Hawaii
Fact File
Get to know Hawaii! Get the facts about its land, products and culture.
Official name: Hawaii
Statehood: August 21, 1959
Size: Land area is 6,423 square miles; eight main islands form an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean
Capital: Honolulu
Population: 1,257,608 as of 2003
Population Under Age 14: 24% as of 2000
Population Breakdown: Hawaii has the largest multiracial population of any U.S. state. In the 2000 census, 21.4% of Hawaiians selected two or more races to identify themselves.
Official Languages: English, Hawaiian
Climate: Subtropical; generally warmer at the coasts and cooler in the mountain regions. Rainfall varies from place to place, but Mount Waialeale, on Kauai, is one of the wettest places in the world. It gets an average of 460 inches of rain every year.
Agricultural Products: Sugarcane, macadamia nuts, fruits, vegetables, flowers, pineapples, and coffee. Hawaii produces more than one-third of the world's commercial supply of pineapples and is the only U.S. state that can grow coffee.
Time Zone: Hawaii has its own time zone, Hawaiian Standard Time (HST). There is no daylight savings in Hawaii.
Industries: Tourism, sugar processing, pineapple canning, fishing clothing, food, printing and publishing
Foods: Poi is a Hawaiian staple. It is made from ground up taro root and then cooked into a thick paste.
Special Traditions: Hula dancing, luau feasts, surfing and making lei necklaces