The Hawaii islands is the product of the volcanoes. The archipelago, located 4,000 km (2,500 mi) away from California, was unknown to the Europeans until the voyages of James Cook, who stepped on the islands in 1778 (later, he was killed by the natives, during a visit in the archipelago). Cook named Hawaii the Sandwich Islands, in the honor of his protector lord.
Missionaries caused dissensions between the rich families that ruled the islands, and during the 19th century, the islands turned into the center of slave trade in the Pacific. In 1898, US annexed the islands, the king turning into a simple executor of the orders coming from Washington.
In 1959, Hawaii turned into the 50th US state.
Hawaii is made of 20 volcanic islands, surrounded by reef atolls and having a surface of 28.313 square km (almost as much as Belgium). Hawaii has a flora made of 22,000 species and huge beaches of black volcanic sand. Most of the original forests are now replaced by plantations of sugarcane, coffee, pineapple, avocado and papaya. Today, Hawaii has a population of 1.2 million and it is visited by 4 million tourists annually. This is no longer a pristine tropical paradise.
The largest island, Hawaii ("the House of the Volcanoes") harbors two volcanoes: Mauna Loa ("the Long Mountain"), with a height of 4,159 m, and Kilauea, a secondary crater.
Mauna Loa ("Long Mountain") is the most famous volcano of the Oceania. It is Earth's largest volcano, with a volume estimated at approximately 18,000 cubic miles (75,000 km³), although its peak is about 36 m (120 ft) lower than that of its neighbor, Mauna Kea. Its height is of 9,000 m (30,000 ft) from the sea bed, but only 4,170 m (13,900 ft) stay above the sea level, having a diameter of 100 km (60 mi) at level 0.
Mauna Loa and Kilauea, together with the Puna District, make the Hawaii Volcanoes. National Park.Lava eruptions from Mauna Loa are very fluid and the volcano has extremely shallow slopes as a result. The volcano has probably been erupting for at least 700,000 years and may have emerged from the sea about 400,000 years ago, although the oldest known dated rocks do not extend beyond 200,000 years. Mauna Loa's most recent eruption lasted from March 24, 1984, to April 15, 1984.
Kilauea, 1,222 m or 4,073 ft tall, is the most active volcano on Earth. It caused 74 long eruptions, since 1794. The volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983.
Most volcanoes manifest through occasional eruptions, then their lava hardens, like a crust on a wound. But Puuoo in Hawaii has a lake of continuous boiling lava. Only Erta Ales of Ethiopia and Erebus in Antarctica experience a similar phenomenon.
The other volcano of the Hawaii island is Mauna Kea, famous for its astronomical observatory.
The fourth largest island of Hawaii is Kauai, in the west. It is the oldest inhabited island in the archipelago, the oldest from the geological point of view and the most influenced by the trade winds. The annual rainfall is over 11,000 mm. This is the first island stepped on by Cook.
Honolulu ("Quiet Gulf") is located on the third largest island, Oahu. Pearl Harbor is also located on this island. The ports of Oahu are better guarded against storms by two mountain chains. The famous Waikiki Beach is located on Oahu as well.
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