Honolulu

Honolulu means "sheltered harbor" or "calm port" in Hawaiian. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Honolulu was 350,964, while that of the urban Honolulu census-designated place (CDP) was 802,459. The Urban Honolulu Metropolitan Statistical Area had 1,016,508 residents in 2020. With over 300,000 residents, Honolulu is the most populous Oceanian city outside Australasia. Honolulu has been the capital of the Hawaiian Islands since 1845, first of the independent Hawaiian Kingdom, and after 1898 of the United States territory and state of Hawaii. The city gained worldwide recognition following Japan's attack on nearby Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The harbor remains a major naval base, hosting the world's largest naval command. Honolulu's favorable tropical climate, rich natural scenery, and extensive beaches make it a popular global destination for tourists. In 2007, 7.6 million visitors, with 62.3% entering at Honolulu International Airport, brought 7,6 million annual visitors to the islands. Honolulu is a modern city with numerous high-rise buildings, and is the center of the tourism industry in Hawaii, with thousands of hotel rooms, and thousands of restaurants. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island of Oahu, and the westernmost and southernmost major U.N. city in the Pacific Ocean. It was selected by Kamehameha I as a replacement for his residence at Waikiki in 1810. In 1809, his court relocated in 1809 to what is now downtown Honolulu.

History

Honolulu is the capital, largest city, and main airport and seaport of the Hawaiian Islands. It was selected by Kamehameha I as a replacement for his residence at Waikiki in 1810. The capital was moved back to Kailua-Kona in 1812. Honolulu is a modern city with numerous high-rise buildings, and Waikk is the center of the tourism industry in Hawaii, with thousands of hotel rooms. Modern air travel brings, as of 2007, 7.6 million visitors annually to the islands, with 62.3% entering at Honolulu International Airport. The port of Honolulu became a focal point for merchant ships traveling between North America and Asia in the early 19th century. Honolulu became the center for commerce in the islands after descendants of American missionaries established major businesses in downtown Honolulu. The city was the site of the Battle of Nuuanu Pali in 1804, when the Hawaiian king conquered Oahu. Honolulu was the capital of Hawaii until the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893 and annexation by the U.S. in 1898. It is now the capital and largest city of Hawaii, as well as the main airport, seaports, and economic hub of the islands. It has a population of more than 1.5 million people, making it the most populous city in the United States and the second-largest city in Hawaii after Honolulu, behind Honolulu, New York City and Los Angeles. It also has the highest per capita income of any city in America.

Geography

The Urban Honolulu CDP has an area of 68.4 square miles (177.2 km²) Honolulu is the remotest major U.S. city. The closest major city is San Francisco, California, at 2,397 miles (3,858 km) Some islands off the Mexican coast and part of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska are slightly closer to Honolulu than the mainland. The volcanic field of the Honolulu Volcanics is partially located inside the city. Honolulu is home to the State Capitol, Iolani Palace, Honolulu Hale (City Hall), State Library, and the statue of King Kamehameha I. The Arts District Honolulu is on Chinatown's eastern edge, home to numerous arts and cultural institutions. Waikk is Honolulu's tourist district, located between the Ala Wai Canal and the Pacific Ocean next to Diamond Head. Waialae and Khala are upper-class districts of Honolulu directly east of Diamond Head, with many high-priced homes. The upscale gated communities of ina Haina, Niu Valley, and Hawaiiialae Iki are considered upper-middle-class communities of Honolulu. Lower Kalihi, toward the ocean, is a light-industrial district, with a number of government housing developments. Triamean is two neighborhoods and a valley at the western end of Honolulu International Airport. The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific is in Punchbowl Crater, fronting Pauoa Valley. Chaminade University is in Kaimuk.

Climate

Honolulu experiences a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen classification BSh), with a mostly dry summer season, due to a rain shadow effect. The annual average rainfall is 16.41 inches (417 millimeters), which mainly occurs during the winter months of October through early April, with very little rainfall during the summer. Honolulu has an average of 278 sunny days and 89.2 rainy days per year. Although the city is situated in the tropics, hurricanes are quite rare. The last recorded hurricane that hit near Honolulu was Category 4 Hurricane Iniki in 1992. Tornadoes are also uncommon and usually strike once every 15 years. Waterspouts off the coast are uncommon, hitting about once every five years. The average temperature of the sea ranges from 75.7 °F (24.3 °C) in March to 80.4°F (26.9 °F) in September. Honolulu falls under the USDA 12b Plant Hardiness zone. The highest recorded temperature was 95 °F  on September 19, 1994, and August 31, 2019. The lowest recorded temperature is 52 °F on February 16, 1902, and January 20, 1969. The mean temperature of all months is 64.4 °F  (18.0 °C), with lows in the upper 50s °C occurring once or twice a year. The city is located in the Pacific Ocean, and the average temperature is 8090 ° F (2732 °C).

Demographics

The population of Honolulu is 350,964 as of the 2020 U.S. Census. The residential neighborhood of East Honolulu is considered a separate census-designated place by the Census Bureau but is generally considered a part of the Honolulu urban core. In 1970, Honolulu's population was 33.9% white and 53.7% Asian and Pacific Islander. Asian Americans represent the majority of the city's population. The Asian ethnic groups are Japanese (19.9%), Filipinos (13.2%), Chinese (10.4%), Koreans (4.3%), Vietnamese (2.0%), Indians (0.3%) and Laotians (0.3%). People solely of Native Hawaiian ancestry made up 3.2% of the population. People of Guamanian or Chamorro descent made up 0.2%. People of Samoan Americans made up 1.5% and Marshallese people make up. 0.5%. The population of Oahu island, which encompasses all of Honolulu, had a population of 953,207 in 2010 and 1,016,508 in 2020. This makes it the 54th largest metropolitan area in the United States. Honolulu is the 55th largest city in the U.N. World Heritage Site. The city is home to the National Museum of American History, which was founded in 1868. The museum is located on the grounds of the Hawaii State Capitol. It is the only museum in the world that is dedicated to the American Indian and Alaskan tribes.

Economy

Hawaiian Airlines, Island Air, and Aloha Air Cargo are headquartered in the city. In 2009, Honolulu had a 4.5% increase in average rent, maintaining it in the second most expensive rental market ranking among 210 U.S. metropolitan areas. First Hawaiian Bank is Hawaii's largest and oldest bank and its headquarters are at the First Hawaiian Center, the state's tallest office building. Since the only national banks in Hawaii are all local, many visitors and new residents must get accustomed to different banks. The city and state have to import most goods. One 2014 report found that cost of living expenses were 69% higher than the U.S. average. The only national bank in Hawaii is the only one in the state, which is located in the town of Hana, on the island of Molokai. Honolulu is the largest city and airport in the Hawaiian Islands, and is the gateway to the islands' large tourism industry, which brings millions of visitors and contributes $10 billion annually to the local economy. Other important aspects of the city's economy include military defense, research and development, and manufacturing. Among the companies based in Honolulu are: American Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, and Island Air. At one time Mid-Pacific Airlines had its headquarters on the property of Honolulu International Airport. Until it dissolved, Aloha Airlines was headquartered inThe city. Honolulu's location in the Pacific also makes it a large business and trading hub, particularly between the East and the West.

Cultural institutions

The Bishop Museum is Honolulu's largest museum. Honolulu Zoo is Hawaii's main zoological institution. The Honolulu Museum of Art has Hawaii's largest collection of Asian and Western art. The Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) is the largest "East meets West" style film festival of its sort in the U.S. Honolulu is home to several gardens: Foster Botanical Garden, Liliuokalani Botanical Gardens, Walker Estate, among others. The main music venues include the Hawaii Theatre, the Neal Blaisdell Center Concert Hall and Arena, and the Waikk Shell. Honolulu also includes several venues for live theater, including the Diamond Head Theatre and Kumu Kahua Theatre. It is the home of the Honolulu Symphony, the second-oldest symphony orchestra west of the Rocky Mountains. The city is also a center for Hawaiian music, with the Hawaii Opera Theatre and the Honolulu Theatre among its main venues. It has a large number of cultural institutions, such as the Bishop Museum, the Honolulu Zoo, the Hawaii State Art Museum and the Hawaii Museum of Contemporary Art. It also hosts the Hawaii International film festival, which showcases some of the best films from producers all across the Pacific Rim. It's also home to the Honolulu Aquarium, which partners with the University of Hawaii and other universities worldwide. The Waikk Aquarium is a working marine biology laboratory. It was established for appreciation and botany, and is housed at the Shangri La estate, which is also Honolulu's main botanical garden.

Sports

In 2004, Men's Fitness magazine named Honolulu the fittest city in the United States. Honolulu has no professional sports teams, with any prospective teams being forced to conduct extremely long travels for away games in the continental states. Fans of spectator sports in Honolulu generally support the football, volleyball, basketball, rugby union, rugby league, and baseball programs of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. In 2018, the Honolulu Little League team qualified for that year's Little League World Series tournament. The team went undefeated en route to the U.S. championship game, where it bested Georgia's Peachtree City AmericanLittle League team 30 to 30. Honolulu hosted the NFL's annual Pro Bowl each February from 1980 to 2009. It was the home of the Hawaii Islanders (Pacific Coast League, 196187), The Hawaiians (World Football League, 197475), Team Hawaii (North American Soccer League, 1977), and the Hawaiian Islanders (af2, 200204). The NCAA football Hawaii Bowl is played in Honolulu. Aloha Stadium, a venue for American football and soccer, is located in Halawa near Pearl Harbor, just outside Honolulu. The Honolulu Marathon, held annually on the second Sunday in December, draws more than 20,000 participants each year, about half to two thirds of them from Japan. The Waikiki Roughwater Swim race is held annually off the beach ofWaikiki, the course is 2.384 miles (3.837 km) and spans from the New Otani Hotel to the Hilton Rainbow Tower.

Government

The Capitol District is within the Honolulu census county division (CCD), the urban area commonly regarded as the "City" of Honolulu. The Honolulu CCD is located on the southeast coast of Oahu between Makapuu and Halawa. Aloha Stadium, Pearl Harbor (with the USS Arizona Memorial), and Hickam Air Force Base are actually all located in the island's Ewa CCD. The U.S. Postal Service operates post offices in Honolulu. Several countries have consular facilities in Honolulu, including consulates of Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, Federated States of Micronesia, Australia, and the Marshall Islands. Rick Blangiardi was elected mayor of Honolulu County on August 8, 2020, and began serving as the county's 15th mayor on January 2, 2021. The main Honolulu Post Office is by the international airport, at 3600 Aolele Street. Federal Detention Center, Honolulu, operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, is in the CDP. The Hawaii Department of Public Safety operates the Oahu Community Correctional Center, the jail for the island of Oahua, in Honolulu C CD. It is the only jail in the state of Hawaii that is open to the general public. The city and county's municipal offices, including Honolulu Hale, are in the Capitol District, as are the Hawaii state government buildings, which are in Honolulu Hale. The federal post office is in Honolulu's international airport area, near the main international airport.

Education and research

Honolulu is home to three renowned international affairs research institutions. Hawaii has one of the nation's highest rate of private school attendance. As of 2014 almost 38% of K-12 students in the Honolulu area attend private schools. Honolulu has weekend educational programs for the Japanese, Chinese, and Spanish languages. The Hawaii State Public Library System operates public libraries. The EastWest Center (EWC) was established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. UH Mnoa houses the main offices of the University of Hawaii System. The Pacific Forum is one of world's leading Asia-Pacific policy research institutes and has its main office on Bishop Street in downtown Honolulu. There is a charter school, University Laboratory School, which holds classes in Kaimuki Middle School in Honolulu and has offices in another building in Honolulu. It also has branches in Aiea, Aina Haina, Ewa Beach, Hawaii Kai, Kahuku, Kailua, Kalani, Moanalua, William McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt. It is also home to the Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind, the statewide school for blind and deaf children. It serves handicapped and blind people as well as the Hawaii State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, also in the CDP area. There are public libraries for the deaf, blind, and handicapped.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii = 65.7. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 48. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 81. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Honolulu = 9.3 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 350,964 individuals with a median age of 43.1 age the population grows by 1.10% in Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 5,791 residents per square mile of area (2,236.1/km²). There are average 2.5 people per household in the 145,449 households with an average household income of $55,907 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 5.90% of the available work force and has dropped -3.85% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 26.40%. The number of physicians in Honolulu per 100,000 population = 288.1.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Honolulu = 38.3 inches and the annual snowfall = 0 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 194. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 276. 81 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 62.2 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 53, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii which are owned by the occupant = 41.12%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 37 years with median home cost = $407,980 and home appreciation of -3.91%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $2.82 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $5,893 per student. There are 17.4 students for each teacher in the school, 545 students for each Librarian and 270 students for each Counselor. 6.79% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 20.56% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 10.72% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).