Hawaii

Hawaii (Hawaiian/Hawaiian English: Hawai‘i, with the ‘okina; also, historically, the Sandwich Islands) is the archipelago of the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Admitted on August 21, 1959, Hawaii constitutes the 50th state of the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census it had a population of 1,211,537 people. Honolulu is the largest city and the state capital.

Demographics

The population of Hawaii (Hawai'i) is approximately 1.2 million, while the de facto population is over 1.3 million due to military presence and tourists.

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O'ahu is the most populous island, with a population of just under one million.

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Hawaii was the first majority-minority state in the United States since the early twentieth century. According to the 2000 Census, 6.6% of Hawaii's population identified themselves as Native Hawaiian, 24.3% were White or Caucasian, including Portuguese and 41.6% were Asian, including 0.1% Asian Indian, 4.7% Chinese, 14.1% Filipino, 16.7% Japanese, 1.9% Korean and 0.6% Vietnamese. 1.3% were other Pacific Islander which includes Samoan, Tongan, Tahitian, Maori and Micronesian, and 21.4% described themselves as mixed (two or more races/ethnic groups). 1.8% were Black or African American and 0.3% were Native American and Alaska Native.

Related Topics:
Majority-minority state - Native Hawaiian - Caucasian - Portuguese - Asian - Asian Indian - Chinese - Filipino - Japanese - Korean - Vietnamese - Pacific Islander - Samoan - Tongan - Tahitian - Maori - Micronesian - Black - African American - Native American - Alaska Native

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The second group of foreigners to arrive upon Hawaii's shores, after the Europeans, were the Chinese. 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 Asian ancestry (especially Chinese, Japanese and Filipino), many of whom are descendants from those waves of early foreign immigrants brought to the islands in the nineteenth century, beginning in the 1850's, to work on the sugar plantations. The first Japanese arrived in Hawaii on February 9, 1885.

Related Topics:
Chinese - Japan - February 9 - 1885

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The largest city is the capital, Honolulu, located along the southeast coast of the island of O'ahu. Other populous cities include Hilo, Kāne'ohe, Kailua, Pearl City, Kahului, and Kailua-Kona.

Related Topics:
Honolulu - Hilo - Kāne'ohe - Kailua - Pearl City - Kahului - Kailua-Kona

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As of 2000, 73.4% of Hawai'i residents age 5 and older speak English at home and 7.9% speak Pacific Island languages. Tagalog is the third most spoken language at 5.4%, followed by Japanese at 5.0% and Chinese at 2.6%.

Related Topics:
English - Tagalog - Japanese - Chinese

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• Religion
• Christian = 68%
• Protestant = 42%
• Congregational/United Church of Christ= 3%
• Baptist = 2%
• Methodist = 2%
• Catholic = 24%
• Mormon = 2%
• Agnostic/non-religious = 18%
• Buddhist = 9%
• Other(e.g. Shinto, Tao, pagan) = 5%
• See also: Richest Places in Hawaii