| Oahu | |
| United States Island | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| archipelago | Hawaiian Islands |
| Province | Hawaii |
| Location | Pacific |
| Coordinates | 21°28’0″N, 157°59’0″WL |
| General | |
| Surface | 1545 km² |
| Inhabitants (2010) |
953.207 |
| County Seat | Honolulu |
| circumference | 366 km |
| Length | 71 km |
| Width | 48 km |
| Highest point | Mount Kaala (1220 m) |
| satellite photo | |
According to Mcat-test-centers, Oahu (Hawaiian: O ʻ ahu) is one of the islands of the US state of Hawaii. It is the third island in size, with a total land area of 1600 km². The island is 71 km long and 48 km wide. It has a coastline of 366 km.
The island consists of two ancient shield volcanoes, Waianae and Koʻolau, with a wide saddle between them. The highest point is Mount Ka’ala in the Waiʻanae Range, 1,220 meters above sea level. The last volcanic activity on Oahu was probably between 32,000 and 10,000 years ago.
According to ehuacom.com, about 80% of the population of the state of Hawaii lives on Oahu. The largest city and capital Honolulu is also located there.
The second most important sector is defense, along with other government activities. Oahu is home to a major naval base, Pearl Harbor. On Sunday, December 7, 1941, the US fleet, stationed at Pearl Harbor, was attacked by the Japanese, triggering the United States’ entry into World War II.
Agriculture, mainly consisting of growing pineapples and sugar cane, is declining economically.
In the winter, Oahu is the center of wave surfing. The northwest coast (North Shore) is populated during the winter months by many surf professionals who compete for the ‘Triple Crown of Surfing’, a competition held at the beaches of Haleiwa, Sunset and Banzai Pipeline.
Tourism
The main economic sector for Oahu is tourism, with hotels concentrated around Waikiki, a neighborhood of Honolulu. The island is frequented by tourists from the mainland United States and from Canada and Japan.
Famous places of interest are
- Diamond Head
- North Shore (Oahu)
- Nuʻuanu Pali (Pali Lookout)
- Pearl Harbor with USS Arizona Memorial, USS Missouri and Pacific Aviation Museum
- Waikīkī
- Polynesian Cultural Center
- Honolulu
- Ala Moana Center
- Aloha Tower
- Bernice P. Bishop Museum
- Honolulu Academy of Arts
- Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii (Mauna Ala)
- Lyon Arboretum and the Honolulu Botanical Gardens, a network of five botanical gardens, which includes the Foster Botanical Garden, the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden, the Koko Crater Botanical Garden, the Liliuokalani Botanical Garden, and the Wahiawa Botanical Garden.
Born on Oahu
- Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, singer
- Lauren Graham, actress
- Kellye Nakahara (born 1950), actress
- Jack Johnson (May 18, 1975), singer-songwriter
- Bruno Mars (October 8, 1985), singer-songwriter and music producer
- Bette Midler (December 1, 1945), actress
- Barack Obama (August 4, 1961), former President of the United States
Trivia
- Many series and movies were shot (in part) on Oahu, including The Karate Kid Part II, Lost, Magnum, PI, Battleship (film), Pearl Harbor , Jurassic Park , and Hawaii Five-0 .
- The computer games Test Drive Unlimited and Test Drive Unlimited 2 are set on this island, the second of which is partial.
Molokai, Hawaii
| Molokai | |
| United States Island | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| archipelago | Hawaiian Islands |
| Province | Hawaii |
| Location | Pacific |
| Coordinates | 21°8’6″N, 157°0’36″WL |
| General | |
| Surface | 673.4 km² |
| Inhabitants (2000) |
7404 |
| County Seat | Kaunakakai |
| Length | 60 |
| Width | 16 |
| Highest point | Kamakou (1512 m) |
Molokai (Moloka ʻ i) is one of the islands of Hawaii. It measures 61 x 16 km with a land area of 673.4 km². It is located east of Oahu, separated from it by the 25-mile-wide Kaiwi Channel, and north of Lanai.
Moloka ʻ i consists of two extinct volcanoes, East Moloka ʻ i and the much smaller West Moloka ʻ i. The highest point is Kamakou (1512 m) on East Moloka ʻ i. The East Moloka ʻi volcano is the southern half of a once much larger volcano (much like the Koʻolau Range on Oahu). The northern half fell to the bottom of the Pacific 1.5 million years ago where it now lies like a field of rubble. The remaining part of the volcano on the island is now the highest cliffs in the world. These cliffs are featured in the movie Jurassic Park III.
The low western half of Moloka ʻi is dry and the ground is bare due to goat grazing. The eastern half consists of a plateau covered by moist forests. In the northwest of the island is the Mo ʻ omoni Bay, in the far east the Halawa Valley. Halawa Bay is located northeast of the island. Not far from the town of Kualapu you will find an airport.
Leper colony
The Kalaupapa Peninsula in northern Molokai was used to accommodate leprosy patients from all over Hawaii from 1865 to 1969 . The site was chosen because the low-lying peninsula was separated from the rest of the island by steep cliffs. Thus the leprosy patients could not ‘escape’. They were actually prisoners. The colony and therefore the island became world famous when Father Damien settled there as a young healthy priest and held fundraisers, clothing collections, etc. there. He left the island several times until he became ill: he contracted leprosy through contact with inhabitants of the colony. He lived there until his death in April 1889.
Post to Molokai
- Maunaloa (to the west)
- Kalaupapa (in the north, by the sea)
- Kualapuu (in the center)
- Kaunakakai (in the south, by the sea)
- Puko ʻ o (in the southeast, by the sea)
