Chapter 22 – Our Islands

Eight main islands and more than fifty small islands make up this chain. The Hawaiian Islands are far away from any other land. They are located in the Tropic of Cancer, but the climate and plant life are best described as semi-tropical. This means that the islands occupy a place between the steamy hot jungle of the equator and the cooler area farther north. Trade winds are cool and pleasant, and kona (south) winds bring warmer weather.

The 2010 census reported a statewide population of 1,360,301. Native Hawaiians made up 5.9 percent of the population, and people who identify themselves as being of more than one race made up 23.6 percent of the population. Caucasian (not including Hispanics) were at 24.7 percent, and Filipinos made up 14.5 percent. Many people who live in Hawai‘i are descendants of those who came to work on the plantations over the last century from Asia and the other places in the Pacific. Newer immigrants come largely from North America, Southeast Asia, Micronesia, and American Samoa. Most people live on the island of O‘ahu in the city of Honolulu.