Heaven In The World - Hawaii

Heaven In The World (Series One) - Hawaii Islands

Hawaii is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and in the middle of the Pacific Plate. In this map the major tectonic plates are each given a different color. The Pacific Plate is blue.

Hawaii is a unique archipelago (island chain) formed from a geologic 'hot spot' (see next section on Geology for details). It will always be changing over millions of years. Hawaii arises from the deep ocean floor of the North Pacific Ocean, right in the middle of the Pacific tectonic plate. Because of this, its mountain peaks are the highest on Earth - a total of close to 32,000 feet from bottom to top (rising from 18,000 feet below the surface of the ocean to about 14,000 feet above sea level). The Hawaiian island chain is composed of volcanoes in all stages - active erupting ones (sometimes making new acreage), dormant ones eroding away, and dead ones that may have subsided below the ocean. Hawaii is one of the most isolated of the islands on Earth - being over 3,000 miles from the closest continental land mass and 2,000 miles from the nearest island.

A Brief Overview of Hawaii Islands

Hawaii, the Aloha state, is comprised of a chain of 132 islands. We usually think of the eight main islands when we think of Hawaii. This is not surprising as the other 124 islands only total about 3 square miles in land area.

Hawaii is home of the world's most active volcano, the crater of Kilauea on Mauna Loa. Sandy beaches, towering volcanoes, and lush valleys lure thousands of tourists each year to this tropical paradise.

Hawaii is the most ethnically and racially diverse state of any state in the union, a mix that includes Caucasians, Americans of Japanese descent, and Polynesians, among others. Native Hawaiians have held on to many of their customs and traditions despite the influx of non-natives over the years. Hawaii is the only state that has an official native language. Statehood had been proposed many times throughout Hawaii's history, but it was not until 1959 that Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States.

Though Captain James Cook called the islands that he discovered in 1778 the Sandwich islands, this honor to the Earl of Sandwich would be short-lived. King Kamehameha I united the islands under his rule by 1819 as the Kingdom of Hawaii.

A couple of theories exist on the origin of the name Hawaii. One theory has it that the name comes from a combination of the words "Hawa" and "ii" and means a small or new homeland; "Hawa" meaning a traditional homeland and "ii" meaning small and raging. The other theory is that the name comes from the traditional discoverer of the islands, Hawaii Loa.

Hawaii's nickname:
The Aloha State: (Official Popular Name) This official "Popular Name" was designated in 1959 by the Legislature of the State. This was adopted in the same year in which Hawaii became a state.

The Pineapple State: Hawaii has also been referred to as "The Pineapple State" because of the pineapple industry and its impact on the state's economy.

Paradise of the Pacific: Anyone who has ever visited a secluded cove on one of the Hawaiian islands will understand why Hawaii is sometimes called the "Paradise of the Pacific." The natural beauty of the islands is well known.

The Youngest State: The last state to enter the union, Hawaii is sometimes referred to as "The Youngest State."
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Hawaiian Island of Oahu Home to Honolulu, Pearl Harbor, Waikiki & the North Shore

From ancient stone heiau (Hawaiian temples) to 21st-Century high-rises, Oahu is an island of endless contrasts. Geographically only the third largest of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands, it is nonetheless home to nearly three-quarters of the state's 1.2 million residents 370,000 of whom are concentrated in urban Honolulu, the ultra-modern, south-coast cityscape kama'aina (residents) refer to simply as "Town."

But take a 45-minute drive to "Country" the famed surfing Mecca on the island's north shore and you'll find sleepy Hale'iwa town (pop. 2,225) existing much as it has since it was established by missionaries in 1832.

Geography Like the other islands, islets and shoals that make up the 1,600-mile Hawaiian Island chain, Oahu is believed to be the product of a single "hot spot" in the earth's mantle. Over the course of millions of years, the earth's crust drifted to the northwest across this hot spot, giving rise to each island.
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Maui, Land of the Sun

The demi-god Maui is a household name from Tonga to the Society Islands, to the Marquesas to Hawaii. Something of a trickster, Maui had a place in his heart for mortals and is celebrated throughout the Pacific for such feats as giving fire to humans (after stealing it from its supernatural guardians) and fishing the islands of the Pacific from out of their watery depths.

So great is his renown, in fact, that Maui is the only deity in Polynesia to currently have a major island named after him.
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Kauai, Land of beginnings

While Kauai's reputation as home to the wettest spot on Earth Mount Wai'ale'ale, averaging 485 inches of rain per year has lead to its popular designation as "The Garden Isle," the island has another, older name: "The Separate Kingdom."

In part this is because Kauai may have been the first of the Hawaiian Islands to be settled by Marquesan seafarers, somewhere around 750 A.D. Combined with its remoteness from the rest of the island chain, this may also have led to the belief that Kauai's royal bloodline was the purest in the Islands.
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Big Island, Volcanoes and Kona coffee in the land of open spaces

Legend has it that two deities the volcano goddess Pele and the demi-god Kamapua'a (the latter of whom could control the weather) struck a deal to make the vast Big Island of Hawaii's west side so dry, and its east side so wet. The story's short version is that, after a battle, the pair divided the island in two, with Pele taking the western half and Kamapua'a, the eastern.

Even so, the island's weather isn't so cut-and-dried. Twelve distinct climate zones exist here, ranging from East Hawaii's tropical rain forests and Mauna Kea's frozen tundra to Ka'u's arid desert in the south.
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The Quiet Isle of Molokai, Land of sanctuary

Once a pu'uhonua (place of refuge) for defeated warriors and those who had violated the strictures of the Hawaiian kapu system (that which is prohibited or sacred), Molokai has long been a land of special power. Like all such sanctuaries in Polynesia, Molokai was not protected by physical force, but by mana — that is, spiritual power.

That power is still palpable on Molokai, which is often referred to as the "Most Hawaiian Island" because it has the largest percentage of native Hawaiian residents in the state (excluding, that is, the privately owned island of Ni'ihau).
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The Island of Lanai, Land of adventure

If you're looking for nightlife, Lanai may not be your best choice. Alternately known as Hawaii's "Most Secluded Island" and "The Pineapple Island" (it once hosted the world's largest pineapple plantation), Lanai is home to a mere 5,000 residents — the vast majority of whom live in the cool heights of Lanai City overlooking the vast, red-dirt fields below.

What Lanai lacks in discos it more than makes up for in outdoor adventure. Not far from Lanai City you'll find the Munro Trail, which climbs from the city's 1,600-foot elevation through stands of Norfolk pines (planted in the early 1900s by New Zealand naturalist George Munro) and up to the highest point on the island, Lanaihale ("house of Lanai"). From this point at 3,370 feet five other islands are visible on a clear day...