweenNative Hawaiians and foreigners. As plantation laborers from various countries arrived, a new pidgin based on English evolved to facilitate communication among workers and supervisors.[204]
By the early 20th century, children of these plantation workers began acquiringHawaiian Pidgin as their first language, leading to its creolization. This transition marked the emergence of HCE as a fully developed creole language.[205][203]
HCE incorporates Hawaiian words, especially in place names and terms for local flora and fauna. For instance, the Hawaiian term for tuna, "ahi," is commonly used in HCE. Additionally, certain English words have adapted meanings; "aunty" and "uncle" are used to address any respected elder, regardless of familial relation.[206][207][208]
Some expressions from HCE have permeated other communities, particularly through surfing culture. Terms like "brah" (brother) and "da kine" (a versatile placeholder term) have gained recognition beyond Hawaiʻi.[206]
In 2015, theU.S. Census Bureau recognized Hawaiian Pidgin as an official language in Hawaiʻi, reflecting its widespread use among residents. Despite this recognition, debates continue about its role in education and its impact on learningStandard English.[209]
Hawaiʻi Sign Language
Hawaiʻi Sign Language, asign language for the Deaf based on the Hawaiian language, has been in use in the islands since the early 1800s. It is dwindling in numbers due toAmerican Sign Language supplanting HSL through schooling and various other domains.[210]
Hawaii is among the most religiously diverse states in the U.S., with one in ten residents practicing a non-Christian faith.[213] Roughly one-quarter to half the population identify as unaffiliated and nonreligious, making Hawaii one of the most secular states as well.
Christianity remains the majority religion, represented mainly by variousProtestant groups andCatholicism. The second-largest religion isBuddhism, which comprises a larger proportion of the population than in any other state; it is concentrated in the Japanese community. Native Hawaiians continue to engage in traditional religious and spiritual practices today, often adhering to Christian and traditional beliefs at the same time.[62][102][90][103]
Note: Births in this table do not add up, because Hispanic peoples are counted both by their ethnicity and by their race, giving a higher overall number.
1) Until 2016, data for births of Asian origin, included also births of the Pacific Islander group.
2) Since 2016, data for births ofWhite Hispanic origin are not collected, but included in oneHispanic group; persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
LGBTQ people
Hawaii has had a long history ofLGBTQIA+ identities.Māhū ("in the middle") were a precolonialthird gender with traditional spiritual and social roles, widely respected as healers. Homosexual relationships known asaikāne were widespread and normal in ancient Hawaiian society.[230][231][232] Among men,aikāne relationships often began as teens and continued throughout their adult lives, even if they also maintained heterosexual partners.[233] Whileaikāne usually refers to male homosexuality, some stories also refer to women, implying that women may have been involved inaikāne relationships as well.[234] Journals written byCaptain Cook's crew record that manyaliʻi (hereditary nobles) also engaged inaikāne relationships, andKamehameha the Great, the founder and first ruler of theKingdom of Hawaii, was also known to participate. Cook's second lieutenant and co-astronomerJames King observed that "all the chiefs had them", and recounts that Cook was actually asked by one chief to leave King behind, considering the role a great honor.
Hawaiian scholarLilikalā Kameʻeleihiwa notes thataikāne served a practical purpose of building mutual trust and cohesion; "If you didn't sleep with a man, how could you trust him when you went into battle? How would you know if he was going to be the warrior that would protect you at all costs, if he wasn't your lover?"[235]
As Western colonial influences intensified in the late 19th and early 20th century, the wordaikāne wasexpurgated of its original sexual meaning, and in print simply meant "friend". Nonetheless, in Hawaiian language publications its metaphorical meaning can still mean either "friend" or "lover" without stigmatization.[236]
A 2012 Gallup poll found that Hawaii had the largest proportion of LGBTQIA+ adults in the U.S., at 5.1%, an estimated 53,966 individuals. The number of same-sex couple households in 2010 was 3,239, representing a 35.5% increase from a decade earlier.[237][238] In 2013, Hawaii became the fifteenth U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage; this reportedly boosted tourism by $217million.[239]
Post-annexation, Hawaii's economy and demographic changes were shaped mostly by growth in the agricultural sector.From the end of World War II onwards, depictions and photographs, such as this one of Hawaii as a tropical, leisure paradise, encouraged the growth of tourism in Hawaii, which eventually became the largest industry of the islands.The U.S. federal government's spending on Hawaii-stationed personnel, installations, and materiel (either directly or through military personnel spending) amounts to Hawaii's second largest source of income after tourism.
The history of Hawaii's economy can be traced through a succession of dominant industries:sandalwood,[240]whaling,[241] sugarcane,pineapple, the military, tourism and education. By the 1840s, sugar plantations had gained a strong foothold in the Hawaiian economy, due to a high demand of sugar in the United States and rapid transport via steamships.[78] Sugarcane plantations were tightly controlled by American missionary families and businessmen known as "the Big Five", who monopolized control of the sugar industry's profits.[78][79] By the time Hawaiian annexation was being considered in 1898, sugarcane producers turned to cultivating tropical fruits like pineapple, which became the principal export for Hawaiʻi's plantation economy.[79][78] Since statehood in 1959, tourism has been the largest industry, contributing 24.3% of the gross state product (GSP) in 1997, despite efforts to diversify. The state's gross output for 2003 wasUS$47billion; per capita income for Hawaii residents in 2014 wasUS$54,516.[242] Hawaiian exports include food and clothing. These industries play a small role in the Hawaiian economy, due to the shipping distance to viable markets, such as theWest Coast of the United States. The state's food exports include coffee, macadamia nuts, pineapple, livestock, sugarcane and honey.[243]
By weight, honey bees may be the state's most valuable export.[244] According to the Hawaii Agricultural Statistics Service, agricultural sales wereUS$370.9million from diversified agriculture,US$100.6million from pineapple, andUS$64.3million from sugarcane. Hawaii's relatively consistent climate has attracted the seed industry, which is able to test three generations of crops per year on the islands, compared with one or two on the mainland.[245] Seeds yieldedUS$264 million in 2012, supporting 1,400 workers.[246]
As of December 2015[update], the state's unemployment rate was 3.2%.[247] In 2009, the United States military spentUS$12.2billion in Hawaii, accounting for 18% of spending in the state for that year. 75,000 United States Department of Defense personnel live in Hawaii.[248] According to a 2013 study by Phoenix Marketing International, Hawaii at that time had the fourth-largest number of millionaires per capita in the United States, with a ratio of 7.2%.[249]
Taxation
Tax is collected by the Hawaii Department of Taxation.[250] Most government revenue comes frompersonal income taxes and ageneral excise tax (GET) levied primarily on businesses; there is no statewide tax on sales,[251] personal property, or stock transfers,[252] while the effective property tax rate is among the lowest in the country.[253] The high rate of tourism means that millions of visitors generate public revenue through GET and the hotel room tax.[254] However, Hawaii residents generally pay among the most state taxes per person in the U.S.[254]
The Tax Foundation of Hawaii considers the state's tax burden too high, claiming that it contributes to higher prices and the perception of an unfriendly business climate.[254] The nonprofit Tax Foundation ranks Hawaii third in income tax burden and second in its overall tax burden, though notes that a significant portion of taxes are borne by tourists.[255] FormerState SenatorSam Slom attributed Hawaii's comparatively high tax rate to the fact that the state government is responsible for education, health care, and social services that are usually handled at a county or municipal level in most other states.[254]
Cost of living
The cost of living in Hawaii, specifically Honolulu, is high compared to that of most major U.S. cities, although it is 6.7% lower than in New York City and 3.6% lower than in San Francisco.[256] These numbers may not take into account some costs, such as increased travel costs for flights, additional shipping fees, and the loss of promotional participation opportunities for customers outside the contiguous U.S. While some online stores offer free shipping on orders to Hawaii, many merchants exclude Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and certain other U.S. territories.[257][258]
Hawaii electricity production by typeElectricity prices by metro area
Hawaiian Electric Industries, a privately owned company, provides 95% of the state's population with electricity, mostly from fossil-fuel power stations. Average electricity prices in October 2014 (36.41 cents per kilowatt-hour) were nearly three times the national average (12.58 cents per kilowatt-hour) and 80% higher than the second-highest state, Connecticut.[259]
Median housing prices by State
The median home value in Hawaii in the 2000 U.S. Census wasUS$272,700, while the national median home value wasUS$119,600. Hawaii home values were the highest of all states, including California with a median home value ofUS$211,500.[260] Research from theNational Association of Realtors places the 2010 median sale price of a single family home in Honolulu, Hawaii, atUS$607,600 and the U.S. median sales price atUS$173,200. The sale price of single family homes in Hawaii was the highest of any U.S. city in 2010, just above that of the Silicon Valley area of California (US$602,000).[261]
Hawaii's very highcost of living is the result of several interwoven factors of the global economy in addition to domestic U.S. government trade policy. Like other regions with desirable weather year-round, such as California,Arizona and Florida, Hawaii's residents can be considered to be subject to a "sunshine tax". This situation is further exacerbated by the natural factors of geography and world distribution that lead to higher prices for goods due to increased shipping costs, a problem which manyisland states and territories suffer from as well.
The higher costs to ship goods across an ocean may be further increased by the requirements of theJones Act, which generally requires that goods be transported between places within the U.S., including between the mainland U.S. west coast and Hawaii, using only U.S.-owned, built, and crewed ships. Jones Act-compliant vessels are often more expensive to build and operate than foreign equivalents, which can drive up shipping costs. While the Jones Act does not affect transportation of goods to Hawaii directly from Asia, this type of trade is nonetheless not common; this is a result of other primarily economic reasons including additional costs associated with stopping over in Hawaii (e.g. pilot and port fees), the market size of Hawaii, and the economics of using ever-larger ships that cannot be handled in Hawaii for transoceanic voyages. Therefore, Hawaii relies on receiving most inbound goods on Jones Act-qualified vessels originating from the U.S. west coast, which may contribute to the increased cost of some consumer goods and therefore the overall cost of living.[262][263] Critics of the Jones Act contend that Hawaii consumers ultimately bear the expense of transporting goods imposed by the Jones Act.[264]
The aboriginal culture of Hawaii is Polynesian. Hawaii represents the northernmost extension of the vastPolynesian Triangle of the south and central Pacific Ocean. While traditional Hawaiian culture remains as vestiges in modern Hawaiian society, there are re-enactments of the ceremonies and traditions throughout the islands. Some of these cultural influences, including the popularity (in greatly modified form) oflūʻau andhula, are strong enough to affect the wider United States.
Taro, or in Hawaiiankalo, was one of the primary staples in Ancient Hawaii and remains a central ingredient in Hawaiian gastronomy today.
Thecuisine of Hawaii is a fusion of many foods brought by immigrants to the Hawaiian Islands, including the earliest Polynesians andNative Hawaiian cuisine, andAmerican,Chinese,Filipino,Japanese,Korean,Polynesian,Puerto Rican, andPortuguese origins. Plant and animal food sources are imported from around the world for agricultural use in Hawaii.Poi, a starch made by poundingtaro, is one of the traditional foods of the islands. Many local restaurants serve the ubiquitousplate lunch, which features two scoops of rice, a simplified version of Americanmacaroni salad and a variety of toppings includinghamburger patties, a fried egg, andgravy of aloco moco, Japanese styletonkatsu or the traditional lūʻau favorites, includingkālua pork andlaulau.Spam musubi is an example of the fusion of ethnic cuisine that developed on the islands among the mix of immigrant groups and military personnel. In the 1990s, a group of chefs developedHawaii regional cuisine as a contemporary fusion cuisine.
Some key customs and etiquette in Hawaii are as follows: when visiting a home, it is considered good manners to bring a small gift for one's host (for example, a dessert). Thus, parties are usually in the form of potlucks. Most locals take their shoes off before entering a home. It is customary for Hawaiian families, regardless of ethnicity, to hold a luau to celebrate a child's first birthday. It is also customary at Hawaiian weddings, especially at Filipino weddings, for the bride and groom to do a money dance (also called thepandanggo). Print media and local residents recommend that one refer to non-Hawaiians as "locals of Hawaii" or "people of Hawaii".
A stone carving of a Hawaiian deity, housed at aGerman museum
Hawaiian mythology includes the legends, historical tales, and sayings of the ancient Hawaiian people. It is considered a variant of a more generalPolynesian mythology that developed a unique character for several centuries beforec. 1800. It is associated with theHawaiian religion, which was officially suppressed in the 19th century but was kept alive by some practitioners to the modern day.[265] Prominent figures and terms includeAumakua, the spirit of an ancestor or family god andKāne, the highest of the four major Hawaiian deities.[citation needed]
A sacred god figure wrapping for the war god'Oro, made of woven dried coconut fibre (sennit), made to protect a Polynesian god effigy (to'o), carved from wood
Polynesian mythology is theoral traditions of the people of Polynesia, a grouping of Central and South Pacific Ocean islandarchipelagos in thePolynesian triangle together with the scattered cultures known as thePolynesian outliers. Polynesians speak languages that descend from a language reconstructed asProto-Polynesian that was probably spoken in the area aroundTonga andSamoa in around 1000 BC.[266]
The Polynesian languages are part of theAustronesian language family. Many are close enough in terms of vocabulary and grammar to bemutually intelligible. There are also substantial cultural similarities between the various groups, especially in terms of social organization, childrearing, horticulture, building and textile technologies. Their mythologies in particular demonstrate local reworkings of commonly shared tales. The Polynesian cultures each have distinct but related oral traditions; legends or myths are traditionally considered to recount ancient history (the time of "pō") and the adventures of gods ("atua") and deified ancestors.[citation needed]
The music of Hawaii includes traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock andhip hop.
Styles such asslack-key guitar are well known worldwide, while Hawaiian-tinged music is a frequent part ofHollywood soundtracks. Hawaii also made a major contribution tocountry music with the introduction of thesteel guitar.[268]
Traditional Hawaiian folk music is a major part of the state's musical heritage. The Hawaiian people have inhabited the islands for centuries and have retained much of their traditional musical knowledge. Their music is largely religious in nature, and includes chanting and dance music.
Due to its distance from the continental United States, team sports in Hawaii are characterised by youth, collegial and amateur teams over professional teams, although some professional teams sports teams have at one time played in the state. Notable professional teams includeThe Hawaiians, which played at theWorld Football League in 1974 and 1975; theHawaii Islanders, a Triple-A minor league baseball team that played at thePacific Coast League from 1961 to 1987; andTeam Hawaii, aNorth American Soccer League team that played in 1977.
Surfing has been a central part ofPolynesian culture for centuries. Since the late 19th century, Hawaii has become a major site for surfists from around the world. Notable competitions include theTriple Crown of Surfing andThe Eddie. Likewise, Hawaii has produced elite-level swimmers, including five-time Olympic medalistDuke Kahanamoku andBuster Crabbe, who set 16 swimmingworld records.
Hawaiians have found success in the world ofsumo wrestling.Takamiyama Daigorō was the first foreigner to ever win a sumo title in Japan, while his protegeAkebono Tarō became a top-level sumo wrestler in Japan during the 1990s before transitioning into a successfulprofessional wrestling career in the 2000s. Akebono was the first foreign-born Sumo to reachYokozuna in history and helped fuel a boom in interest in Sumo during his career.
Tourism is an important part of the Hawaiian economy as it represents ¼ of the economy. According to the Hawaii Tourism: 2019 Annual Visitor Research Report, a total of 10,386,673 visitors arrived in 2019 which increased 5% from the previous year, with expenditures of almost $18 billion.[271] In 2019, tourism provided over 216,000 jobs statewide and contributed more than $2 billion in tax revenue.[272] Due to mild year-round weather, tourist travel is popular throughout the year. Tourists across the globe visited Hawaii in 2019 with over 1 million tourists from the U.S. East, almost 2 million Japanese tourists, and almost 500,000 Canadian tourists.
It was with statehood in 1959 that the Hawaii tourism industry began to grow.[273]
According to Hawaiian scholarHaunani-Kay Trask, tourism in Hawaii has led to the commodification and exploitation of Hawaiian culture resulting in insidious forms of "cultural prostitution". Hawaii has been used to fuel ideas of escapism yet tourism in Hawaii ignores the harm Kanaka and locals experience.[274] Cultural traditions such as the hula have been made "ornamental ... a form of exotica" for tourists as a way for large corporations and land owners to gain profit over the exploitation of Hawaiian people and culture.[274]
Tourism in Hawaiʻi has been considered as an escape from reality resulting in the dismissal of violence faced by Native Hawaiians and locals living on the land. According to scholarWinona LaDuke, native Hawaiians have been forced to gather "shrimp and fish from ponds sitting on resort property".[275] Tourism has also had damaging effects on the environment such as water shortages, overcrowding, sea level rising, elevated sea surface temperatures and micro plastics on beaches.[276][277][278]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism in Hawaiʻi came to a halt, which allowed the land, water, and animals to began to heal. Fish like the baby akule and big ulua have returned after years of not being around the bay. The coral reefs, fish, water growth, andlimu (algae) growth was able to flourish without the heavy toll of tourism.[279]
There has been pushback against tourism by Native Hawaiians, urging people not to visit the islands. A survey by the Hawaii Tourism Authority indicated over ⅔ of Hawaiians did not want tourists to return to Hawaii. Tourism had "become extractive and hurtful, with tourists coming here and taking, taking, taking, taking, without any reciprocation with locals".[280]
As of 2009[update], Hawaii's health care system insures 92% of residents. Under the state's plan, businesses are required to provide insurance to employees who work more than twenty hours per week. Heavy regulation of insurance companies helps reduce the cost to employers. Due in part to heavy emphasis on preventive care, Hawaiians require hospital treatment less frequently than the rest of the United States, while total health care expenses measured as a percentage of state GDP are substantially lower.[citation needed] Proponents ofuniversal health care elsewhere in the U.S. sometimes use Hawaii as a model for proposed federal and state health care plans.[citation needed]
Hawaii has the only school system within the U.S. that is unified statewide. Policy decisions are made by the fourteen-member stateBoard of Education, which sets policy and hires the superintendent of schools, who oversees theHawaii Department of Education. The Department of Education is divided into seven districts; four on Oʻahu and one for each of the other three counties.
Public elementary, middle and high school test scores in Hawaii are below national averages on tests mandated under theNo Child Left Behind Act. The Hawaii Board of Education requires all eligible students to take these tests and report all student test scores. This may have unbalanced the results that reported in August 2005 that of 282 schools across the state, 185 failed to reach federal minimum performance standards in mathematics and reading.[285] TheACT college placement tests show that in 2005, seniors scored slightly above the national average (21.9 compared with 20.9),[286] but in the widely acceptedSAT examinations, Hawaii's college-bound seniors tend to score below the national average in all categories except mathematics.
Hawaii has the highest rates of private school attendance in the nation. During the 2011–2012 school year, Hawaii public and charter schools had an enrollment of 181,213,[288] while private schools had 37,695.[289] Private schools educated over 17% of students in Hawaii that school year, nearly three times the approximate national average of 6%.[290] According to Alia Wong ofHonolulu Civil Beat, this is due to private schools being relatively inexpensive compared to ones on the mainland as well as the overall reputations of private schools.[291]
Independent schools can select their students, while most public schools of HIDOE are open to all students in their attendance zones. The Kamehameha Schools are the only schools in the U.S. that openly grant admission to students based on ancestry; collectively, they are one of the wealthiest schools in the United States, if not the world, having over eleven billion US dollars in estate assets.[292] In 2005, Kamehameha enrolled 5,398 students, 8.4% of the Native Hawaiian children in the state.[293]
Asystem of state highways encircles each main island. Only Oʻahu has federal highways, and is the only area outside the contiguous 48 states to have signedInterstate highways. Narrow, winding roads and congestion in populated places can slow traffic. Each major island has a public bus system.
Honolulu International Airport (IATA:HNL), which shares runways with the adjacentHickam Field (IATA:HIK), is the major commercial aviation hub of Hawaii. The commercial aviation airport offers intercontinental service to North America, Asia, Australia and Oceania.Hawaiian Airlines andMokulele Airlines use jets to provide services between the large airports in Honolulu, Līhuʻe, Kahului, Kona and Hilo. These airlines also provide air freight services between the islands. On May 30, 2017, the airport was officially renamed as theDaniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), after U.S. SenatorDaniel K. Inouye.[294]
Until air passenger services began in the 1920s,[295] private boats were the sole means of traveling between the islands. Seaflite operatedhydrofoils between the major islands in the mid-1970s.[296]
TheHawaii Superferry operated between Oʻahu and Maui between December 2007 and March 2009, with additional routes planned for other islands. Protests and legal problems over environmental impact statements ended the service, though the company operating Superferry has expressed a wish to recommence ferry services in the future.[297] Currently there is a passenger ferry service inMaui County between Lanaʻi and Maui,[298] which does not take vehicles; a passenger ferry to Molokai ended in 2016.[299] CurrentlyNorwegian Cruise Lines andPrincess Cruises provide passenger cruise ship services between the larger islands.[300][301]
Rail
At one time Hawaii had a network of railroads on each of the larger islands that transported farm commodities and passengers. Most were3 ft (914 mm)narrow gauge systems but there were some2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge on some of the smaller islands. The standard gauge in the U.S. is4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm). By far the largest railroad was theOahu Railway and Land Company (OR&L) that ran lines from Honolulu across the western and northern part of Oahu.[302]
The OR&L was important for moving troops and goods during World War II. Traffic on this line was busy enough for signals to be used to facilitate movement of trains and to requirewigwag signals at some railroad crossings for the protection of motorists. The main line was officially abandoned in 1947, although part of it was bought by the U.S. Navy and operated until 1970. Thirteen miles (21 km) of track remain; preservationists occasionally run trains over a portion of this line.[302]
Skyline is an elevated passenger rail line operated byHART, a semi-autonomous agency of theCity and County of Honolulu. It was built with the intention to relieve highway congestion.[303] A portion of Skyline opened for service in 2023, with the next phase expected to open in October 2025, and the final phase in 2031.[304]
The movement of the Hawaiian royal family from Hawaiʻi Island to Maui, and subsequently to Oʻahu, explains the modern-day distribution of population centers.Kamehameha III chose the largest city, Honolulu, as his capital because of its natural harbor—the present-dayHonolulu Harbor. Now the state capital, Honolulu is located along the southeast coast of Oʻahu. The previous capital wasLahaina, Maui, and before thatKailua-Kona, Hawaiʻi. Some major towns areHilo;Kaneohe;Kailua;Pearl City;Waipahu;Kahului;Kailua-Kona.Kīhei; andLīhuʻe.
The state government of Hawaii is modeled after the federal government with adaptations originating from the kingdom era of Hawaiian history. As codified in theConstitution of Hawaii, there are threebranches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial, although theOffice of Hawaiian Affairs is often referred to as the fourth branch of government as it does not fall under the other three branches. The executive branch is led by theGovernor of Hawaii, who is assisted by theLieutenant Governor of Hawaii, both of whom are elected on the same ticket. The governor is the only state public official elected statewide; all others are appointed by the governor. The lieutenant governor acts as theSecretary of State. The governor and lieutenant governor oversee twenty agencies and departments from offices in theState Capitol. The official residence of the governor isWashington Place.
Brian Schatz is the senior United States senator from Hawaii. He was appointed to the office on December 26, 2012, by GovernorNeil Abercrombie, following the death of former senatorDaniel Inouye. Schatz then won the 2014 special election, and the 2016 and 2022 regular elections in Hawaii as Senator.
The state's junior senator isMazie Hirono, the former representative from the second congressional district. She won in the 2012, 2018, and 2024 elections for Senator in Hawaii, following the retirement ofDaniel Akaka. Hirono is the first female Asian American senator and the first Buddhist senator.
Hawaii incurred the biggestseniority shift between the112th and113th Congresses. The state went from a delegation consisting of senators who were first and twenty-first in seniority[h] to their respective replacements, relative newcomers Schatz and Hirono.[309]
Since gaining statehood and participating in its first election in1960, Hawaii has supported Democrats in all but two presidential elections:1972 and1984, both of which were landslide reelection victories for RepublicansRichard Nixon andRonald Reagan respectively. In Hawaii's statehood tenure, only Minnesota has supported Republican candidates fewer times in presidential elections. The 2022Cook Partisan Voting Index ranks Hawaii as the third-most heavily Democratic state in the nation.[310]
Hawaii has not elected a Republican to represent the state in the U.S. Senate sinceHiram Fong in 1970; since 1977, both of the state's U.S. Senators have been Democrats.[311][312]
In2004,John Kerry won the state's four electoral votes by a margin of nine percentage points with 54% of the vote. Every county supported the Democratic candidate. In 1964,favorite son candidate senator Hiram Fong of Hawaii sought theRepublican presidential nomination, whilePatsy Mink ran in the Oregon primary in 1972.
GovernorDavid Ige with U.S. Navy admiralJohn Richardson at the 75th Commemoration Event of the Pearl Harbor and Oahu attacks in 2016
Honolulu-bornBarack Obama, then serving as aUnited States senator fromIllinois, was elected the44th president of the United States onNovember 4, 2008, and was re-elected for a second term onNovember 6, 2012. Obama had won the Hawaii Democratic caucus on February 19, 2008, with 76% of the vote. He was the third Hawaii-born candidate to seek the nomination of a major party, the first presidential nominee and first president from Hawaii.[313][314]
In a 2020 study, Hawaii was ranked as the 6th easiest state for citizens to vote in.[315]
Law enforcement
Hawaii has a statewide sheriff department under itsDepartment of Public Safety that provides law enforcement protection to government buildings andDaniel K. Inouye International Airport as well as correction services to all correctional facilities owned by the state.
Counties have their own respective police departments with their own jurisdictions:
In January 2022, state officials proposed legislation that would split the sheriff department from the Department of Public Safety and consolidate it with the criminal investigation division from theDepartment of the Attorney General to create a new Department of Law Enforcement that would create a statewide police agency with the ability to investigate crimes.[317]
While Hawaii is internationally recognized as a state of the United States while also being broadly accepted as such in mainstream understanding, thelegality of this status has been questioned in U.S. District Court,[318] the U.N., and other international forums.[319] Domestically, the debate is a topic covered in theKamehameha Schools curriculum,[320] and in classes at theUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.[321]
Political organizations seeking some form of sovereignty for Hawaii have been active since the late 19th century. Generally, their focus is onself-determination andself-governance, either for Hawaii as an independent nation (in many proposals, for "Hawaiian nationals" descended from subjects of the Hawaiian Kingdom or declaring themselves as such by choice), or for people of whole or partnative Hawaiian ancestry in an indigenous "nation to nation" relationship akin totribal sovereignty withUS federal recognition of Native Hawaiians. The pro-federal recognitionAkaka Bill drew substantial opposition among Hawaiian residents in the 2000s.[322][323] Opponents to the tribal approach argue it is not a legitimate path to Hawaiian nationhood; they also argue that the U.S. government should not be involved in re-establishing Hawaiian sovereignty.[324][325]
Some groups also advocate some form of redress from the United States for the1893 overthrow ofQueen Liliʻuokalani, and for what is described as a prolongedmilitary occupation beginning with the 1898 annexation. TheApology Resolution passed by US Congress in 1993 is cited as a major impetus by the movement for Hawaiian sovereignty.[326] The sovereignty movement considers Hawaii to be an illegally occupied nation.[327][330][331][325]
^The summit ofMauna Kea is the highest point in Oceania. Mauna Kea is also the tallest mountain on Earth when measured from base to summit. Theshield volcano sits on the floor of the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 5,998 meters (19,678 ft) for a total height of 10,205.3 meters (33,482 ft).
^Local usage generally reservesHawaiian as anethnonym referring toNative Hawaiians.Hawaii resident orfrom Hawaii is the preferred local form to refer to state residents in general regardless of ethnicity.Hawaii may also be used adjectivally. TheAP Stylebook, 42nd ed. (2007), also prescribes this usage (p. 112).
^Pollex—a reconstruction of the Proto-Polynesian lexicon, Biggs and Clark, 1994.[24] The asterisk preceding the word signifies that it is a reconstructed word form.
^Theʻokina, which resembles an apostrophe and precedes the finali inHawaiʻi, is a consonant in Hawaiian and phonetically represents theglottal stop/ʔ/.
^For comparison,New Jersey—which has 8,717,925 people in 7,417 square miles (19,210 km2)—is the most-densely populated state inthe Union with 1,134 people per square mile.
^Senator Inouye, who ranked first in seniority, died in December 2012. SenatorDaniel Akaka, who ranked 21st of the Senate's one hundred members, retired in January 2013 after serving twenty-three years in the Senate.
^Cartwright, Bruce (1929)."The Legend of Hawaii-loa"(PDF).Journal of the Polynesian Society.38:105–121. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on July 13, 2007 – via Ethnomathematics Digital Library (EDL).
^Biggs, Bruce (1994). "Does Māori have a closest relative?". In Sutton, Douglas G. (ed.).The Origins of the First New Zealanders. Auckland, NZ: Auckland University Press. pp. 96–105.ISBN978-1-86940-098-9. Clark, Ross (1994). "Moriori and Māori: The Linguistic Evidence". In Sutton, Douglas G. (ed.).The Origins of the First New Zealanders. Auckland, NZ: Auckland University Press. pp. 123–135.ISBN978-1-86940-098-9.
^Pukui, M.K.; Elbert, S.H. (1986).Hawaiian Dictionary. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaiʻi Press. p. 62.ISBN978-0-8248-0703-0.
^Pukui, M.K.; Elbert, S.H.; Mookini, E.T. (1974).Place Names of Hawaii. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaiʻi Press.ISBN978-0-8248-0208-0.
^"Article XV, Section 4".The Constitution of the State of Hawaii. Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau.Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. RetrievedMarch 18, 2015.
^"Article XV, Section 1".The Constitution of the State of Hawaii. Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau.Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. RetrievedMarch 18, 2015.
^Swanson, D.A.; Rausch, J. (2008). "Human Footprints in Relation to the 1790 Eruption of Kīlauea".American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting.11: V11B–2022.Bibcode:2008AGUFM.V11B2022S.
^Le Bas, T.P. (2007). "Slope Failures on the Flanks of Southern Cape Verde Islands". In Lykousis, Vasilios (ed.).Submarine mass movements and their consequences: 3rd international symposium.Springer Science+Business Media.ISBN978-1-4020-6511-8.
^Fletcher, Charles H.; Murray-Wallace, Colin V.; Glenn, Craig R.; Sherman, Clark E.; Popp, Brian; Hessler, Angela (2005). "Age and Origin of Late Quaternary Eolianite, Kaiehu Point (Moomomi), Molokai, Hawaii".Journal of Coastal Research:97–112.JSTOR25736978.
^ab"State Climate Extremes Committee (SCEC)". US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Centers for Environmental Information.Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. RetrievedFebruary 2, 2017.
^Katharine Bjork, "The Link that Kept the Philippines Spanish: Mexican Merchant Interests and the Manila Trade, 1571–1815",Journal of World History 9, no. 1 (1998), 25–50.
^"Commemorating 50 Years of Statehood".archive.lingle.hawaii.gov. State of Hawaii. March 18, 2009. Archived fromthe original on March 21, 2014. RetrievedMarch 21, 2014.On June 27, 1959, a plebiscite was held to allow Hawaiʻi residents to ratify the congressional vote for statehood. The 'yes for statehood' garnered 94.3 percent (132,773 votes) while the 'no' ballots totaled 5.7 percent (7,971 votes).
^Center for New Media and Promotions(C2PO)."2010 Census Data".Archived from the original on May 22, 2017. RetrievedDecember 9, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^Hoffman, Frederic L. (September 1899). "The Portuguese Population in the United States".Publications of the American Statistical Association.6 (47):327–336.doi:10.2307/2276463.JSTOR2276463.OCLC11137237.S2CID128107627.(subscription required) See pp. 332–333.
^Schütz, Albert J. (1994).The voices of Eden: a history of Hawaiian language studies. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaiʻi Press.ISBN0-585-28415-6.OCLC45733324.
^Schütz, Albert J. (1994).The Voices of Eden: A History of Hawaiian Language Studies. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaiʻi Press. pp. 334–36, 33820n.ISBN978-0-8248-1637-7.
^Kimura, Larry; Pila, Wilson (1983). "Native Hawaiian Culture".Native Hawaiian Study Commission Minority Report. Washington, D.C.:United States Department of Interior. pp. 173–203 [185].
^LaDuke, Winona. "Hawaiʻi: The Birth of the Land and Its Preservation by the Hands of the People".All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life. South End Press.
^Cooper, Hannah; Chen, Qi; Fletcher, Charles; Barbee, Matthew (2013). "Assessing Vulnerability Due to Sea-level Rise in Maui, Hawaiʻi Using LiDAR Remote Sensing and GIS".Climatic Change.116 (3–4):547–563.Bibcode:2013ClCh..116..547C.doi:10.1007/s10584-012-0510-9.S2CID545364.
^Jordan, Cynthia (October 10, 2011)."Private School Enrollment Report 2011–2012"(PDF).Hawaii Association of Independent Schools. Honolulu, HI. p. 3.Archived(PDF) from the original on January 17, 2013. RetrievedMay 12, 2012.
^Hussar, William J.; Bailey, Tabitha M. (September 11, 2009)."Projections of Education Statistics to 2018"(PDF).National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a part of the U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. p. 6 (22 out of 68). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on September 19, 2009. RetrievedMay 12, 2012.
^"HAWAII'S SISTER-STATES".Business Development and Support Division logo Business Development and Support Division. State of Hawaii. RetrievedMarch 30, 2024.
Kuykendall, Ralph S.A History of Hawaii (Macmillan, 1926)online.
Russ Jr., William Adam (1961)The Hawaiian Republic (1894–98) and Its Struggle to Win Annexation. Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania: Susquehanna University Press.
Schmitt, Robert C.Historical Statistics of Hawaii. (University Press of Hawaii, 1977).
Schmitt, Robert C. "Religious statistics of Hawaii, 1825–1972". Hawaiian Journal of History (1973), vol. 7, pp 41–47.
Schmitt, Robert C.Demographic Statistics of Hawaii. (University of Hawaii Press, 2021).
Tabrah, Ruth M.Hawaii: a history (WW Norton & Company, 1984).
Guides
Cooperm, Jeanne, and Natalie Schack. Frommer's Hawaii (2022)excerpt
Doughty, Andrew.Hawaii the Big Island Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook (2021)excerpt
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