Molokai

Molokai, island, in central Hawaii, between Oahu and Maui islands, sometimes known as the Friendly Island. On the southern coast of Molokai is the port of Kaunakakai. The island, which has an area of 673 sq km (260 sq mi), rises to 1,512 m (4,961 ft) in the east at Kamakou Peak. Pineapples and coffee are grown, and cattle are raised. In 1873 Father Damien, the Belgian Roman Catholic missionary, began his work in the leper colony of Kalawao on the Kalaupapa Peninsula of northern Molokai. Population (1990) 6,717.