Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
name	Kauai
nickname	The Garden Isle
image name	Kauai from space oriented.jpg
image caption	August 1995 satellite photo.
locator map	Map of Hawaii highlighting Kauai.svg
locator caption	Location in the state of Hawaii.
location
area	562.3 sq mi (1430.4 km²)
highest mount	Kawaikini
elevation	5,243 ft (1,598 m)
population	65,689
population as of	2008
density	106/sq mi (41/km²)
flower	Mokihana (''Melicope anisata'')
color	Poni (purple)
rank	4th largest Hawaiian Island
boxcolor	a186be
hexadecimal	662d91
text color	FFFFFF }}

Kauai or Kauai (; Hawaiian: ), known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle", Kauai lies 105 miles (170 km) across the Kauai Channel, northwest of Oahu. This island is the site of Waimea Canyon State Park.

The United States Census Bureau defines Kauai as Census Tracts 401 through 409 of Kauai County, Hawaii, which is all of the county except for the islands of Kaʻula, Lehua, and Niihau. The 2000 census population of Kauai (the island) was 58,303.

Etymology and language

Native Hawaiian tradition indicates the name's origin in the legend of Hawaiiloa — the Polynesian navigator attributed with discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. The story relates how he named the island of Kauai after a favorite son; therefore a possible translation of Kauai is "place around the neck", meaning how a father would carry a favorite child. Another possible translation is ''"food season."''

Kauai was known for its distinct dialect of the Hawaiian language before it went extinct there. Whereas the standard language today is based on the dialect of Hawaii island, which has the sound at the beginning of words, the Kauai dialect was known for pronouncing this as . In effect, Kauai dialect retained the old pan-Polynesian , while 'standard' Hawaii dialect has innovated and changed it to the . Therefore, the native name for Kauai was Tauai, and the major settlement of Kapaa would have been called Tapaa.

Geography

Kauai's origins are volcanic, the island having been formed by the passage of the Pacific plate over the Hawaii hotspot. At approximately six million years old, it is the oldest of the main islands. The highest peak on this mountainous island is Kawaikini at . The second highest peak is Mount Waialeale near the center of the island, above sea level. One of the wettest spots on earth, with an annual average rainfall of , is located on the east side of Mount Waialeale. The high annual rainfall has eroded deep valleys in the central mountains, carving out canyons with many scenic waterfalls. On the west side of the island, Waimea town is located at the mouth of the Waimea River, whose flow formed Waimea Canyon, one of the world's most scenic canyons, and which is part of Waimea Canyon State Park. At deep, Waimea Canyon is often referred to as "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific". The Na Pali Coast is a center for recreation in a wild setting, including kayaking past the beaches, or hiking on the trail along the coastal cliffs.

History

In 1778, Captain James Cook came to Waimea Bay and discovered the “Sandwich Isles,” which he named after the Earl of Sandwich, and in this way introduced Hawaii to Europe.

During the reign of King Kamehameha, the islands of Kauai and Niihau were the last Hawaiian Islands to join his Kingdom of Hawaii. Their ruler, Kaumualii, resisted Kamehameha for years. King Kamehameha twice prepared a huge armada of ships and canoes to take the islands by force and twice failed; once due to a storm, and once due to an epidemic. In the face of the threat of a further invasion, however, Kaumualii decided to join the kingdom without bloodshed, and became Kamehameha's vassal in 1810, ceding the island to the Kingdom of Hawaii upon his death in 1824.

In 1815-17, Kaumualii led secret negotiations with representatives of the Russian-American Company in an attempt to gain Russia's military support against Kamehameha; however, the negotiations folded and the Russians were forced to abandon all of their presence in Kauai, including Fort Elizabeth, after it was revealed that they did not have the support of Tsar Alexander I.

In 1835 Old Koloa Town opened a sugar mill. Missionaries also came in the 19th century.

Economy

Tourism is Kauai's largest industry. In 2007, 1,271,000 visitors came to Kauai. The two largest groups were from the United States (84% of all visitors) and Japan (3%). As of 2003, there were a total of approximately 27,000 jobs on Kauai, of which the largest sector was accommodation/food services (26%, 6,800 jobs) followed by government (15%) and retail (14.5%), with agriculture accounting for just 2.9% (780 jobs) and educational services providing just 0.7% (183 jobs). In terms of income, the various sectors that constitute the visitors industry accounted for one third of Kauai's income. On the other hand, employment is dominated by small businesses, with 87% of all nonfarm businesses having fewer than 20 employees. As of 2003, Kauai's unemployment rate was 3.9%, compared to 3.0% for the entire state and 5.7% for the United States as a whole; and, Kauai's poverty rate was 10.5%, compared to the State's 10.7%.

As of mid-2004, the median price of a single-family home was $528,000, a 40% increase over 2003. As of 2003, Kauai's percentage of home ownership, 48%, was significantly lower than the State's 64%, and vacation homes were a far larger part of the housing stock than the State-wide percentage (Kauai 15%, State 5%).

In the past, sugar plantations were Kauai's most important industry. In 1835 the first sugar plantation was founded on Kauai and for the next century the industry would dominate the economy of Hawaii. The minimum wage law (Federal Labor Standards Act) and protected the rights of workers to unionize led to the closure of most of the sugar plantation. Now most of that land is now used for ranching. Kauai's sole remaining sugar operation, the 118-year-old Gay & Robinson Plantation plans to transform itself into a manufacturer of sugar-cane ethanol.

Fruits and crops

Land in Kauaʻi is very fertile and is home to many varieties of fruits and crops. Guava, coffee, sugarcane, mango, banana, papaya, avocado, star fruit, kava and pineapple are all cultivated.

Island facts

Kaua'i, like the other Hawaiian Islands, does not observe Daylight saving time (DST). Instead of changing to DST the second Sunday in March and back to Standard time the first Sunday in November, as is done throughout most of the U.S., Hawaii Standard Time is observed on Kaua'i year-round. During DST, for example, the time on Kaua'i is three hours behind the West Coast of the United States and six hours behind the East Coast.

The city of Līhue, on the island's southeast coast, is the seat of Kauai County and the second largest city on the island. Kapaa, on the "Coconut Coast" (site of an old coconut plantation) about north of Līhue, has a population of nearly 10,000, or about 50% greater than Līhue. Waimea, once the capital of Kauai on the island's southwest side, was the first place in Hawaii visited by British explorer Captain James Cook in 1778. Kauai is home to thousands of wild chickens, who have few natural predators. Kauai's chickens originated from the original Polynesian settlers, who brought them as a food source. 1992's Hurricane Iniki may have caused an indirect change in Kauai's ecosystem, increasing the chicken population.

Kauai is home to the U.S. Navy's "Barking Sands" Pacific Missile Range Facility, on the sunny and dry western shore.

HF ("shortwave") radio station WWVH, sister station to WWV and WWVB in Ft. Collins, Colorado, is located on the west coast of Kauai about 5 km south of Barking Sands. WWVH, WWV and WWVB are operated by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, broadcasting standard time and frequency information to the public.

The Kauai Heritage Center of Hawaiian Culture and the Arts was founded in 1998. Their mission is to nurture a greater sense of appreciation and respect for the Hawaiian culture. They offer classes in Hawaiian language, hula, lei and cordage making, the lunar calendar and chanting. Plus trips to cultural sites.

Important towns and cities

Cities and towns on Kauai range in population from the roughly 9,500 people in Kapaa to tiny hamlets. The list below lists the larger or more notable of those from the northernmost end of Hawaii Route 560 to the western terminus of Hawaii Route 50.

Hāena

Wainiha

Hanalei

Princeville

Kalihiwai

Kilauea

Anahola

Kapaa

Wailua

Hanamāulu Līhue Poipū

Kōloa

Lāwai

Kalāheo

Eleele

Hanapēpe

Kaumakani

Waimea

Kekaha

Transportation

Air

Located on the eastern end of the island, Lihue Airport is the aviation gateway to Kauai. Lihuʻe Airport has direct routes to Seattle/Tacoma, Phoenix, LAX, DEN, SFO, OAK, SJC, Vancouver, Honolulu, and Kahului/Maui.

Highways

Several state highways serve Kauaʻi County:

Hawaii Route 50, also known as Kaumualiʻi Highway, is a thirty-three mile road that stretches from Hawaii Route 56 at the junction of Rice Street in Lihuʻe to a point approximately 1/5 mile north of the northernmost entrance of the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the far western shore.

Hawaii Route 58 stretches two miles (3 km) from Route 50 in Lihuʻe to the junction of Wapaa Road with Hawaii 51 near Nawiliwili Harbor on Kauai.

Hawaii Route 56, also known as Kuhio Highway, runs twenty-eight miles from Hawaii Route 50 at the junction of Rice Street in Lihuʻe to the junction of Hawaii Route 560 in Princeville.

Hawaii Route 560 passes ten miles (16 km) from the junction of Route 56 in Princeville and dead ends at Keʻe Beach in Haena State Park.

Other major highways that link other parts of the Island to the main highways of Kauaʻi are: Hawaii Route 55 covers from the junction of Route 50 in Kekaha to meet with Hawaii Route 550 south of Kokeʻe State Park in the Waimea Canyon. Hawaii Route 550 spans from Route 50 in Waimea to Kōkeʻe State Park. Hawaii Route 540 goes four miles (6 km) from Route 50 in Kalaheo to Route 50 in Eleʻele. The road is mainly an access to residential areas and Kauai Coffee. Hawaii Route 530, also called Kōloa Road, stretches from Route 50 between Kalaheo and Lawai to Route 520 in Koloa. The road is mainly an alternative to Route 520 for travel from the west side to Poʻipū.

Hawaii Route 520 runs five miles (8 km) from the "Tunnel of Trees" at Route 50 to Poʻipū on the south shore.

Hawaii Route 570 covers one mile (1.6 km) from Route 56 in Lihuʻe to Lihuʻe Airport.

Hawaii Route 580 spans five miles (8 km) from Route 56 in Wailua to where the road is no longer serviced just south of the Wailua Reservoir.

Hawaii Route 581 passes five miles (8 km) from Route 580 in the Wailua Homesteads to a roundabout just west of Kapaʻa Town.

Hawaii Route 583, also known as Maalo Road, stretches from Route 56 just north of Lihuʻe to dead-end at Wailua Falls Overlook in the interior.

Mass transit

The Kauai Bus is the public transportation service of the County of Kauai. It is operated by Roberts Hawaii.

Places of interest

Alakai Wilderness Area

Allerton Garden

Bell stone

Camp Naue YMCA

Fern Grotto

Hanalei Bay

Honopo arch

Iraivan temple

Kee Beach Kokee State Park

Limahuli Garden and Preserve

Makauwahi Cave Reserve

Makeleha Mountains

McBryde Garden

Moir Gardens

Moloaa Bay

Na 'Aina Kai Botanical Gardens

Nā Pali Coast State Park

Na'Pali-Kona Forest Reserve

Poi'pu Beach State Park

Polihale State Park

Princeville North Shore

'Opaeka'a Falls

Sleeping Giant (Nounou Mountain)

Spouting Horn

Wailua River

Waimea Canyon

In films

The island of Kauai has been featured in more than seventy Hollywood movies and television shows, including the musical ''South Pacific'' and Disney's 2002 animated feature film and television series ''Lilo & Stitch'', ''Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch'', ''Stitch! The Movie'', and ''Lilo & Stitch: The Series''. Scenes from ''South Pacific'' were filmed in the vicinity of Hanalei. Waimea Canyon was used in the filming of the 1993 film ''Jurassic Park''. Parts of the island were also used for the opening scenes of Indiana Jones' ''Raiders of the Lost Ark''. Other movies filmed here include ''Six Days Seven Nights'', the 2005 remake of ''King Kong'' and John Ford's 1963 film ''Donovan's Reef''. Recent films include ''Tropic Thunder'' and an upcoming biopic of Bethany Hamilton entitled ''Soul Surfer''. A scene in the opening credits of popular TV show M*A*S*H was filmed in Kauai (helicopter flying over mountain top). Some scenes from ''Just Go with It'' and ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'' were also filmed in Kauai.

Parts of the 2002 film ''Dragonfly'' were filmed there (although the people and the land were presented as South American) and the producers hired extras (at least three with speaking parts) from the ancient Hawaiian native population, which seeks to preserve its cultural heritage, including the pre-USA name of these two islands, Atooi or Tauai.

Major parts of the 1966 Elvis Presley film ''Paradise, Hawaiian Style'' were filmed at various locations on Kauai. One of the most famous was the Coco Palms resort. During Hurricane Iniki, the Coco Palms was decimated and never rebuilt, but the film showcases the resort at its peak.

See also

Hurricane Iniki

Kauai cave wolf spider

List of beaches in Kauai

National Register of Historic Places listings in Hawaii#Kauai

Tourism on Kauai

Notes

References

Edward Joesting. ''Kauai, the Separate Kingdom''. University of Hawaii Press and Kauai Museum Association. Honolulu. 1984. ISBN 0-8248-1162-3

External links

Kauai Chamber of Commerce

Kauai Category:Pliocene volcanism Category:Extinct volcanoes Category:Islands of Hawaii

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