BIOLOGY Oahu has a wide variety of plant and
animal life. Many species are rare and endangered including the Nene Goose (the official state
bird) and the Humpback Whale (the official state marine mammal). Vegetation zones include: coastal,
dryland forest, mixed open forest, rain forest.
CLIMATE Like most of the Hawaiian Islands, Oahu has only two seasons:
"summer" between May and October and "winter" between October and April. Depending
upon locale:
- average temperature ranges from 69.4 - 80.6 (°F)
- Waikiki average temperature:
- Jan.-Feb. 71.9 (°F)
- Aug.-Sept. 80.6 (°F)
- average annual rainfall ranges from 20 inches in the Waianae area to
158 inches in Upper Manoa Valley.
CULTURAL HISTORY Oahu is a multi-cultural
society with major immigration from:
- Polynesia - 700 A.D.
- United States - 1820
- China - 1852
- Japan - 1868
- Portugal - 1878
- Puerto Rico - 1900
- Korea - 1903
- Philippines - 1906
ECONOMY Healthy In
2006! Key indicators are positive for continuing growth in the second half of this decade. 1
However, Hawaii's cost of living is among the highest in the nation and its 2004 per capita personal
income below average. In fact, sources indicate a cost of living ranging from 30% above the national
average to over 60% depending upon family size and circumstances - see the Price
of Paradise!
- 2005 Visitor Arrivals to the State totaled 7.4 million (a record)
2
- 2005 Gross State Product was $54 billion 2
Major contributions to the State of Hawaii's economy include:
- Visitor Expenditures: $11.8 billion (2005) - an all-time high*
2
- Federal Defense Spending: $4.8 billion (2003) 3
- Construction (Private Building Permits): $3.5 billion (2005) 4
* Visitor Expenditure figures are deceptive, since a certain percentage
of tourism dollars do not remain in the Islands, but are returned to overseas investors.
With the demise of its sugar and pineapple industries in the 1990's, Hawaii is working to diversify
its economy with a focus on industries such as science and technology, health and wellness tourism,
diversified agriculture, ocean research and development, and film and television production. A
Study currently being conducted by the State is looking at the extent to which the benefits from
tourism can be maintained, while sustaining the quality of our social, economic and environmental
assets.
EDUCATION Honolulu City and County (includes the entire Island):
- K-12 students in public schools (2004): 122,950 (excluding Special
& Charter Schools) 5
- Number of Public schools (2005): 180 6
- Number of Private schools (2005): 85 7
In 2004, there were 20,549 students enrolled at the University of Hawaii at
Manoa and an additional 834 students enrolled at the University of Hawaii - West Oahu Campus.
In addition, a total of 19,345 students were enrolled at the four Community Colleges on Oahu that
are part of the University of Hawaii system.8
Other higher education facilities on Oahu include Brigham Young University - Hawaii, Chaminade
University and Hawaii Pacific University.
GEOGRAPHY Oahu has an area of 607.7 square miles with 112 miles of
coastline (44 miles long by 30 miles wide). Oahu is:
- located in Polynesia, near the center of the Pacific Ocean
- just below the Tropic of Cancer
- one of the most remote spots on Earth
- 2,390 miles west of San Francisco, California
- the third largest of the 8 main Hawaiian islands
GEOLOGY Oahu (the second oldest island in the
Hawaiian chain) is made up of two volcanoes: the Waianae and the Koolau Mountains. Years ago,
lava flows from both joined to create the Leilehua Plateau.
GOVERNMENT On Oahu, as throughout the State, there are no separate
municipal governments. The City and County of Honolulu is administered as a single entity by a
mayor and a nine-member council, elected for four-year terms. Honolulu is both the State Capital
and seat of the County Government.
HEALTH Practices (2004): 2,697 doctors, 766 dentists, 7,926 nurses
and 705 pharmacists.9
OFFICIAL COLOR AND FLOWER The official color is yellow and the official
flower is the ilima.
POPULATION Oahu:
- had a resident population of 899,593 in 2004 (71% of the State's total
population on 9.2% of its land). 10
- In 2004, there were 102,680 military personnel (Armed Forces plus military
dependants) in Hawaii. Most of them were based on Oahu. 10
In 2004, Oahu's ethnic groups roughly broke down as follows:11
Unmixed (except Hawaiian): 538,692 (61.6%)
 Caucasian
- 178,050 (20.4%)
Japanese
- 159,767 (18.2%)
Filipino
- 119,237 (13.6%)
Chinese
- 45,410 (5.2%)
Black
- 11,021 (1.3%)
Korean
- 9,000 (1.0%)
Samoan/Tongan
- 16,206 (1.9%)
Mixed (except Hawaiian) - 165,051 (18.9%)
Hawaiian/Part Hawaiian - 169,964 (19.5%)
TOURISM Oahu had approximately 4.8 million visitors in 2005.12
Data Sources
|
