Fun Facts About Hawaii

Hawaii is the kind of place that sounds made up. A chain of volcanic islands in the middle of the Pacific, 2,400 miles from the nearest continent, with green sand beaches, a growing landmass, and an alphabet with only 13 letters. Most people know about the surfing and the sunsets. Here are 30 facts about Hawaii that go a lot deeper.

Geography and Geology

1. Hawaii is the most isolated population center on Earth. The islands sit 2,390 miles from California, 3,850 miles from Japan, and 4,900 miles from China. No other inhabited place is farther from a continental landmass.

2. The Big Island is still growing. Kilauea volcano has been adding new land to the Big Island's coastline since 1983. The 2018 eruption alone added over 875 acres of new land.

3. Mauna Kea is taller than Mount Everest. Measured from its base on the ocean floor, Mauna Kea stands 33,500 feet — nearly a mile taller than Everest's 29,032 feet. Only 13,796 feet sits above sea level.

4. Hawaii has 11 of the world's 13 climate zones. From tropical rainforests on the windward coasts to alpine deserts atop Mauna Kea, the islands pack an extreme range of climates into a small area. Only arctic and continental climates are missing.

5. There is a green sand beach. Papakolea Beach on the Big Island is one of only four green sand beaches on Earth. The color comes from olivine crystals, a mineral found in volcanic rock.

6. The Hawaiian island chain stretches 1,523 miles. From the Big Island's southeast coast to Kure Atoll at the far northwestern end, the Hawaiian archipelago spans a distance greater than the width of the continental United States from Los Angeles to Dallas.

History and Statehood

7. Hawaii is the youngest US state. Hawaii became the 50th state on August 21, 1959, making it the most recent addition to the union.

8. Hawaii was an independent kingdom for over a century. The Kingdom of Hawaii was a sovereign nation from 1795 until 1893, with its own monarchy, constitution, and foreign embassies.

9. The Hawaiian flag has the British Union Jack. King Kamehameha I included the Union Jack in the upper-left corner of the Hawaiian flag as a nod to Hawaii's friendship with Britain. It is the only US state flag to feature a foreign country's flag.

10. Pearl Harbor was not always a military base. Native Hawaiians called the harbor Wai Momi, meaning "water of pearl," for the pearl oysters that once thrived there. The US military began using it after gaining exclusive rights in 1887.

Wildlife and Nature

11. There are no snakes in Hawaii. Hawaii has no native land snakes, and importing them is a serious crime. The islands have strict agriculture inspection to keep it that way. If a brown tree snake established a population, it could devastate Hawaii's native bird species.

12. Hawaii has more endangered species per square mile than anywhere else on Earth. The islands' extreme isolation created thousands of species found nowhere else, and many are now threatened by habitat loss and invasive species.

13. Humpback whales migrate 3,500 miles to breed in Hawaii. Every winter, roughly 10,000 humpback whales travel from Alaska to the warm, shallow waters around Maui, making Hawaii one of the best whale-watching destinations in the world.

14. The state bird almost went extinct. The nene (Hawaiian goose) was down to just 30 individuals in 1952. Captive breeding programs brought the population back to roughly 3,800 today.

15. Hawaii has no native land mammals. The only mammal native to Hawaii is the Hawaiian hoary bat (ope'ape'a). Every other mammal — from mongooses to feral goats — was brought by humans.

16. The state fish has one of the longest names in any language. The humuhumunukunukuapua'a (reef triggerfish) is the Hawaii state fish. The name roughly translates to "triggerfish with a snout like a pig."

Culture and Language

17. The Hawaiian alphabet has only 13 letters. Hawaiian uses just 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 8 consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p, w, and the 'okina or glottal stop). Every Hawaiian word ends in a vowel.

18. Aloha means far more than hello. The word aloha encompasses love, peace, compassion, and mercy. It is used as both a greeting and farewell, but its deeper meaning reflects a way of living — known as the "Aloha Spirit."

19. Hawaii has its own time zone with no daylight saving. Hawaii Standard Time (HST) is UTC-10 year-round. The state never observes daylight saving time, so the time difference with the mainland shifts by an hour depending on the season.

20. Surfing was invented in Hawaii. Ancient Hawaiians called it he'e nalu, or wave sliding. It was a central part of Hawaiian culture for centuries before Duke Kahanamoku popularized it worldwide in the early 1900s.

21. The hula was nearly banned. Christian missionaries who arrived in the 1820s viewed hula as immoral and suppressed it for decades. King David Kalakaua, known as the "Merrie Monarch," revived the art form in the 1880s. The Merrie Monarch Festival on the Big Island is the world's premier hula competition.

Food and Drink

22. Hawaii consumes more Spam per capita than any other state. Hawaiians eat roughly 7 million cans of Spam per year. The canned meat became a staple during World War II when it was served to soldiers stationed on the islands, and it stuck. Spam musubi — a block of rice with Spam wrapped in nori — is sold at nearly every convenience store.

23. The plate lunch is Hawaii's signature meal. Two scoops of rice, one scoop of macaroni salad, and a protein. That is the formula. It reflects the multicultural roots of Hawaii's plantation era, when workers from Japan, China, Korea, the Philippines, and Portugal shared their lunches.

24. Pineapple is not native to Hawaii. Pineapples were brought to Hawaii from South America in the 1800s. While Dole and Del Monte turned Hawaii into a pineapple powerhouse, most commercial pineapple production has since moved to the Philippines and Costa Rica.

25. Kona coffee is some of the most expensive in the world. The slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa on the Big Island create ideal growing conditions. Authentic 100% Kona coffee sells for $30 to $60 per pound.

Records and Oddities

26. Hawaii is the only US state made entirely of islands. The state consists of 137 islands, atolls, and shoals spread across 1,523 miles. Only 7 of the main islands are permanently inhabited.

27. The wettest place on Earth is in Hawaii. Mount Waialeale on Kauai averages roughly 450 inches of rain per year. Just a few miles away, the leeward coast gets less than 20 inches. This extreme variation explains why you can drive from a rainforest to a dry beach in 30 minutes.

28. There are no billboards in Hawaii. The state banned billboards in 1927, making it one of only four US states (along with Vermont, Maine, and Alaska) without commercial billboards. The result: unobstructed mountain and ocean views from every highway.

29. You can mail a coconut from Hawaii. The US Postal Service allows you to write an address directly on a coconut and mail it without a box. It is one of Hawaii's quirkiest souvenirs.

30. A new Hawaiian island is forming right now. Loihi Seamount is an underwater volcano about 22 miles southeast of the Big Island. It sits roughly 3,000 feet below the surface and is expected to break through the ocean in 10,000 to 100,000 years.