Hawaii

C

Plants and Animals

More than 2,500 species of native plants and a large number of introduced plants are found on the islands. The only native mammals are the hoary bat, the monk seal, and the Polynesian rat. The latter was introduced by early Polynesian settlers but has evolved into a distinct subspecies. A variety of native birds are found, but many species, such as the Hawaiian goose (nene), are endangered. Many species of birds and domesticated mammals have been introduced to the islands since the early 19th century.

D

Resources, Products, and Industries

Stone is Hawaii’s principal mineral resource, although cement, sand, gravel, and pumice are also produced. Farming and fishing are minor industries. Principal manufacturing industries are food processing (especially the production of raw sugar and canned fruits and juices), printing and publishing, and the manufacturing of clothing and textile products.

III

Population

The population of Hawaii is 1,283,388 (2007 estimate). In 1990 Hawaii had the most racially and ethnically diverse population of any state in the United States. Whites made up 33.4 per cent of the population, the lowest proportion of any state; blacks made up 2.5 per cent of the total. Among the many other population groups were 247,486 people of Japanese descent (22.3 per cent of the total); 168,682 people of Filipino origin (15.2 per cent); 138,742 people of Hawaiian ancestry (12.5 per cent); 68,804 people of Chinese extraction (6.2 per cent); 24,454 people of Korean descent (2.2 per cent); and 15,034 people of Samoan extraction (1.4 per cent). Many people in the state are mixtures of several racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Hawaii is one of the most urban US states, with nearly 90 per cent of the population living in the capital Honolulu, Hilo, or smaller urban communities. Its major cities are Honolulu (377,379 (2005 estimate)), Hilo (40,759 (2000)), Kailna, Kaneshe, and Waipaku.

A

Education

In the late 1990s Hawaii spent about US$6,530 annually on each student's education, compared to a national average of about US$6,835. At the start of the 21st century Hawaii had 21 institutions of higher education. Among the most notable were the University of Hawaii (1907), with its main campuses at Honolulu and Hilo; Hawaii Pacific University (1965), in Honolulu; Hawaii Loa College (1963), in Kaneohe; Chaminade University of Honolulu (1955), in Honolulu; and Brigham Young University Hawaii Campus (1955), in Laie on Oahu.

B

Places of Interest

Popular attractions include the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on Hawaii, and Haleakala National Park, on Maui. There are many historical sites commemorating Hawaiian monarchs and the islands’ early Polynesian heritage. The Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, in Honaunau, was originally a sanctuary built about 1500; ‘Iolani Palace, in Honolulu, built between 1879 and 1882, was the royal residence of the last two rulers of the Hawaiian Kingdom; King Kamehameha’s statue, in Kapaau, was commissioned by the legislature in 1878; and the village of Ulu Mau, in Kaneohe, is a replica of an early Hawaiian village. Also of note is the USS Arizona Memorial, in Honolulu’s Pearl Harbor.

Hawaii’s museums contain some of the finest collections of Polynesian ethnology and natural history in the world. Among the most noteworthy are the following: the Bishop Museum, the oldest museum in Hawaii, which opened in Honolulu in 1889 in honour of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop; Hanalei Museum, in Hanalei, Kauai; and the Kauai Museum, in Lihue.