Hawaii

Hawaii, the 50th state is a group of islands in the middle of Pacific Ocean, southwest of California. Because of its pleasant climate and its scenic wonders, Hawaii is often called the Paradise of the Pacific. (Mark Twain called it „the loveliest fleet of islands that lies anchored in any ocean“)
Hawaiis official nickname is the Aloha State. Aloha is a Hawaiian word used as a greeting and farewell by the friendly people of islands. And this is really what you can expect of Hawaii: nice people, very good climate, sunny beaches, clean sea but especially best vacation you have ever had.

History
First Hawaii was inhabited by Polynesians in 500 after Christ. In 1778 captain James Cook came in two ships. He named his discovery the Sandwich Islands in honor of his patron, the Earl of Sandwich. One of the visitors to Cooks ships was a hardy young warrior named Kamehameha. Using weapons he carried out a series of wars that made him master of all main islands by the early 1800s.King Kamehameha 1 died in 1819. He had followed old religion. But his son, Kamehameha 2, overthrew the ancient idols. In these times arrived missionaries from New England. They brought Christianity on Hawaii. It was in year 1820. The first line of kings died out with Kamehameha 5 in 1872.
On June 14, 1900, the islands were organizated as a territory. All persons who had been citizens of Hawaii before that time became United States citizens.
The sudden Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 plunged the United States into World War 2.
President Eisenhower proclaimed Hawaii the 50th state on August 21, 1959.

Famous people
There were not many famous people born in Hawaii, but there were born many people that affected history of Hawaii

Geography:

Location
Hawaii is located in the middle part of North Pacific ocean. Hawaii consist from 6 inhabited islands :Kauai, Oahu, Lauai, Molokai, Maui, Hawaiis big island and many other smaller islands: Kure, Midway, Lisiansky, Laysan, Necker, Nihoa, Pearl and Hermes Reef. Hawaii was created by volcanic activity. Hawaiis big island and island Maui separate Alenuihaha channel and island Oahu and Kauai island separate Kauai channel. Hawaii is 16 705 km big. And it is still getting bigger because some of islands are rising and the area is getting bigger. I tis because of volcanic activity.

Climate
The state of Hawaii lies in the subtropics – the region bordering on the tropics. But almost every kind of climate can be found somewhere on the islands.
The average yearly rainfall is 11,680 millimeters, but the sides away from prevailing trade winds are relatively dry. There is no rainy season, but often more rain falls in December and January. In most places there is a little change in temperature between day and night or between summer and winter months.
In practical terms there are only 2 seasons: the summer months that extend from May to October and the winter months that run from November to April. The average daytime summer temperature at level see is 29,4 degree Celsius while average temperature in winter months is 25,6 degree Celsius. Temperatures at night are approximately 3 degrees lower. There is just a small difference in temperatures between summer and winter.
Hawaiis sea has very smooth temperature. It is about 23,3 – 26,7 degrees high. Hawaiians can swim in the see almost all the year. That is the main reason why is Hawaii very popular for tourists all the year.

Nature
Hawaiis nature is one of the most beautiful in the world. It is very exotic like everything in this state. Because of tropical climate there are many special tropical trees, some of them, grow only on Hawaii. But the most famous plants are beautiful colorful Hawais flowers. Here are some of them: Red Ohia Lihua, Lokelani, Kaunaoa, White Kukui blossom, Illima.
From animals typical for Hawaii are tropical birds. But hawaii also has beautiful undersea life. There live many kinds of fish dolphins, turtles, octopuses, seaweeds and other sea animals.
Interesting natural attractions are hot wells, which were created by vulcanic activities which proceed even today. You can also watch how lava flows up from the ground in night. Very famous are Hawaiian waterfalls too. They are there because of raining in mountains. Some waterfalls are really high and for some tourists it is adrenalin adventure to jump from the top to the water on the bottom.
Hawaii is considered as the best place for surfers. There are biggest waves than anywhere else. Many surfing competitions are organizated here.

Cities
The capital city of Hawaii is Honolulu. The central part of city is mainly a banking and industrial area. He Civic Center in downtown Honolulu includes numerous points of interest. Among them bronze statue of Kamehameha 1 in front of the Judiciary building and library of Hawaii. The Waikiki section of Honolulu is a main tourist center of the islands. Large hotels and apartment buildings line Waikiki beach. Throughout the city there are colorful markets and shops and many lovely parks such as Forester Gardens.
Another important city is Hilo. It is the main port of the island of Hawaii and the seat of Hawaii country. Hilo is a completely modern city with supermarkets, newspaper, excellent school and a busy airport.
People

People came to Hawaii from many lands, especially China, Japan, Korea, the Phillipines and the Potugese islands of Madeira. Today there are only about thousand persons of pure Hawaian descent in the state, but there are many more people who are part Hawaiian.
The religion of the ancient Hawaiians was a form of nature worship. Some of their gods were: Lono god of growing things and of harvest and peace, Kane was the father of living creatures, Pele, goodness of the volcanoes...
The ancient Hawaiis worked hard to grow the crops of taro. From the root of this plant they made a starchy food paste called poi. But the most famous foods in Hawaii are made from fruit and vegetable. It is the tourists favorite food because of hot climate in Hawaii. In Hawaii you can also taste hundred kinds of coctails and lemonades.

A kind of cloth called kapa or tapa was made from the inner bark of the paper mulberry tree. The common people wore clothing made of kapa. But in the present these clothing is used just for special slants. Normal Hawaiians are wearing modern clothes.
Houses were made of timber tied together with vines or with cords of coconut fiber.
The Hawaiian language is much like the Polynesian languages in other parts of the Pacific. It is musical in tone, and its words express many poetic ideas. There was no written form of the language until missionares came to the islands in 1820.

Interesting natural places to visit
Haleakala National Park is on the island of Maui. It includes the worlds largest dormant volcanic mountain. The huge craterlike depression at the top is about 32 kilometers around.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park includes section of Mauna Loa and Kilauea. They are two active volcanoes in the state, Kilauea is the younger as well as the smaller and more active of the two. The eruptions of Kilauea are usually safe to watch. There are many other historical and natural parks in Hawaii.
Kokee Park is part of a state forest preserve in the wild upland region of western Kauai. A museum in the park has exhibits of plants, wildlife and rocks.
Lahaina is a town of unusual historic interest located on the western coast of Maui.
And finally Pearl Harbor a center of the United States Pacific command is a huge natural anchorage west of Honolulu. It was here that Japan attacked by air on December 7, 1941. Here is also USS Arizona Memorial.