How did Hawaii get its name?

Hawaii was the last state to become part of the United States of America and was declared the 50th state on 21st August 1959. Hawaii is a chain of islands and got its name from the inhabitants. The local inhabitants used to call their home by name that sounded a lot like the current name “Hawaii”. Raiatea is another name of Hawai. However, researchers are still not sure about the real origin of the name. The Hawaii Big Island is the biggest island that is part of the Hawaii archipelago. The Hawaii islands are located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and are southwest of the U.S. mainland. While it lies to the northeast of Australia and southeast of Japan.

The temperate tropical climate and the scenic beauty of the place make it a great tourist attraction. The influences of both North America and Asia have reached the culture of this mid-Pacific island. The capital of Hawaii islands is Honolulu, and it is situated in Oahu Island. These islands have more than a million permanent residents and cater to many tourists. It also has a permanent U.S. military base.

Some early records

The Polynesian people were native to this land, and they are credited with discovering the islands. Captain Cook discovered the islands during the latter part of 19th century. At that point of time, these islands were ruled by the king. However, the king was dethroned by Europeans and by the people that came from the US mainland. Until it became the 50th state of USA, it was governed by some European nations as well as US.

Some unique features

The southernmost state of the U.S. is Hawaii. It is located 2,000 miles southwest of the North American mainland. Hawaii and Alaska are the two states, which do not share a common boundary with another state. In fact, Alaska was also bought by the US government from Russia. It is also an archipelago and doesn’t have straight-line borders unlike other states. Hawaii also has Royal Palaces that are a part of its past heritage. It also has great coffee plantations and is world famous for it.

Climate

Hawaii has a tropical climate. However, the temperature is quite moderate and the humidity levels are also extremely low. During the summer, the daytime temperature can rise to 31°C and in the night time temperature stays around 24°C.

In the winters, the daytime temperature stays around 28°C and in the night, the temperature rarely plunges below 18°C. Though Hawaii is a tropical paradise, you can also experience snow in the winter months on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa which are almost 13,796 ft. above the sea level. Haleakala is another place where snow can be seen very seldom.

Mount Waialeale experiences high rainfall throughout the year. The two seasons that dominate these island states are the dry season and the wet season. The dry-season starts from May and ends in October and the wet season begin from the October and gets over in April.

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