8 Things You Might Not Have Known About Hawaii

1. The USS Arizona is still leaking oil. Sunk on the December 7, 1941 during the attack on Pearl Harbor, the USS Arizona has been leaking oil for almost 70 years. The leak is obviously small and the fuel tanks were full when the ship was sunk. No one has any idea when the leak will stop.


2. Hawaii is growing every day. About 55,000 dump trucks worth of new Hawaii are being created everyday from the Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. Since 1990, 540 new acres of land have been added to the Big Island. The vast majority of the new volcanic rock ends up in the ocean and falls to the sea floor. There is in fact a brand new island being created under the water off the coast of the Big Island, called Loihi. It will rise above the ocean surface in about 10-100,000 years.
   


3. Hawaii boasts 11 different climate zones. Because of the mountains on the islands, precipitation and temperature can vary dramatically over short distances. On the big island alone you can find rainforests, deserts, grasslands and even an alpine climate on top of Mauna Kea. The east side of the Big Island averages 20 inches of rain per year and Mt. Waialeale on Kauai averages 486 inches a year. The record high temperature in Hawaii (100F, xC) is the same as the record high temperature in Alaska.
   
4. Hawaii has a 5th county. Most people think Hawaii has four counties: Honolulu (covering the island of Oahu), Maui (covering the islands of Maui, Lanai, and Molokai, and Kahoolawe), Hawaii (covering the Big Island), and Kauai (covering the island of Kauai and Ni?ihau). However, there is technically a 5th county which has only 147 inhabitants: Kalawao County. Kalawao is a small peninsula on the island of Molokai which is only accessible by a mule trail. It was used during the time of the Kingdom of Hawaii as a leper colony (now called Hansen’s disease). It is also the location of the Kalaupapa National Historical Park. The only elected position is sheriff. All other governmental functions are taken care of by the State of Hawaii Department of Health.


5. Hawaii is one of the largest states in the United States. Most people only consider the eight main islands which make up Hawaii. However, there are approximately 130 islands which make up the state of Hawaii that extend over 1,600 miles, making it one of the largest states in terms of distance from end-to-end. The northern and western most island is Kure Atoll, which is also the northern most coral atoll in the world. It is also 100 miles to the east of the International Date Line. The only island in the Hawaiian Island chain which is not part of the State of Hawaii is Midway Island which is a territory of the United States and is controlled by the Department of the Interior. All of the islands which are not part of the main Hawaiian islands are part of the city of Honolulu, which makes Honolulu one of the largest cities in the world in terms of distance.
   

Green Sand Beach on the Island of Hawaii


6. You can find beaches with four different colors of sand. In addition to the famous and common white sand beaches, you also find beaches with black, green and red sand. The Green Sand Beach is located near the South Point of the Big Island of Hawaii. The green comes from a mineral olivine which can be found in small amounts in most volcanic rock on the Big Island. The black sand can be found at Punaluu State Park on the Big Island, and it comes from crushed volcanic basalt. The red sand is found at Kaihalulu Beach off the Hana Road on the Island of Maui. The red comes from oxidized iron the rock.


7. The Captain Cook memorial on the Big Island is British Territory. Captain Cook was killed 1779 in Kealakekua Bay. The land on which the obelisk which sits is owned by the government of the United Kingdom. In exchange, the British government gave the land underneath a JFK memorial in Runnymede, England to the United States. [*][**]


8. The Kingdom of Hawaii lasted less than 100 years. Final unification of the Hawaiian islands and the creation of the Kingdom of Hawaii took place in 1810 under King Kamehameha I. The last monarch was Queen Liliu?okalani who was overthrown in a coup organized by Dole Pineapple company. It was the only state to have previously been a monarchy and the Ioini Palace is the only Palace in the United States.