About Oahu

Oahu from Air

Oahu, known as “The Gathering Place”, is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the State of Hawai?i. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast. Including small close-in offshore islands such as Ford Island and the islands in Kaneohe Bay and off the eastern coast, it has a total land area of 596.7 square miles (1,545.4 km), making it the 20th largest island in the United States. It is also the most populous island in the Western Hemisphere that neither contains a national capital nor possesses a road or rail connection to a national capital. In greatest dimension, this volcanic island is 44 miles (71 km) long and 30 miles (48 km) across. The length of the shoreline is 227 miles (365 km). The island is the result of two separate shield volcanoes: Wai‘anae and Ko‘olau, with a broad “valley” or saddle (the central O‘ahu Plain) between them. The highest point is Mt. Ka’ala in the Wai‘anae Range, rising to 4,003 feet (1,220 m) above sea level

To learn more about the Island of Oahu, please visit this page.

ntroduction

Southeast Oahu showing Hawai?i Kai, Hanauma Bay and Koko Crater

Honolulu, its harbor and Punchbowl Crater

Waik?k? is one of the best known beaches in the world.

The island is home to about 900,000 people (approximately 75% of the resident population of the state) and partly because of this, O?ahu has for a long time been nicknamed “The Gathering Place”. However, the term O?ahu has no confirmed meaning in Hawaiian, other than that of the place itself.^[4] Ancient Hawaiian tradition attributes the name’s origin in the legend of Hawai?iloa, the Polynesian navigator credited with discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. The story relates that he named the island after a son.

The city of Honolulu—largest city, state capital, and main deepwater marine port for the State of Hawai?i—is located here. As a jurisdictional unit, the entire island of O?ahu is in the City & County of Honolulu, although as a place name, Honolulu occupies only a portion of the southeast end of the island (essentially, the Honolulu District). Well-known features found on O?ahu include Waik?k?, Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay, K?ne?ohe Bay, Kailua Bay, North Shore.

[edit] History

Waim?nalo Beach on windward side of O?ahu, Hawai?i

Pearl Harbor is the home of the largest U.S. Navy fleet in the Pacific. On December 7, 1941 the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked and destroyed the U.S. forces by surprise and killed almost 2,400 military and civilians, most of them trapped in the USS Arizona (BB-39).

The old Kingdom of O?ahu was once ruled by the most ancient Ali?i in all of the Hawaiian Islands. The first great king of O?ahu was Mailikukahi, the law maker, who was followed by many generation of monarchs. Kualii was the first of the warlike kings and so were his sons. In 1773, the throne fell upon Kahahana, the son of Elani of Ewa. In 1783 Kahekili II, King of Maui, conquered O?ahu and deposed the reigning family and then made his son Kalanikupule king of O?ahu. Kamehameha the Great would conquer Kalanikupule’s force in the Battle of Nu?uanu. Kamehameha founded the Kingdom of Hawai?i with the conquest of O?ahu in 1795. Hawai?i would not be unified until the islands of Kaua?i and Ni?ihau surrendered under King Kaumualii in 1810. Kamehameha III moved his capital from L?hain?, on Maui to Honolulu, O?ahu in 1845. ?Iolani Palace, built later by other members of the royal family, is still standing, and is the only royal palace on American soil.

O?ahu was apparently the first of the Hawaiian Islands sighted by the crew of HMS Resolution on 18 January 1778 during Captain James Cook‘s third Pacific expedition. Escorted by HMS Discovery, the expedition was surprised to find high islands this far north in the central Pacific. O?ahu was not actually visited by Europeans until 28 February 1779 when Captain Charles Clerke aboard HMS Resolution stepped ashore at Waimea Bay. Clerke had taken command of the ship after Capt. Cook was killed at Kealakekua Bay (island of Hawai?i) on February 14, and was leaving the islands for the North Pacific.

M?kua Valley military testing area, O?ahu, Hawai?i

The opening battle of World War II in the Pacific for the United States was the Imperial Japanese Navy unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor, O?ahu on the morning of December 7, 1941. The surprise attack was aimed at the Pacific Fleet of the United States Navy and its defending Army Air Corps and Marine Air Forces. The attack damaged or destroyed twelve American warships, destroyed 188 aircraft, and resulted in the deaths of 2,403 American servicemen and 68 civilians.

Today, O?ahu has become a tourism and shopping haven as over five million visitors (mainly from the American mainland and Japan) flock there every year to enjoy the quintessential island holiday experience that the Hawaiian Islands and their multicultural people now personify.

An earthquake, measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale, struck O?ahu and the surrounding islands at 07:07:49 HST on 15 October 2006, causing a statewide power outage and over $200 million in damages.