Honolulu

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HONOLULU

HONOLULU. Honolulu, the capital of the state of Hawaii, is on the southeast coast of the island of Oahu. Its name means "sheltered harbor." This "crossroads of the Pacific" between the Americas and Asia is an export-import site for goods and people.

As a consequence of high-rise construction, Honolulu is America's most crowded city. According to the 2000 Census, about 80 percent (876,156) of Hawaii's residents live in Honolulu's 60 square miles. This is about 1,460 persons per square mile, compared to 79.6 persons per square mile in the United States overall. This ranks Honolulu among the fifty largest U.S. cities, and counties and fifty-first largest Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area.

More than 21 percent of Honolulu's residents are foreign born. (Only Los Angeles and New York City have higher percentages.) English is a second language for more than 26 percent. Twenty-one percent are white and 10 percent are Hispanic, African American, or Native American. More than 65 percent are Asian. The largest Asian immigrant populations are Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese.

Diversity is not new. Tahitians arrived in pre-recorded history, mixing with already-present islanders. The British discovered the bay settlement in 1794. Honolulu became a world hub for traders, whalers, and fishermen. Western missionaries followed in the 1820s; Chinese and Filipino plantation laborers came in the 1830s. By 1884, Honolulu's Chinatown had five thousand inhabitants and Chinese owned 60 percent of wholesale and retail establishments and 85 percent of restaurants. Military occupations—Russian (1816), British (1843), and French (1849)—added variety. From 1845, Honolulu was home to Hawaii's monarchy. American investors moved in after the treaty of reciprocity between Hawaii and the United States in 1875.

Incorporated as a city in 1907, Honolulu is the state's commercial and industrial hub and the headquarters for county, state, and regional federal government institutions. Its economy is tied to Asian and American markets. Military installations, including Pearl Harbor naval base, are important strategically and economically; Japan considered Pearl Harbor important enough to bomb in 1941. Honolulu International Airport is among the busiest U.S. airports. Tourism contributes to skyscraper hotels, shopping centers, and retail businesses. Honolulu harbor bustles with luxury cruise liners, freighters, and intra-island barges. Extensive docks and warehouses serve pineapple canneries, sugar refineries, garment manufacturers, dairy enterprises, and aluminum, cement, oil, and steel industries.

Educational institutions—the University of Hawaii, Chaminade University, and Hawaii Pacific University—contribute to research and development industries in astronomy, biomedicine, geophysics, oceanography, and satellite communications. World-class cultural institutions include Bishop Museum, a premier resource for Pacific culture studies; the Honolulu Academy of Arts, among the world's most beautiful museums; and the Iolani Palace, the only royal palace in the United States.

A temperate climate of from seventy-two to seventy-eight degrees year-round supports agriculture and out-door recreation. But like most cities in the early twenty-first century, Honolulu faces environmental and social issues such as urban sprawl, water quality, and open space preservation.