Hawaii

Link: http://www.checkmycity.com/videos/North-America/United-States/travel-to-Hilo-Hawaii-Real-Estate---Hilo-Real-Estate-212

The State of Hawaii is a state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August 21, 1959, making it the 50th state. Its capital is Honolulu on the island of Oahu. The most recent census estimate puts the state's population at 1,283,388.

This state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian Island chain, which is made up of hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles (2,400 km). At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight "main islands" are (from the northwest to southeast) Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lânaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and Hawaiʻi. The last is by far the largest, and is often called the "Big Island" or "Big Isle" to avoid confusion with the state as a whole. This archipelago is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania.

Follow up:

The Hawaiian language word Hawaiʻi derives from Proto-Polynesian *Sawaiki, with the reconstructed meaning "homeland";[4] cognate words are found in other Polynesian languages, including Mâori (Hawaiki), Rarotongan (ʻAvaiki), and Samoan (Savaiʻi).

According to Pukui and Elbert, "Elsewhere in Polynesia, Hawaiʻi or a cognate is the name of the underworld or of the ancestral home, but in Hawaiʻi the name has no meaning."

An archipelago situated some 2,000 mi (3,200 km) southwest of the North American mainland, Hawaii is the southernmost state of the United States and the second westernmost state after Alaska. Only Hawaii and Alaska are outside the contiguous United States and do not share a border with any other U.S. state.

Hawaii is the only state of the United States that:
- is not geographically located in North America
- grows coffee
- is completely surrounded by water
- has a royal palace
- does not have a straight line in its state boundary

Na Pali coast, KauaiHawaii's tallest mountain, Mauna Kea stands at 13,796 ft (4,205 m) but is taller than Mount Everest if followed to the base of the mountain—from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, rising about 33,500 ft (10,200 m).

All of the Hawaiian islands were formed by volcanos erupting from the sea floor from a magma source described in geological theory as a hotspot. The theory maintains that as the tectonic plate beneath much of the Pacific Ocean moves in a northwesterly direction, the hot spot remains stationary, slowly creating new volcanoes. This explains why only volcanoes on the southern half of the Big Island, and the Loihi Seamount (Lôʻihi) deep below the waters off its southern coast, are presently active, with Loihi being the newest volcano to form.

The last volcanic eruption outside the Big Island occurred at Haleakala on Maui in the late 18th century, though recent research suggests that Haleakala's most recent eruptive activity could be hundreds of years earlier.

The volcanic activity and subsequent erosion created impressive geological features. The Big Island is notable as the world’s second highest island.[citation needed]

Because of the islands' volcanic formation, native life before human activity is said to have arrived by the "3 W's": wind (carried through the air), waves (brought by ocean currents), and wings (birds, insects, and whatever they brought with them). The isolation of the Hawaiian Islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and the wide range of environments to be found on high islands located in and near the tropic, has resulted in a vast array of endemic flora and fauna (see Endemism in the Hawaiian Islands). Hawaii has more endangered species and has lost a higher percentage of its endemic species than anywhere in the United States.

There are several areas in Hawaii under the control and protection of the National Park Service. Two areas are designated as national parks: Haleakala National Park near Kula, Maui, includes Haleakala, the dormant volcano that formed east Maui; and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in the southeast region of the island of Hawaii, which includes the active volcano Kilauea and its various rift zones.

There are three designated national historical parks: Kalaupapa National Historical Park in Kalaupapa, Molokai, the site of a former colony for leprosy patients; Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park in Kailua-Kona on the island of Hawaii; and Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park in Honaunau on the island of Hawaii, the site of an ancient Hawaiian place of refuge. Other areas under the control of the National Park Service include Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail on the island of Hawaii and the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor on Oahu.

The Papahânaumokuâkea Marine National Monument was proclaimed by President George W. Bush on June 15, 2006, under the 1906 Antiquities Act. The monument covers roughly 140,000 square miles (360,000 km²) of reefs, atolls and shallow and deep sea (out to 50 miles (80 km) offshore) in the Pacific Ocean, larger than all of America’s National Parks combined.

Source: Wikipedia

A few Hawaiian words:

Aloha: Hello, Good bye, Love
Mahalo: Thank you
Mauka: toward the mountain
Makai: toward the ocean
Kama’aina: Hawaii resident
Malahini: vistor to the islands
Wahine: Women
Kane: Men
Luau: celebration where friend and family gather and lots of food is served.
(Source: Hawaii Travel Blog)

Even President-elect Obama enjoys Hawaii!