Hawaii

21.31139°N, -157.79639°W

The State of Hawaii (: Mokuāina o Hawaii), is an    located in the Central Pacific, south of, north of , and 2,300 miles (3,700 km) from the. Politically, Hawaii is considered to be a part of the North American continent.

The state encompasses nearly the entirety of the, which is made up of hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles (2,400 km). Of these, the eight largest islands are considered the "main islands" and are located at the southeastern end of the archipelago. In order from the northwest to southeast, they are, , , , , , , and. The last is by far the largest, and is very often called the "Big Island" or "Big Isle" to avoid confusion with the state.

The state was admitted to the on, , making it the 50th state. Its capital is located in its only city, on the island of. The most recent census puts its population at 1,211,537.

In American English, Hawaii is pronounced in varying approximations to the original. From most to least anglicized, there is ). In the, , there is also some variation, as Hawaiian IPA varies from  to.

Location, topography, and geology
Hawaii is the of the United States and the second westernmost state after Alaska. Only Hawaii and Alaska are are outside the and do not share a border with any other U.S. state.

Hawaii is the only state of the United States that
 * is separated from the mainland by water
 * is completely surrounded by water
 * continues to grow in area because of active extrusive lava flows, most notably from.
 * is entirely in the.

Except for, Hawaii is farther away from land than any other landmass on Earth. Hawaii’s tallest mountain, stands over 13,000 feet (4,000 m) and is taller than  if followed to its base at the floor of the.

All of the Hawaiian Islands were formed by volcanoes arising from the sea floor from a described in geological theory as a. The theory maintains that as the beneath much of the  moves in a northwesterly direction, the hot spot remains stationary, slowly creating new volcanoes. This explains why only volcanoes on the southern half of the Big Island, and the deep below the waters off its southern coast, are presently active, with Lōihi being the newest volcano to form.

The last volcanic eruption outside the Big Island happened at on Maui in the late 18th century (though recent research suggests that Haleakala's most recent eruptive activity could be hundreds of years older).

The volcanic activity and subsequent erosion created impressive geological features. The Big Island is notable as the world’s.

Because of the islands' volcanic formation, native life before human activity is said to have arrived by the "3 W's": (carried through the air),  (brought by ocean currents), and  (birds, insects, and whatever they brought with them). The isolation of the Hawaiian Islands in the middle of the, and the wide range of environments to be found on high islands located in and near the , has resulted in a vast array of  and. Hawaii has more endangered species per square mile and has lost a higher percent of its endemic species than anywhere else on Earth.



Areas under the control and protection of the include:
 * on the Big Island
 * in Kula
 * on the Big Island
 * in Kalaupapa
 * in
 * in Hōnaunau
 * in Kawaihae
 * at Honolulu

Climate
The climate of Hawaii is typical for a tropical area, although temperatures and humidity tend to be a bit less extreme than other tropical locales due to the constant trade winds blowing from the east. Summer highs are usually in the upper 80s, (around 31) during the day and mid 70s, (around 24°C) at night. Winter temperatures during the day are usually in the low to mid 80s, (around 28°C) and (at low elevation) seldom dipping below the mid 60s (18 °C) at night. Snow, although not usually associated with tropics, falls at the higher elevations of Mauna Kea (13,796 feet/ 4,205 meters) and Mauna Loa on the Big Island in some winter months. Snow only rarely falls on Maui’s Haleakalā. , on the island of Kauai, is notable for rainfall, as it has the second highest average annual rainfall on Earth, about 460 inches (38 ft. 4 in., or 11.7 m).

Local climates vary considerably on each island, grossly divisible into (Koolau) and  (Kona) areas based upon location relative to the higher mountains. Windward sides face the Northeast Trades and receive much more rainfall; leeward sides are drier and sunnier, with less rain and less cloud cover. This fact is utilized by the tourist industry, which concentrates resorts on sunny leeward coasts.

Hurricanes are a rare occurrence in Hawaii, although it is probable that all the islands of Hawaii have been hit by a hurricane in the past. The worst hurricane to hit Hawaii was in 1992, which showed that Hawaii was indeed vulnerable to a direct hit from a hurricane.

Important towns
The movement of the Hawaiian royal family from the island of Hawaii to Maui, and subsequently to Oahu, explains why certain population centers exist where they do today. The largest city,, was the one chosen by as the capital of his kingdom because of the natural harbor there, the present-day.

Now the state capital, Honolulu is located along the southeast coast of the island of Oahu. The previous capital was, Maui. Some major towns are, Kona , , , , , , , and.

Notable features
The was proclaimed by President  on, , under the 1906 Antiquities Act. The monument covers roughly 140,000 square miles (360,000 km²) of reefs, atolls and shallow and deep sea (out to 50 mi offshore) in the, larger than all of America’s combined.

History
The earliest habitation supported by archaeologic evidence dates to the 11th century, probably by Polynesian settlers from the,   and. However, as with most archaeology worldwide, this date is ever-changing as new evidence is discovered. The first recorded European contact with the islands was in 1778 by British explorer. Substantial evidence (Stokes 1932 for example) exists, however, of earlier Spanish, and possibly Irish, visits to Hawaii. Hawaii is one of four constituent states of the that were independent nations prior to their statehood, along with, , and. The existed from 1810 until 1893 when the monarchy was overthrown. It was an independent republic from 1894 until 1898. It was annexed by the United States in 1898, became a territory in 1900, and has been a state since 1959.

Hawaiian antiquity
believe that from the  and possibly the  first populated the Hawaiian Islands at some time between 300 and 1000 AD. There is a great deal of dispute regarding these dates.

Archaeologists and historians also differ as to whether there were one or two waves of colonization. It is believed by some authors that there had been an early settlement from the Marquesas and a later wave of immigrants from, circa 1300, who were said to have introduced a new line of high chiefs and the practice of human sacrifice. This later immigration is detailed in s about. Other authors, however, have argued that there is no archaeological or linguistic evidence whatsoever for a later influx of Tahitian settlers and that Paao must be regarded as a myth. Since there are still many supporters of the Paao narrative, this topic is still hotly disputed.

Leaving aside the question of Paao and the history of the Royal Hawaiian lineage, historians agree that the history of the islands was marked by a slow but steady growth in population and the size of chiefdoms, which grew to encompass whole islands. Local chiefs, called, ruled their settlements and fought to extend their sway and defend their communities from predatory rivals. This was conducted in a system of aliis of various ranks somewhat similar to.

European contact
The 1778 arrival of   is usually taken to be Hawaii’s first contact with European explorers. Cook plotted and published the geographical coordinates of the Hawaiian Islands, so that they could be found again. Cook named his discovery the Sandwich Islands in honor of one of his sponsors,, and reported the as. (Cook also gave the Sandwich name to some islands near, which still retain the name as the of the ).

Some writers have claimed that there were European visitors before Cook, citing Hawaiian legends and references in some Spanish chronicles in support of their argument. While it is possible that there were earlier visitors, this is not accepted as fact by most historians.

Cook visited the Hawaiian islands twice. During his second visit - in 1779 - he attempted to abduct a Hawaiian chief and hold him as ransom for return of a ship’s boat that was stolen by a different minor chief; the chief’s supporters fought back, and Cook was killed.

After Cook’s visit and the publication of several books relating his voyages, the Hawaiian islands received many European visitors: explorers, traders, and eventually whalers who found the islands a convenient harbor and source of fresh food. Early influence can still be seen from the design of the local  which has the British  in the corner. Visitors introduced diseases to the formerly isolated islands, and the Hawaiian population plunged precipitously. American missionaries arrived in 1820 and eventually converted the chiefs and the remaining population to.

Hawaiian kingdom
During the 1780s and 1790s the chiefs were constantly fighting for power. After a series of that ended in 1795 and forced cession of the island of Kauai in 1810, all of the inhabited islands were subjugated under a single ruler who would become known as. He established the, a dynasty that ruled over the kingdom until 1872.

The death of the bachelor &mdash;who did not name an &mdash;resulted in the popular of  over Kalākaua. After Lunalilo’s death, in a hotly contested and allegedly fraudulent election by the legislature in 1874 between Kalākaua and Emma (which led to riots and the landing of U.S. and British troops to keep the peace), governance was passed on to the.

In 1887, the influence of, a group of primarily American and European businessmen, including kingdom subjects and members of the Hawaiian government forced to sign the derisively nicknamed "" which stripped the king of administrative authority, eliminated voting rights for Asians and set minimum income and property requirements for American, European and native Hawaiian voters, essentially limiting the electorate to wealthy elite Americans, Europeans and native Hawaiians. King Kalākaua reigned until his death in 1891. His sister,, succeeded him to the throne and ruled until her overthrow in 1893.

Overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy


In 1893, Queen Liliuokalani threatened to abrogate the and draft a new constitution that would restore power to the monarchy. Supporters of the (primarily of American and European ancestry, but including some native Hawaiians) organized in response to this and took over the government of the. American troops aboard the were landed in Honolulu under strict orders of neutrality, to protect the "lives and property of American citizens, and to assist in preserving public order", while a  organized the  to depose Queen Liliuokalani.

The monarchy ended in January 1893, and there was much controversy in the following years as the queen tried to regain her throne. After an unsuccessful attempt at armed rebellion in 1895, a weapons cache was found on the palace grounds and Queen Liliuokalani was placed under arrest, tried by a military tribunal of the, convicted of and then imprisoned in her own home. The Queen officially abdicated in 1896. In 1993, a joint regarding the overthrow was passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton.

Republic of Hawaii
The Republic of Hawaii was the formal name of Hawaii from 1894 to 1898 when it was run as a. The republic period occurred between the administration of the which ended on, 1894 and the adoption of the  in  in which the Republic was annexed to the United States and became the  on ,.

U.S. territory
When won the presidential election in November of 1896, the question of Hawaii’s annexation to the U.S. was again opened. The previous president,, was a friend of Queen Liliuokalani. He had remained opposed to annexation until the end of his term, but McKinley was open to persuasion by U.S. expansionists and by annexationists from Hawaii. He agreed to meet with a committee of annexationists from Hawaii,, Francis Hatch and William Kinney. After negotiations, in June of 1897, McKinley agreed to a treaty of annexation with these representatives of the Republic of Hawaii. The president then submitted the treaty to the U.S. Senate for approval.

Despite some opposition in the islands, the was passed by the House, , by a vote of 209 to 91, and by the Senate on , , by a vote of 42 to 21, annexing Hawaii as a U.S. territory. Its legality continues to be questioned because it was a United States Government resolution, not a treaty of cession or conquest as is required by international law. Both houses of the American Congress carried the measure with two-thirds majorities.

In 1900, Hawaii was granted self-governance and retained as the territorial capitol building. Though several attempts were made to achieve statehood, Hawaii remained a territory for sixty years. Plantation owners, such as the, found territorial status convenient, enabling them to continue importing cheap foreign labor; such immigration was prohibited in various states of the U.S.

The power of the plantation owners was finally broken by activist descendants of original immigrant laborers. Because they were born in a U.S. territory, they were legal U.S. citizens. Expecting to gain full voting rights, they actively campaigned for statehood for the Hawaiian Islands.

U.S. statehood


In March 1959, both houses of Congress passed the and U.S. President  signed it into law. (The act excluded, part of the Kingdom and Territory of Hawaii, from the new state.) On June 27 of that year, a was held asking residents of Hawaii to vote on accepting the statehood bill. Hawaii voted at a ratio of 17 to 1 to accept. There has been criticism, however, of the Statehood plebiscite, because the only choices were to accept the Act or to remain a territory, without addressing the issues of legality surrounding the overthrow. Despite the criticism, the  committee later removed Hawaii from the.

After statehood, Hawaii quickly became a modern state with a construction boom and rapidly growing economy. The, which was strongly supported by the plantation owners, was voted out of office. In its place, the dominated state politics for forty years.

In recent decades, the state government has implemented programs to promote Hawaiian culture. The incorporated as state constitutional law specific programs such as the creation of the  to promote the indigenous Hawaiian language and culture.

Demographics
, Hawaii has an estimated population of 1,275,194, which is an increase of 13,070, or 1.0%, from the prior year and an increase of 63,657, or 5.3%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 48,111 people (that is 96,028 births minus 47,917 deaths) and an increase due to net of 16,956 people into the state. from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 30,068 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 13,112 people. The of Hawaii is located directly between the two islands of Oahu and Molokai.

Hawaii has a de facto population of over 1.3 million due to military presence and tourists. , which is aptly nicknamed "The Gathering Place", is the most populous island (and the one with the highest population density), with a resident population of just under one million in 597 sqmi, about 1,650 people per square mile (for comparison, New Jersey, which has 8,717,925 people in 7417 sqmi is the most-densely populated state with 1,134 people per square mile. ) Hawaii’s 1,275,194 people, spread over 6,423 square miles (including many unpopulated islands) results in an average population density of 188.6 persons per square mile, which makes Hawaii less densely populated than states like Ohio and Illinois.

Hawaii may be an especially healthy place to live. The average projected lifespan of those born in Hawaii in the year 2000 is 79.8 years (77.1 years if male, 82.5 if female), longer than the residents of any other state.

U.S. military personnel makes up approximately 1.3% of the total population in the islands.

Ethnicities
Ethnically, Hawaii is one of only four states in which do not form a majority, and has the largest percentage of. Hawaii was the second in the United States. Both Hawaii and have been majority-minority regions since the early 20th century, but New Mexico became a state before Hawaii. Hawaii also has the largest percentage of persons of, who constitute some 20% of the total population.

Ancestry Group
The largest in Hawaii are: Hawaii Ancestry

The third group of foreigners to arrive upon Hawaii’s shores, after the and, were the. Chinese employees serving on Western trading ships disembarked and settled starting in 1789. In 1820 the first American missionaries arrived in Hawaii to preach Christianity and teach the Hawaiians what the missionaries considered "civilized" ways. A large proportion of Hawaii’s population has become a people of ancestry (especially,  and ) many of whom are descendants from those waves of early foreign immigrants brought to the islands in the nineteenth century, beginning in the 1850s, to work on the sugar plantations. The first 153 immigrants arrived in Hawaii on, 1868. They were not "legally" approved by the Japanese government established after the because the contract was between a broker and the, by then terminated. The first Japanese government-approved immigrants arrived in Hawaii on, 1885 after Kalākaua's petition to when Kalakaua visited Japan in 1881.

Almost 13,000 had come to Hawaii by 1899. They worked on the sugar plantations, as many had done previously. By October 17, 1901, 5,000 had made their new homes on the four islands. Currently, there are over 30,000 Puerto Ricans or Hawaiian-Puerto Ricans and almost 50,000 Hawaiian-Portuguese living in Hawaii.

Religion
Religion/Adherents (Percent of Population) Christian/351,000 (28.9%) Buddhist/110,000 (9%) Jewish/10,000 (0.8%) Other*/750,000 (61.1%)

Other includes: agnostic or atheist, unaffiliated, Bahá'í, Confucian, Daoist, Druid, Hawaiian, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Shinto, Scientologist, Unitarian, Wiccan, Zoroastrian, etc.


 * Sources:
 * State of Hawaii Data Book 2000, Section 1 Population, Table 1.47
 * Glenmary Research Center
 * Honolulu Advertiser

Languages
The State of Hawaii has two official languages recognized in its adopted at the :  and. Article XV, Section 4, specifies that "Hawaiian shall be required for public acts and transactions only as provided by law" [italic added]. (locally referred to as 'Pidgin') is the native dialect of many born-and-raised residents and is a second dialect for many other residents. After English, the second- and third-most spoken individual languages are (most are bilingual in ) and, respectively. Significant immigrants and descendants also speak their native languages; the most numerous are, ,  and.

As of the, 73.44% of Hawaii residents age 5 and older speak only English at home. Tagalog speakers make up 5.37% (which includes non-native speakers of, the national co-official Tagalog-based language), followed by Japanese at 4.96%, at 4.05%,  at 1.92%, Hawaiian at 1.68%, Spanish at 1.66%,  at 1.61%, and  at 1.01%.

Origin of Hawaiian
Hawaiian is a member of the branch of the  family. It began to develop around 1000 A.D., when foreign Marquesans or Tahitians of that era colonized Hawaii. Those remained in the islands, thereby becoming the Hawaiian people. Consequently, their originally foreign language developed into the Hawaiian language.

Before the arrival of, the Hawaiian language was never written. The written form of Hawaiian was developed mainly by American  during 1820–1826. They assigned letters from the Latin alphabet that corresponded to the Hawaiian sounds.

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

Note on Hawaiian language and okina usage
Hawaiian distinguishes between long and short vowels. In modern written Hawaiian and when writing words and names of Hawaiian origin in English, vowel length can be indicated with a.

Also, Hawaiian has the as a consonant. In writing, it can be indicated with the apostrophe, or with the opening single quote.

In Hawaiian-language newspapers published from 1834–1948, the spelling Hawaii was used. However, in texts written mainly for Hawaiian-language pedagogy, especially since 1950, the modern Hawaiian-language spelling used is Hawaii, with an okina written between the final two vowels. Although okinas and kahakōs were not used and not needed by native speakers of Hawaiian for over 100 years, their use is appropriate in modern written Hawaiian, and increasingly considered appropriate and educated in modern written English in Hawaii as well.

"Pidgin"
Many residents speak (HCE), often called "pidgin". The lexicon of HCE derives mainly from English but also has words from Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Portuguese. During the 19th century, there was a great increase in immigration from foreign countries (mainly China, Japan, Portugal&mdash;especially from the Azores archipelago&mdash;and Spain), and a pidgin English developed which by the early 20th century became a creole English, as pidgin speakers had children who acquired the pidgin as their own native language.

HCE speakers can use some Hawaiian words without those words being considered archaic. Most place names are retained from Hawaiian, as are some names for plants or animals. For example, tuna fish are often called "ahi". HCE speakers have modified the meanings of certain English words. For example, the terms "auntie" and "uncle" can be used to refer to any adult who is a friend, or a friend to the family. It is also used as a sign of respect for elders. Throughout the boom in Hawaii, HCE has influenced surfer slang. Some HCE expressions, such as brah and da kine, have found their way to other places.

Certain words can be dropped if their meaning is implicit. For example, instead of saying "It is hot today, isn't it?", an HCE speaker is likely to say simply "stay hot, eh?"

Debates
A somewhat divisive political issue that has arisen since The Constitution of the State of Hawaii added Hawaiian as a second official state language is the exact spelling of the state’s name in English. As prescribed in the that granted Hawaiian statehood, the federal government recognizes Hawaii to be the official state name.

Official government publications, as well as department and office titles, use the traditional Hawaiian spelling, that is, with no symbols for glottal stops or vowel length. In contrast, some private entities, including a local newspaper, are using such symbols.

The title of the state constitution is "The Constitution of the State of Hawaii". In Article XV therein, Section 1 uses "The State of Hawaii", Section 2 "the island of Oahu", Section 3 "The Hawaiian flag", and Section 5 specifies the state motto as "Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono". Note that no okinas nor kahakōs are used in all those cases.

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

Education
Hawaii is currently the only state in the union with a unified school system statewide. Policy decisions are made by the fourteen-member state Board of Education, with thirteen members elected for four-year terms and one non-voting student member. The Board of Education sets statewide educational policy and hires the state superintendent of schools, who oversees the operations of the state Department of Education. The Department of Education is also divided into seven districts, four on Oahu and one for each of the other counties.

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

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

Schools and academies
As stated above, the Hawaii State Department of Education operates all of the public schools in the State of Hawaii.

Hawaii has the distinction of educating more students in independent institutions of secondary education than any other state in the United States. It also has four of the largest s:, , , and , Saint Louis High School, and Maryknoll School. The second Buddhist high school in the United States, and first Buddhist high school in Hawaii, Pacific Buddhist Academy, was founded in 2003. (The first Buddhist high school in the United States was founded in 1981 in Ukiah, California.)

Both independent and charter schools can select their students, while the regular public schools must take all students in their district. For a comprehensive list of independent schools, see the list of independent schools in Hawaii. For a comprehensive list of public schools, see the list of public schools in Hawaii.

Colleges and universities
Graduates of institutions of secondary learning in Hawaii often either enter directly into the work force or attend colleges and universities. While many choose to attend colleges and universities on the mainland or elsewhere, most choose to attend one of many institutions of higher learning in Hawaii.

The largest of these institutions is the. It consists of: (1) the flagship research university at ; (2) two comprehensive campuses and ; and (7) seven Community Colleges. Students choosing private education attend, , , or.

The is a  of the. For a comprehensive list of colleges and universities, see the list of colleges and universities in Hawaii.

Problems
Public schools in Hawaii have to deal with large populations of children of non-native English-speaking immigrants and a culture that is different in many ways from the mainland U.S., whence most of the course materials come, and where most of the standards for schools are set.

The public elementary, middle, and high school scores in Hawaii tend to be below average on national tests as mandated under the. Some of this can be attributed to the Hawaii State Board of Education requiring all eligible students to take these tests and reporting all student test scores unlike, for example, Texas and Michigan. Results reported in August 2005 indicate that two-thirds of Hawaii’s schools failed to reach federal minimum performance standards in math and reading (of 282 schools across the state, 185 failed ).

On the other hand, results of the show that Hawaii class of 2005 seniors scored slightly above the national average (21.9 compared with 20.9) (Honolulu Advertiser, Aug. 17, 2005, p. B1). It should be noted that fewer students take the ACT examination than take the more widely accepted examination. On the SAT, Hawaii’s college bound seniors tend to score below the national average in all categories except math.

Economy
The history of Hawaii can be traced through a succession of dominating :, , , , , , and. Since statehood was achieved in 1959, tourism has been the largest industry in Hawaii, contributing 24.3% of the Gross State Product (GSP) in 1997. New efforts are underway to diversify the economy. The total gross output for the state in 2003 was US$47 billion; per capita income for Hawaii residents was US$30,441.

Industrial exports from Hawaii include food processing and apparel. These industries play a small role in the Hawaii economy, however, due to the considerable shipping distance to the ports and population of the West Coast of the United States. Food exports include, s, , , and. Agricultural sales for 2002, according to the Hawaii Agricultural Statistics Service, were US$370.9 million from diversified agriculture, US$100.6 million from pineapple, and US$64.3 million from sugarcane.

Hawaii is known for its relatively high per capita state tax burden. In the years 2002 and 2003, Hawaii residents had the highest state tax per capita at US$2,757 and US$2,838, respectively. This rate can be explained partly by the fact that services such as education, health care and social services are all rendered at the state level, as opposed to the municipal level in all other states.

Millions of tourists contribute to the collection figure by paying the and hotel room tax; thus not all the taxes collected come directly from residents. Business leaders, however, have often considered the state's tax burden as being too high, contributing to both higher prices and the perception of an unfriendly business climate. See the list of businesses in Hawaii for more information on commerce in the state.

Until recently, Hawaii was the only state in the U.S. that attempted to control gasoline prices through a. The law was enacted during a period when oil profits in Hawaii in relation to the mainland U.S. were under scrutiny, and sought to tie local gasoline prices to those of the mainland. The law took effect in September 2005 amid price fluctuations caused by Hurricane Katrina. The Hawaii state legislature suspended the law in April 2006.

Law and government
The state government of Hawaii is modeled after the federal government with adaptations originating from the kingdom era of Hawaiian history. As codified in the, there are three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial.

The executive branch is led by the and assisted by the, both elected on the same ticket. The governor, in residence at the grounds of, is the only public official elected for the state government in a statewide race; all other administrators and judges are appointed by the governor. The lieutenant governor is concurrently the of Hawaii. Both the governor and lieutenant governor administer their duties from the. The governor and lieutenant governor oversee the major agencies and departments of the executive of which there are twenty.

The legislative branch consists of the &mdash;the twenty-five members of the led by the  and the fifty-one members of the  led by the. They also govern from the Hawaii State Capitol. The judicial branch is led by the highest state court, the, which uses as its chambers. Lower courts are organized as the.

The state is represented in the by a. They are the senior and junior, the representative of the and the representative of the. Many Hawaii residents have been appointed to administer other agencies and departments of the federal government by the. All federal officers of Hawaii administer their duties locally from the near the  and.

Hawaii is primarily dominated by the Democratic Party and has supported Democrats in 10 of the 12 presidential elections in which it has participated. In 2004, John Kerry won the state’s 4 electoral votes by a margin of 9 percentage points with 54% of the vote. Every county in the state supported the Democratic candidate.

The Prince Kūhiō Federal Building also houses agencies of the federal government such as the, and the. The building is the site of the federal courts and the offices of the, principal of the  in the.

Unique to Hawaii is the way it has organized its municipal governments. There are no incorporated cities in Hawaii except the. All other municipal governments are administered at the. The county executives are the, , and. All mayors in the state are elected in races.

The officers of the federal and state governments have been historically elected from the and the. Municipal charters in the state have declared all mayors to be elected in races.

By road
Hawaii has 4 federal highways:, , , and , all located on Oahu and all part of the. With the exception of H-201, which begins and ends on H-1, all the highways have at least one end point at or near a current or former military installation. A encircles the other main islands as well as Oahu. Travel can be slow due to narrow winding roads on the coastlines. Travel can be significantly congested during morning and evening commute times in and out of Honolulu, particularly on the leeward side. Be aware that H1 was constructed after Honolulu was well established, and on/off ramps are diverted throughout the city. A good road map is well advised.

By air
Aviation is an important part of Hawaii’s transportation network, as most interisland travel takes place using commercial s., , and  use jets to travel between the larger commercial airports in Honolulu, Līhue, Kahului, Kona, and Hilo, while  and  serve smaller airports. These airlines also provide air freight service between the islands.

By ship or ferry
A ferry linked to will begin service September of 2007. Fare for TheBoat is $2.00, and it runs from Barber's Point to Aloha Tower Marketplace daily. It is hoped that linking to TheBus and delivering commuters from Leeward to Honolulu will alleviate traffic.

provides American-flagged passenger cruise service between the islands. A company called planned to connect the islands with a ferry system capable of transporting vehicles. Service was scheduled to begin in the second half of 2007 with routes from Oahu to Kauai and Maui. However, legal issues over environmental impact statements and protests from residents of Maui and Kauai have left this service currently unavailable.

Etymology
The word Hawaii derives from  *Sawaiki, with the  meaning "homeland"; cognate words are found in other Polynesian languages, including  (Hawaiki),  (Avaiki), and  (Savaii). (See also ).

According to Pukui and Elbert (1986:62) "Elsewhere in Polynesia, Hawaii or a cognate is the name of the underworld or of the ancestral home, but in Hawaii the name has no meaning; see Pukui, Elbert, and Mookini, 1974." (emphasis added)

Newspapers
Two major competing Honolulu-based s serve all of Hawaii. The ' is owned by while the ' is owned by  of  in. Both are among the largest newspapers in the United States in terms of circulation. Other locally published newspapers are available to residents of the various islands.

The Hawaii business community is served by the ' and '. The largest religious community in Hawaii is served by the .  is a popular magazine that offers local interest news and feature articles.

Founded in 2002, the online daily newspaper Hawaii Reporter has become a significant resource to residents and mainlanders that specifically offers non-advertiser based, investigative reporting on local and state government and businesses.

Apart from the mainstream press, the state also enjoys a vibrant ethnic publication presence with newspapers for the Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean and Native Hawaiian communities. In addition, there is an alternative weekly, the .

Television
All of the major American broadcast television networks are represented in Hawaii through (,  on 2), ,  ,  ,  ,  , and  , among others. Two independent stations, and, specialize in multi-cultural programs serving Asian audiences. From Honolulu, programming at these stations can be seen on the various other islands via networks of satellite transmitters and through Oceanic Time Warner Cable. Until the advent of satellite, most network programming was broadcast a week behind mainland scheduling.

Unlike most major television stations in most (if not all) other areas of the United States, none of the major network affiliates in Honolulu air an afternoon newscast. This allows the networks' daytime programming to be aired without preemption.

The various production companies that work with the major networks have produced television series and other projects in Hawaii. Most notable were police dramas like ' and '. Currently, hit TV shows ' and the soon to be cancelled ' are filmed in the Hawaiian Islands. A comprehensive list of such projects can be seen at the.

Film
Hawaii has a growing film industry administered by the state through the. Several television shows, movies, and various other media projects were produced in the Hawaiian Islands, taking advantage of the natural scenic landscapes as backdrops. Notable films produced in Hawaii or inspired by Hawaii include ', ', ', ', ', ', ', ', ', ', ', ', ', ', ', ', ', ', ' and '. The film  takes place on a flight departing Hawaii for the U.S. mainland. Hawaii is home to a prominent known as the.

Culture
The culture of Hawaii is n. Hawaii represents the northernmost extension of the vast  of the south and central. While traditional Hawaiian culture remains only as vestiges influencing modern Hawaiian society, there are reenactments of the ceremonies and traditions throughout the islands. Some of these cultural influences are strong enough to have affected the culture of the United States at large, including the popularity (in greatly modified form) of s and.

Sister cities
Hawaii has an active sister state program, which includes ties to: Other Sister States:
 * 🇵🇹,  (1982)
 * 🇵🇭, (1996)
 * 🇰🇷, (1986)
 * 🇯🇵, (2003)
 * 🇯🇵, Japan (1981)
 * 🇨🇳, (1985)
 * 🇨🇳, China (1992)
 * 🇯🇵, Japan (1997)
 * 🇵🇭, Philippines (2005)
 * 🇵🇭, Philippines (1985)
 * 🇯🇵, Japan (1985)
 * 🇵🇭, (2002)
 * 🇹🇼, Republic of China (1993)
 * 🇨🇳, (2002)

Famous people from Hawaii
The is a non-comprehensive list of persons who have achieved fame that presently or at one time claimed Hawaii as their home. Separate registers of members of the Hawaiian royal family and are also available.