Oahu

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Oʻahu
The Gathering Isle
Population 868,751 (2004)
Area 596.66 mile² (1,545.34 km²)
Rank 3rd Largest Hawaiian Island.
Highest Point Mt. Kaʻala: 4,019 ft (1,225 m)
Flower Ilima
Color Mele Mele (Yellow)

Oʻahu (usually Oahu outside Hawaiian and Hawaiian English), the "Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous island in the State of Hawaiʻi. Including small close-in offshore islands such as Ford Island and the islands in Kaneohe Bay and off the eastern coast, it has a total land area of 596.66 mile² (1,545.34 km²). In greatest dimension, this volcanic island is 71 km (44 mi) long and 48 km (30 mi) across. The length of the shoreline is 366 km (227 mi). The island is the result of two separate shield volcanoes: Waiʻanae and Koʻolau, with a broad "valley" or saddle (the central Oʻahu Plain) between them. The highest point is Mt. Kaʻala in the Waiʻanae Range, rising to 1,225 m (4,019 ft) above sea level (Macdonald, Abbott, & Peterson, 1983). The 2000 census showed a population of 876,151, which was essentially the entire population of Honolulu County except for 5 individuals who lived in the far-flung Northwestern Hawaiian Islands portion of the county in the United States Census Bureau's Census Tract 114.98 of Honolulu County, Hawaiʻi. [1]

The island is home to about 900,000 people (approximately 75% of the resident population of the state) and partly because of this, Oʻahu has for a long time been nicknamed "The Gathering Place". However, the term Oʻahu has no confirmed meaning in Hawaiian, other than that of the place itself (Pukui, et al., 1976). Ancient Hawaiian tradition attributes the name's origin in the legend of Hawaiʻiloa, the Polynesian navigator credited with discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. The story relates that he named the island after a son.

Beach on windward side of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi
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Beach on windward side of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi

The city of Honolulu—largest city, state capital, and main deepwater marine port for the State of Hawaiʻi—is located here. As a jurisdictional unit, the entire island of Oʻahu is in the City & County of Honolulu, although as a place name, Honolulu occupies only a portion of the southeast end of the island (essentially, the Honolulu District). The island extends from Kaʻena on the west end to Makapuʻu on the east. Well-known features found on Oʻahu include Waikīkī, Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay, Kāneʻohe Bay, and the North Shore.

Contents

[edit] History

Kamehameha III moved his capital from Lāhainā, Maui to Oʻahu in 1845. ʻIolani Palace, built later by other members of the royal family, is still standing, and is the only royal palace on American soil.

Oʻahu was apparently the first of the Hawaiian Islands sighted by the crew of HMS Resolution on 18 January 1778 during Capt. James Cook's third Pacific expedition. Escorted by HMS Discovery, the expedition was surprised to find high islands this far north in the central Pacific. Oʻahu was not actually visited by Europeans until 28 February 1779 when Captain Clerke aboard HMS Resolution stepped ashore at Waimea Bay. Clerke had taken command of the ship after Capt. Cook was killed at Kealakekua Bay (Island of Hawaiʻi) on February 14, and was leaving the islands for the North Pacific.

The opening battle of the Second World War in the Pacific for the United States was the Imperial Japanese Navy attack on Pearl Harbor, Oʻahu on the morning of December 7, 1941. The surprise attack was aimed at the Pacific Fleet of the United States Navy and its defending Army Air Corps and Marine air forces. The attack damaged or destroyed twelve American warships, destroyed 188 aircraft, and killed 2,403 American servicemen and 68 civilians.

Today, Oʻahu has become a tourism and shopping haven as over 5 million visitors (mainly from the American mainland and Japan) flock there every year to enjoy the quintessential island holiday experience that the Hawaiian Islands and her multicultural people now personify.

A series of earthquakes struck Oʻahu and the surrounding islands on October 15, 2006, interrupting electrical supplies and knocking television broadcasting stations off the air. Even so, most people continued with their normal routine in metropolitan areas. Preliminary reports said that the first earthquake measured 6.3 on the Richter scale and originated 155 miles southeast of Honolulu.

[edit] Tourist attractions

Mākua Valley military testing area, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi.
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Mākua Valley military testing area, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi.

[edit] Miscellaneous

Oʻahu has been featured in hundreds of movies and TV shows, including Magnum P.I., Hawaii Five-O, some scenes of the Jurassic Park movies, and Jake and the Fatman to name but a few. The TV Show Lost is filmed on Oʻahu, and a recent television series called North Shore was filmed there. The movie Blue Crush, which starred Michelle Rodriguez and Kate Bosworth, was also filmed on Oʻahu, as was most of 50 First Dates, starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.

Racing game Test Drive Unlimited (Xbox 360 / PC / Playstation 2 / PSP) takes place here. The title features open-ended gameplay and allows you to discover the various geographical features of the island as well as race and buy and sell real estate.

Also, the reality TV show Dog the Bounty Hunter is filmed in the regions of Honolulu, Oʻahu (as well as other regions in Oʻahu), and the city of Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi.

Hawaiʻi is also home base for the band 8mm Overdose, the only U.S. Heavy Metal band ever to extensively tour mainland China.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Flag of Hawaii

State of Hawaiʻi
Topics

Geography | Government | History | Politics | People
Capital Honolulu
Islands

Hawaiʻi | Kahoʻolawe | Kauaʻi | Lānaʻi | Maui | Molokaʻi | Niʻihau | Northwestern Hawaiʻian Islands | Oʻahu
Communities

Hilo | Honolulu | Kahului | Waipahu | Līhuʻe
Counties

Hawaiʻi | Honolulu | Kalawao | Kauaʻi | Maui

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Honolulu County and Census Tract 114.98, Honolulu County United States Census Bureau

[edit] References

  • Macdonald, Gordon A., Agatin T. Abbott, and Frank L. Peterson. 1983. Volcanoes in the Sea. University of Hawaiʻi Press, Honolulu. 517 pp.
  • Pukui, M.K., S.H. Elbert, and E.T. Mookini. 1976. Place names of Hawaiʻi. University of Hawaiʻi Press. 289 pp.

Coordinates: 21°28′N 157°59′W

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