| Nickname: |
The Gathering Place |
| Flower: |
'ilima |
| Color: |
Yellow |
| Area: |
598 square miles |
| Average temperature: |
68 to 81 F |
| Average rainfall: |
23 inches per year on the coast |
| Population: |
872,478. Although the city and county of Honolulu
is the smallest (geographically) of the four Hawai'i counties,
it has three-fourths of the state's population. |
| Tourists: |
Most visitors to Hawai'i either stop or stay
on O'ahu. Visitor arrivals in 1999 totaled 4,731,940. |
| Major Attractions: |
Waikiki, Diamond Head Crater, the Arizona Memorial,
the world-class winter surf on the North Shore, the Pali Lookout
and Hanauma Bay. |
| Notable Facts: |
O'ahu is the third largest of the inhabited Hawaiian
Islands, and also the most densely populated. Nearly 75% of
the state's 1.2 million residents live on this island. The capital
city of Honolulu, on the southern coast of the island, is the
hub of commerce for the entire state. Most food and manufactured
goods are shipped to Hawai'i through Honolulu Harbor and then
distributed to the neighbor islands. The island of O'ahu was
formed nearly four million years ago, by two now-dormant volcanoes
that also created the Ko'olau and Waianae mountain ranges. These
ranges run the length of the island's eastern and western coasts,
respectively, and create specific weather patterns for parts
of the island. More rain falls on the eastern, or windward side
of O'ahu, making it thick with vegetation. The western, or leeward,
side of the island is drier and sunnier. |
