Hawaiian Islands
From Wikinfo
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of numerous islands and atolls trending northwest by southeast in the North Pacific Ocean between latitudes 19° N and 29° N. The archipelago takes as its name that of the largest island in the group. It extends some 1500 miles from northernmost Kure Atoll to the Island of Hawaii in the south and represents the exposed peaks of a great undersea mountain range, formed by volcanic activity over a hotspot in the earth's mantle.
A total of 19 islands and atolls comprise the Hawaiian Islands, with a total land area of 16,636 km2 (6,423.4 square miles). The main Hawaiian islands (all inhabited except for Kaho`olawe) are, listed here from south to north:
- Hawai'i (also known as the Big Island)
- Maui
- Kaho'olawe (uninhabited; temporary residential facilities)
- Lana'i
- Moloka'i
- O'ahu
- Kaua'i
- Ni'ihau
Smaller islands, atolls, and reefs (beyond Ni'ihau and all uninhabited); called the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
- Kaula
- Nihoa
- Necker
- French Frigate Shoal
- Gardner
- Maro Reef
- Laysan
- Lisianski
- Pearl and Hermes Reef
- Midway (temporary residential facilities)
- Kure
Except for Midway which is an unincorporated territory of the United States, these islands are administered as the State of Hawaii, the 50th of the United States of America.
The archipelago was named the Sandwich Islands by Captain James Cook when he first landed there in 1778.
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Hawaiian Islands" http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_Islands December 6, 2003
