Oahu () or Oahu ( in Hawaiian), known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast. Including small close-in offshore islands such as Ford Island and the islands in Kaneohe Bay and off the eastern (windward) coast, it has a total land area of , making it the 20th largest island in the United States. In the greatest dimension, this volcanic island is long and across. The length of the shoreline is . The island is the result of two separate shield volcanoes: Waianae and Koolau, with a broad "valley" or saddle (the central Oahu Plain) between them. The highest point is Mt. Ka'ala in the Waianae Range, rising to above sea level''.

Introduction

The island is home to about 953,207 people (approximately 75% of the resident population of the state, with approximately 75% of those living on the "city" side of the island). Oahu has for a long time been known as ''"The Gathering Place"''. However, the term ''Oahu'' has no confirmed meaning in Hawaiian, other than that of the place itself. Ancient Hawaiian tradition attributes the name's origin in the legend of Hawaiiloa, the Polynesian navigator credited with discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. The story relates that he named the island after a son.

Residents of O'ahu refer to themselves as "locals" (as done throughout Hawai'i), no matter their ancestry.

The city of Honolulu—largest city, state capital, and main deepwater marine port for the State of Hawaii—is located here. As a jurisdictional unit, the entire island of Oahu is in the City & County of Honolulu, although as a place name, Honolulu occupies only a portion of the southeast end of the island.

Well-known features found on Oahu include Waikīkī, Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Hanauma, Kāneohe Bay, Kailua Bay, North Shore.

Being roughly diamond-shaped, surrounded by ocean and divided by mountain ranges, directions on O'ahu are not generally described with the compass directions found throughout the world. Locals instead use ''"ewa"'' (pronounced "eh-va") to mean toward the western tip of the island, ''"Diamond Head"'' to be toward the eastern tip, ''"mauka"'' is toward the mountains and ''"makai"'' toward the sea.

Locals consider the island to be divided into various areas, which may overlap. The most commonly-accepted areas are the "City", "Town" or "Town side", which is the metropolitan area from Halawa to the area below Diamond Head (residents of the island north of the Ko'olau Mountains consider the Town Side to be the entire southern half); "West O'ahu," which goes from Pearl Harbor to Kapolei and Ewa and may include the Makaha and Waianae areas; the "North Shore" (northwestern coast); the "Windward Side" (northeastern coast); the "East Side" (the eastern portion of the island, including both the Windward Side and the area east of Diamond Head; and "The Valley" or "Central Oahu" which runs northeast from Pearl Harbor toward Haleiwa. These terms are somewhat flexible, depending on the area in which the user lives, and are used in a mostly general way.

History

Oahu was apparently the first of the Hawaiian Islands sighted by the crew of HMS ''Resolution'' on 18 January 1778 during Captain James Cook's third Pacific expedition. Escorted by HMS ''Discovery'', the expedition was surprised to find high islands this far north in the central Pacific. Oahu was not actually visited by Europeans until 28 February 1779 when Captain Charles Clerke aboard HMS ''Resolution'' stepped ashore at Waimea Bay. Clerke had taken command of the ship after Capt. Cook was killed at Kealakekua Bay (island of Hawaii) on February 14, and was leaving the islands for the North Pacific.

The opening battle of World War II in the Pacific for the United States was the Imperial Japanese Navy attack on Pearl Harbor, Oahu on the morning of December 7, 1941. The surprise attack was aimed at the Pacific Fleet of the United States Navy and its defending Army Air Corps and Marine Air Forces. The attack damaged or destroyed twelve American warships, destroyed 188 aircraft, and resulted in the deaths of 2,403 American servicemen and 68 civilians (of those, 1,177 were the result of the destruction of the USS Arizona alone).

Today, Oahu has become a tourism and shopping haven. Over five million visitors (mainly from the American mainland and Japan) flock there every year to enjoy the quintessential island holiday experience.

An earthquake, measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale, struck the Island Of Hawai'i and the surrounding islands at 07:07:49 HST on 15 October 2006, causing an island-wide power outage and over $200 million in damage.

Tourist attractions

Top beaches

Attractions

Oahu in media

''Blue Crush'', ''Soul Surfer'', ''Lost'', ''Dante's Cove'', ''50 First Dates'', ''Flight 29 Down'', ''Forgetting Sarah Marshall'', ''From Here to Eternity'' (movie), ''From Here to Eternity'' (TV series), ''Hawaii Five-O'', ''Jake and the Fatman'', the ''Jurassic Park'' movies, ''The Karate Kid, Part II'', ''Magnum, P.I.'', ''Mighty Joe Young'', ''North Shore'', ''Pearl Harbor'', ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'', and ''Windtalkers''. The Disney Channel movie ''Johnny Tsunami'' as well as its sequel, ''Johnny Kapahala'', use O'ahu as the hometown of the family. ''The Even Stevens Movie'', also by Disney, was filmed in various locations on O'ahu. The reality TV show ''Dog the Bounty Hunter'' is filmed in the regions of Honolulu, Oahu (as well as other regions in Oahu), and the city of Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. The children's series ''Flight 29 Down'' was filmed on the island. The hit television series ''Lost'' was also filmed on O'ahu, and many of the show's stars still call the island home. The island's thick rainforests and picturesque beaches are prominently featured. The ABC TV show ''Hawaiian Eye'', while set in Hawai'i, was filmed in Los Angeles. The new ''Hawaii Five-0'' is set and filmed on location on the island. Some scenes from ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'' were also filmed on Oahu. The upcoming film, Battleship is also set and filmed on location on Oahu, and the other Hawaiian islands.

Multiplayer online racing game ''Test Drive Unlimited'' takes place on a fully modeled Oahu island with of roads and highways. Oahu is featured in its sequel, ''Test Drive Unlimited 2'', as a second island, together with Ibiza.

See also

References

External links

Oahu Category:Honolulu County, Hawaii