The age of the archipelago has been estimated using potassium-argon dating methods. Thus, the southeast island is volcanically active, whereas the islands on the northwest end of the archipelago are older and typically smaller, due to longer exposure to erosion. This chain of islands, or archipelago, developed as the Pacific Plate slowly moved northwestward over a hotspot in the Earth's mantle at a rate of approximately 32 miles (51 km) per million years. All except Kaho'olawe are inhabited.Įruptions from the Hawaii hotspot left a trail of underwater mountains across the Pacific over millions of years, called the Emperor Seamounts. The eight major islands of Hawaii (Windward Islands) are listed above. Except for Midway, which is an unincorporated territory of the United States, these islands and islets are administered as Hawaii-the 50th state of the United States. The Hawaiian Islands have a total land area of 6,423.4 square miles (16,636.5 km 2). This name was in use until the 1840s, when the local name "Hawaii" gradually began to take precedence. Ĭaptain James Cook, RN, visited the islands on January 18, 1778, and named them the "Sandwich Islands" in honor of The 4th Earl of Sandwich, who as the First Lord of the Admiralty was one of his sponsors. Archaeological evidence seems to indicate a settlement as early as 124 AD. The date of the first settlements of the Hawaiian Islands is a topic of continuing debate. The islands are about 1,860 miles (3,000 km) from the nearest continent. Hawaii is the exposed peaks of a great undersea mountain range known as the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain, formed by volcanic activity over a hotspot in the Earth's mantle. The state of Hawaii occupies the archipelago almost in its entirety (including the mostly uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands), with the sole exception of Midway Atoll, which also belongs to the United States, as one of its unincorporated territories within the United States Minor Outlying Islands. It is part of the Polynesia subregion of Oceania. state that is not geographically connected to North America. Hawaii sits on the Pacific Plate and is the only U.S. The contemporary name of the islands, dating from the 1840s, is derived from the name of the largest island, Hawaiʻi Island. Cook came across the islands by chance when crossing the Pacific Ocean on his Third Voyage in 1778, on board HMS Resolution he was later killed on the islands on a return visit. Formerly the group was known to Europeans and Americans as the Sandwich Islands, a name that James Cook chose in honor of the 4th Earl of Sandwich, the then First Lord of the Admiralty. ![]() ![]() The Hawaiian Islands ( Hawaiian: Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) from the island of Hawaiʻi in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll.
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