Hawaii Information and Hotels.

The original Hawaiians were of Polynesian origin and came from the Marquesas Islands. They may have reached the Hawaiian Islands as early as AD 400 and were followed approximately 400 to 500 years later by a second wave of immigration from Tahiti. Captain James Cook is credited with the European discovery (1778) of the group, which he named the Sandwich Islands. In 1796 Kamehameha I emerged as monarch over the entire island group, which during most of the 19th century was known both as the Sandwich Islands and as the Hawaii Islands after Hawaii, the largest of the group. In 1820 the first missionaries from New England arrived, and Western influences began to change the islands. A constitution modeled after various American and British documents was adopted in 1840, and recognition of the kingdom's independence was granted by the United States, France, and Great Britain. Britain and France continued to intrigue for dominance over the islands, and in 1851 Kamehameha III placed Hawaii under U.S. protection. In 1887 the United States obtained the rights for a naval base at Pearl Harbor. Many Hawaiian and U.S. interests favoured annexation, but this was resisted by President Grover Cleveland and others. A coup fomented by U.S. sugar interests resulted in the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a Republic of Hawaii in 1893. In 1898 the new republic and the United States agreed on annexation, and in 1900 Hawaii became a territory of the United States. Hawaii became an important base for the U.S. Navy's Pacific fleet, and the Japanese attack on the naval installation at Pearl Harbor in 1941 brought the United States into World War II. Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States in 1959.

The Hawaiian Islands are the tops of a chain of emerged volcanic mountains that form the 8 major islands and 124 islets. The terrain is comparatively domelike in the geologically young areas; in the older areas there are abrupt, sharply grooved cliffs pocked with caves, deep valleys, and coastal plains. Because the topography is generally steep, there are few basins or lakes.

Hawaii's mild tropical climate is often described as ideal. Average temperatures in downtown Honolulu range from 72 to 78 F (22 to 26 C). Mountainous regions are considerably cooler, especially during winter. Variations in rainfall are dramatic. Mount Waialeale, on the island of Kauai, is often called the wettest spot in the world, with an annual rainfall of 444 inches (1,280 mm), whereas Kawaihae, on the island of Hawaii, has an annual rainfall of less than 9 inches (230 mm).

The original Hawaiian population may have numbered 300,000 in 1778; by 1853, it had dropped to 70,000. People of at least part-Hawaiian descent constitute only one-eighth of Hawaii's total population, while those of Japanese ancestry are the single largest ethnic group, with one-fourth of the total. The majority of the state's residents live on Oahu Island, with almost 60 percent in the Honolulu urban area and another 20 percent in outlying districts. Hawaii's growth rate in the 1980s was more than twice the national average.

Agriculture remains of prime importance in the Hawaiian economy. Hawaii is one of the largest producers of sugarcane in the United States. Sorghum and corn (maize) are widely cultivated; and pineapple was an important cash crop until the early 1990s, when competition from countries with lower labour costs forced Hawaii out of the world market. There are no important mineral resources.

Heavy industries include an oil refinery, a steel mill, several cement plants, a concrete-pipe plant, and an aluminum-extrusion plant. Canning of Hawaiian-grown foodstuffs is also important. Hawaii's largest industry, however, is tourism. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, more than 6 million people visited Hawaii annually; most visitors came from the United States mainland, especially the West Coast, or from Japan. The federal government is the second largest source of income; much of its spending is on defense-related items.

Ocean surface shipping is Hawaii's lifeline; Honolulu Harbor is the main port. There are three major civilian airports and a well-developed road network. There is no significant rail mileage.

Honolulu is noted for its Bishop Museum of the Pacific and its peoples and the Honolulu Academy of Arts, known for its collection of late 19th- and early 20th-century art. The Neal Blaisdell Center is a municipal theatre-concert hall-arena complex. A unique educational institution is the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange between East and West, sponsored by the federal government. Hawaii has daily newspapers in Japanese and Chinese as well as in English. Total area 6,471 square miles (16,760 square km). Pop. (1992 est.) 1,160,000.