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Hawaii, often called the Big Island, is almost twice as large as the rest of the islands combined. Roughly triangular in shape, it extends 150 km (93 mi) from north to south and 122 km (76 mi) from east to west. The island is a huge mountainous mass dominated by two great volcanic peaks, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. In addition to its great bare lava beds and barren ash-covered slopes, which cover much of the island, Hawaii has large areas of tropical rain forests, numerous waterfalls, and great stretches of rolling grasslands.
Maui, the second largest island, is sometimes called the Valley Isle because it consists of two mountain masses separated by a low, narrow valley-like isthmus. Haleakala, a huge dormant volcano 3,055 m (10,023 ft) high, forms the largest of these mountain masses. Its summit depression is huge, with a circumference of 34 km (21 mi). The lowland isthmus forms a fertile agricultural area.
Molokai is called the Friendly Island because of the hospitality its inhabitants extend to visitors. Its eastern half is a mountainous area that rises to 1,512 m (4,961 ft) at Mount Kamakou. Along the northeastern coast steep cliffs tower as high as 1,100 m (3,600 ft) above the sea. The western half consists of a smaller volcano that rises to 503 m (1,381 ft). Much of this mountain is a generally low plateau, which was formerly used for pineapple growing, and now for cattle ranching and some tourism. On the northern side lies Kalaupapa, a settlement for people with leprosy, or Hansen’s disease. There, Father Damien, a Belgian Roman Catholic priest, labored among the lepers until he died of the disease in 1889.
Lanai, known as the Pineapple Island for the many years it was a prosperous pineapple plantation, was recently opened to tourism. Its years of private ownership by the Dole Food Company and reputation today as a place where visitors can find seclusion has bestowed upon it a new nickname as the Private Island. It is a generally hilly island that rises gradually to 1,027 m (3,369 ft) above sea level at Lanaihale, or Mount Palawai. Cut off in part from the northeast trade winds by Maui and Molokai, the island of Lanai receives very little rainfall except in the summit region surrounding Lanaihale. For a time the land was used mainly for cattle raising. In 1922 most of the island was purchased by the Hawaiian Pineapple Company (now the Dole Company), which tapped underground reservoirs and valley streams for irrigation water. The workers and their families reside in Lanai City, now the chief community, which lies at the foot of Lanaihale on the Palawai plateau.
Oahu, called the Gathering Place, is the home of 870,000 people, or about three-quarters of the state’s total population, and the site of Honolulu, the state capital. The island is made up of two parallel mountain ranges, which are separated by a low rolling plateau and fringed by narrow coastal plains. The ranges, which run from northwest to southeast, are the Waianae Range on the west and the Koolau Range on the east. Mount Kaala, the highest point on Oahu, rises to 1,227 m (4,025 ft) in the Waianae Range. The Koolau Range reaches a maximum height of 946 m (3,105 ft). On the windward, or northeast, side this range forms a series of spectacular cliffs. Honolulu, by far the largest city in Hawaii, lies on a narrow leeward coastal plain at the foot of the Koolau Range. Nearby are three famous landmarks, Punchbowl, Diamond Head, and Koko Head, all of them the remnant deposits of extinct volcanic vents. At its southern end the plateau merges with a broad coastal plain that encloses Pearl Harbor, Hawaii’s finest harbor.
Kauai, the wettest and greenest of the islands, is often called the Garden Isle. Perhaps the most scenic island of Hawaii, it is an area of luxuriant vegetation, multihued canyons, and numerous streams and waterfalls. The mountain’s highest peak, Kawaikini, rises to 1,598 m (5,243 ft). The windward summit region of the extinct Kauai volcano is one of the wettest areas on earth. Through the centuries the erosive action of torrential streams has produced steep canyons, such as Waimea Canyon. The island’s most popular scenic attraction, this great canyon is 16 km (10 mi) in length and has multicolored walls more than 800 m (2,600 ft) high. On the northwest coast the land drops in a series of huge craggy cliffs called Na Pali. Along other parts of the coast, sugarcane and cattle are raised on narrow lowlands. Kauai has served as the backdrop for a number of movies, including King Kong (1976), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and Jurassic Park (1993).
Niihau is the private property of the Robinson family, the descendants of Mrs. Elizabeth Sinclair and family, who purchased the island from the Hawaiian government in 1864. Only invited guests of the residents or of the owners are welcome there, and Niihau is frequently called the Aloof Island or Forbidden Island. Some 230 native Hawaiians live and work on Niihau. They speak the old Hawaiian language and follow some of the customs and traditions of their ancestors. Most of the island is low and arid. Too dry for cultivation, the island is used for grazing cattle.
Kahoolowe, the smallest of the main islands, is rocky and sparsely vegetated, especially in the upper region of the island. It has a maximum elevation of only 450 m (1,477 ft). Kahoolawe was used by the U.S. Navy as a target site from 1941 until 1994, when it was ceded to Hawaii. The Navy will control access to the island until 2003, or until all unexploded ordnance is removed.
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