Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of the consolidated City and County of

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, situated along the southeast coast of the island of

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

, and is the westernmost and southernmost major U.S. city. Honolulu is Hawaii's main gateway to the world. It is also a major hub for business, finance, hospitality, and military defense in both the state and

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

. The city is characterized by a mix of various Asian, Western, and Pacific cultures, reflected in its diverse demography, cuisine, and traditions. ''Honolulu'' means "sheltered harbor" or "calm port" in Hawaiian; its old name, ''Kou'', roughly encompasses the area from Nuuanu Avenue to Alakea Street and from Hotel Street to Queen Street, which is the heart of the present downtown district. The city's desirability as a port accounts for its historical growth and importance in the

Hawaiian archipelago The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

and the broader Pacific region. Honolulu has been the capital of the Hawaiian Islands since 1845, first of the independent Hawaiian Kingdom, and after 1898 of the

U.S. territory In the United States, a territory is any extent of region under the sovereign jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters (around islands or continental tracts). The United States asserts sovereign rights for ...

and state of Hawaii. The city gained worldwide recognition following Japan's attack on nearby Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which prompted decisive entry of the U.S. into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

; the harbor remains a major naval base, hosting the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the world's largest naval command. As Hawaii is the only state with no incorporated places below the county level, the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

recognizes the approximate area commonly referred to as the "City of Honolulu"—not to be confused with the "City and County"—as a census county division (CCD). As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Honolulu was 350,964, while that of the urban Honolulu

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

(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 Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

. Honolulu's favorable tropical climate, rich natural scenery, and extensive beaches make it a popular global destination for tourists. As of May 2021, the city receives the bulk of visitors to Hawaii, between 7,000 and 11,000 daily. This is below the 2019 passenger arrivals of 10,000 to 15,000 per day.

History

Evidence of the first settlement of Honolulu by the original

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

n migrants to the archipelago comes from oral histories and artifacts. These indicate that there was a settlement where Honolulu now stands in the 11th century. After

Kamehameha I Kamehameha I (; Kalani Paiea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiikui Kamehameha o Iolani i Kaiwikapu kaui Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea; – May 8 or 14, 1819), also known as Kamehameha the Great, was the conqueror and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Th ...

conquered Oahu in the Battle of Nuuanu at Nuuanu Pali, he moved his royal court from the

Island of Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii ) is the largest island in the United States, located in the state of Hawaii. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. With an area of , it has 63% of th ...

Waikīkī Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...

in 1804. His court relocated in 1809 to what is now

downtown Honolulu Downtown Honolulu is the current historic, economic, and governmental center of Honolulu, the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is bounded by Nuuanu Stream to the west, Ward Avenue to the east, Vineyard Boulevard to the nor ...

. The capital was moved back to

Kailua-Kona Kailua-Kona is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It is also known as Kailua (a name it shares with a community located on the windward side of Oahu), as Kona (a name it share ...

in 1812. In November 1794, Captain William Brown of Great Britain was the first foreigner to sail into what is now Honolulu Harbor. More foreign ships followed, making the port of Honolulu a focal point for merchant ships traveling between North America and Asia. The settlement grew from a handful of homes to a city in the early 19th century after it was selected by

as a replacement for his residence at Waikiki in 1810. In 1850, Kamehameha III moved the permanent capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom from

Lahaina Lahaina ( haw, Lāhainā) is the largest census-designated place (CDP) in West Maui, Maui County, Hawaii, United States and includes the Kaanapali and Kapalua beach resorts. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a resident population of 12,702. Lah ...

on Maui to Honolulu. He and the kings that followed him transformed Honolulu into a modern capital, erecting buildings such as St. Andrew's Cathedral,

Iolani Palace Iolani is a masculine Hawaiian name meaning "royal ''hawk''." It comes from the Hawaiian words ''ʻio'', meaning "Hawaiian hawk," and ''lani'', meaning "royal." It may refer to: *ʻIolani School, a private school located in Hawaii *ʻIolani Palac ...

, and Aliiōlani Hale. At the same time, Honolulu became the center of commerce in the islands, with descendants of American missionaries establishing major businesses in downtown Honolulu. Despite the turbulent history of the late 19th century and early 20th century—such as the

overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom was a ''coup d'état'' against Queen Liliʻuokalani, which took place on January 17, 1893, on the island of Oahu and led by the Committee of Safety, composed of seven foreign residents and six non-abori ...

in 1893, Hawaii's subsequent annexation by the United States in 1898, followed by a large fire in 1900, and the Japanese

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

in 1941—Honolulu remained the capital, largest city, and main airport and seaport of the Hawaiian Islands. Attack on Pearl Harbor Japanese planes view

Attack on Pearl Harbor Japanese planes view

An economic and tourism boom following statehood brought rapid economic growth to Honolulu and Hawaii. Modern air travel brings, , 7.6 million visitors annually to the islands, with 62.3% entering at

Honolulu International Airport Daniel K. Inouye International Airport , also known as Honolulu International Airport, is the main airport of Oahu, Hawaii. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, the Urban Honolulu CDP has an area of , of which , or 11.56%, is water. Honolulu is the remotest major U.S. city and one of the remotest in the world. The closest location in mainland U.S. is the Point Arena Lighthouse in northern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, at . ( Nautical vessels require some additional distance to circumnavigate Makapuu Point.) The closest major city is

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, California, at . Some islands off the Mexican coast and part of the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large v ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

are slightly closer to Honolulu than the mainland. The

volcanic field A volcanic field is an area of Earth's crust that is prone to localized volcanic activity. The type and number of volcanoes required to be called a "field" is not well-defined. Volcanic fields usually consist of clusters of up to 100 volcanoes ...

of the

Honolulu Volcanics The Honolulu Volcanics are a group of volcanoes which form a volcanic field on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, more specifically in that island's southeastern sector and in the city of Honolulu from Pearl Harbor to the Mokapu Peninsula. It is p ...

is partially located inside the city.

Neighborhoods, boroughs, and districts

Downtown Honolulu Downtown Honolulu is the current historic, economic, and governmental center of Honolulu, the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is bounded by Nuuanu Stream to the west, Ward Avenue to the east, Vineyard Boulevard to the nor ...

is the financial, commercial, and governmental center of Hawaii. On the waterfront is

Aloha Tower The Aloha Tower is a retired lighthouse that is considered one of the landmarks of the state of Hawaii in the United States. Opened on September 11, 1926, at a then astronomical cost of $160,000, the Aloha Tower is located at Pier 9 of Honolulu ...

, which for many years was Hawaii's tallest building. Currently the tallest building is the tall

First Hawaiian Center First Hawaiian Center is the second tallest building in the U.S. state of Hawaii and the city of Honolulu, the largest city in the state. It is the world corporate headquarters of First Hawaiian Bank, the oldest and largest bank based in Hawaii. ...

, on King and Bishop Streets. The downtown campus of Hawaii Pacific University is also located there. *

The Arts District Honolulu The Arts District is a neighborhood in Honolulu located west of downtown Honolulu's Hawaii Capital Historic District and on the eastern edge of Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, m ...

, in both in downtown and Chinatown, is on Chinatown's eastern edge. It is a 12-block area bounded by Bethel & Smith Streets and Nimitz Highway and Beretania Street – home to numerous arts and cultural institutions. It is within the Chinatown Historic District, which includes the former Hotel Street Vice District. * The Capitol District is the eastern part of Downtown Honolulu. It is the current and historic center of Hawaii's state government, incorporating the State Capitol,

Honolulu Hale Honolulu Hale (originally called the Honolulu Municipal Building), located on 530 South King Street in downtown Honolulu in the City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, is the official seat of government of the city and county, site of the chambers of ...

(City Hall), State Library, and the statue of King

, along with numerous government buildings. * Kakaako is a light-industrial district between Downtown and Waikīkī that has seen a large-scale redevelopment effort in the past decade. It is home to two major shopping areas, Ward Warehouse and Ward Center. The Howard Hughes Corporation plans to transform Ward Centers into

Ward Village Ward Village is a , master-planned community in the Kaka'ako district of Honolulu. It is being developed by The Howard Hughes Corporation. Once completed, this beachfront development will have luxury residences, retail stores, entertainment ve ...

over the next decade. The John A. Burns School of Medicine, part of the

University of Hawaii at Mānoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

, is also located there. A Memorial to the ''Ehime Maru'' Incident victims is built at the Kakaako Waterfront Park. *

Ala Moana Ala Moana (meaning ''path to the sea'' in Hawaiian) is a commercial, retail, and residential district of Honolulu, Hawaii. It is located between Waikiki and Moiliili to the east, and Kakaako and Honolulu Harbor to the west. King Street, to th ...

is a district between Kakaako and

and the home of

Ala Moana Center The Ala Moana Center, commonly known simply as Ala Moana, is a large open-air shopping mall in the Ala Moana neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii. Owned by Brookfield Properties, Ala Moana is the eleventh largest shopping mall in the United States an ...

, the "World's largest open-air shopping center" and Hawaii's largest shopping mall. Ala Moana Center has over 300 tenants and is very popular with tourists. Also in Ala Moana is the

Honolulu Design Center Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island of ...

and

Ala Moana Beach Park Ala Moana Beach Park is a free public park on the island of Oahu, U.S. state of Hawaii, located between Waikiki and downtown Honolulu. This park has a wide gold-sand beach that is over a half-mile (800 m) long. Protected by a shallow reef offsho ...

, Honolulu's second-largest park. *

is Honolulu's tourist district, located between the

Ala Wai Canal The Ala Wai Canal is an artificial waterway in Honolulu, Hawaii which serves as the northern boundary of the tourist district of Waikiki. It was created in 1928 to drain the rice paddies and swamps which would eventually become Waikiki. It also ...

and the Pacific Ocean next to Diamond Head. Numerous hotels, shops, and nightlife opportunities are along Kalākaua and Kūhiō Avenues. It is a popular location for visitors and locals alike and attracts millions of visitors every year. Most of Oʻahu's hotel rooms are in Waikīkī. * Mānoa and

Makiki Makiki is an area of Honolulu, Hawaii, located northeast of downtown Honolulu, stretching east to west from Punahou Street to Pensacola Street and north to south from Round Top Drive/Makiki Heights Drive to Lunalilo Freeway. Punchbowl, an extin ...

are residential neighborhoods in adjacent valleys just inland of downtown and Waikīkī. Mānoa Valley is home to the main campus of the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. * Nuuanu and Pauoa are upper-middle-class residential districts inland of downtown Honolulu. The

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (informally known as Punchbowl Cemetery) is a national cemetery located at Punchbowl Crater in Honolulu, Hawaii. It serves as a memorial to honor those men and women who served in the United St ...

is in

Punchbowl Crater Punchbowl Crater is an extinct volcanic tuff cone located in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is the location of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. The crater was formed some 75,000 to 100,000 years ago during the secondary activity of the H ...

, fronting Pauoa Valley. * Pālolo and Kaimukī are neighborhoods east of Mānoa and Makiki, inland from Diamond Head. Pālolo Valley parallels Mānoa and is a residential neighborhood. Kaimukī is primarily a residential neighborhood with a commercial strip centered on Waialae Avenue running behind Diamond Head.

Chaminade University Chaminade University of Honolulu is a private Marianist university in Honolulu, Hawaii. Founded in 1955 by the Society of Mary, Chaminade is located in Kaimuki, Honolulu at the base of St. Louis Heights. Chaminade offers bachelor's degrees in ...

is in Kaimukī. * Waialae and Kāhala are upper-class districts of Honolulu directly east of Diamond Head, with many high-priced homes. Also in these neighborhoods are the

Waialae Country Club Waialae Country Club is a private country club in East Honolulu, Hawaii. Founded in 1927 and designed by Seth Raynor, it is a par 72 championship course at from the Championship tees. From the Members tees at , the course rating is 71.8 with a ...

and the five-star Kahala Hotel & Resort. *

East Honolulu East Honolulu is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. As of the 2020 Census, the CDP had a population of 50,922, making it the 2nd most populated CDP in Hawaii, behind Honolulu. Geography East Ho ...

includes the residential communities of Āina Haina, Niu Valley, and

Hawaii Kai Maunalua (Hawaii Kai) is a largely residential area located in the City & County of Honolulu, in the East Honolulu CDP, on the island of Oahu. Maunalua, (Hawaii Kai) is the largest of several communities at the eastern end of the island ...

. These are considered upper-middle-class neighborhoods. The upscale gated communities of Waialae Iki and Hawaii Loa Ridge are also there. * Kalihi and Pālama are working-class neighborhoods with a number of government housing developments. Lower Kalihi, toward the ocean, is a light-industrial district. * Salt Lake and Āliamanu are (mostly) residential areas built in extinct

tuff cones Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

along the western end of the Honolulu District, not far from

Honolulu International Airport Daniel K. Inouye International Airport , also known as Honolulu International Airport, is the main airport of Oahu, Hawaii.Moanalua Moanalua is a valley, a stream, an ahupuaa, and a residential neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii. The valley extends inland from behind Āliapaakai crater ( Salt Lake) to the crest of the Koʻolau Range. Neighboring areas include Māpunapuna and ...

is two neighborhoods and a valley at the western end of Honolulu, and home to

Tripler Army Medical Center Tripler Army Medical Center (TAMC) is a major United States Department of Defense medical facility administered by the United States Army in the state of Hawaii. It is the tertiary care hospital in the Pacific Rim, serving local active and retire ...

. * Kamehameha Heights is a northern suburb.

Climate

Honolulu experiences a hot semi-arid climate (

Köppen classification Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author an ...

''BSh''), with a mostly dry summer season, due to a rain shadow effect. Contrary to popular belief, despite temperatures that meet the tropical threshold of all months having a mean temperature of or higher, it receives too little precipitation to be classified as such. Temperatures vary little throughout the months, with average high temperatures of and average lows of throughout the year. Temperatures reach or exceed on an average 32 days annually, with lows in the upper 50s °F (14–15 °C) occurring once or twice a year. The highest recorded temperature was on September 19, 1994, and August 31, 2019. The lowest recorded temperature was on February 16, 1902, and January 20, 1969. The annual average rainfall is , which mainly occurs during the winter months of October through early April, with very little rainfall during the summer. However, both seasons experience a similar number of rainy days. Light showers occur in summer, while heavier rain falls during winter. Honolulu has an average of 278 sunny days and 89.2 rainy days per year. Although the city is situated in the tropics,

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

s are quite rare. The last recorded hurricane that hit near Honolulu was Category 4

Hurricane Iniki Hurricane Iniki ( ; Hawaiian: ''iniki'' meaning "strong and piercing wind") was the most powerful hurricane to strike Hawaii in recorded history. Forming on September 5, 1992, during the strong 1990–1995 El Niño, Iniki was one of eleven Cent ...

in 1992.

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

es are also uncommon and usually strike once every 15 years.

Waterspout A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex (usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud) that occurs over a body of water. Some are connected to a cumulus congestus cloud, some to a cumuliform cloud and some to a cumulonimbus cloud. In the ...

s off the coast are also uncommon, hitting about once every five years. Honolulu falls under the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

12b Plant Hardiness zone. The average temperature of the sea ranges from in March to in September.

Demographics

Race and ethnicity 2010- Honolulu (5559875249)

The population of Honolulu is 350,964 as of the 2020 U.S. Census, making it the 55th largest city in the U.S. The city's population was 337,256 at the

2010 U.S. Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

. 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. The population of East Honolulu 50,922 as of 2020, increasing Honolulu's core population to over 400,000. In terms of race and ethnicity, 54.8% were Asian, 17.9% were

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 1.5% were Black or African American, 0.2% were Native American or Alaska Native, 8.4% were

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawa ...

and Other Pacific Islander, 0.8% were from "some other race", and 16.3% were from two or more races. Hispanics and Latinos of any race made up 5.4% of the population. In 1970, the Census Bureau reported Honolulu's population as 33.9% white and 53.7% Asian and Pacific Islander. Asian Americans represent the majority of Honolulu'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%), Laotians (0.3%), Thais (0.2%), Cambodians (0.1%), and Indonesians (0.1%). People solely of Native Hawaiian ancestry made up 3.2% of the population. Samoan Americans made up 1.5% of the population, Marshallese people make up 0.5% of the city's population, and Tongan people comprise 0.3% of its population. People of Guamanian or Chamorro descent made up 0.2% of the population and numbered 841 residents. Metropolitan Honolulu, which encompasses all of

island, had a population of 953,207 as of the

and 1,016,508 in the 2020 U.S. Census making it the 54th largest metropolitan area in the United States.

Economy

The largest city and airport in the Hawaiian Islands, Honolulu acts as a natural gateway to the islands' large tourism industry, which brings millions of visitors and contributes $10 billion annually to the local economy. Honolulu's location in the Pacific also makes it a large business and trading hub, particularly between the East and

the West West is a cardinal direction or compass point. West or The West may also refer to: Geography and locations Global context * The Western world * Western culture and Western civilization in general * The Western Bloc, countries allied with NATO ...

. Other important aspects of the city's economy include military defense, research and development, and manufacturing. Among the companies based in Honolulu are: *

Alexander & Baldwin Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. is an American company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company currently operates businesses in real estate, land operations, and materials and construction. It was also the last ...

Bank of Hawaii The Bank of Hawaii Corporation ( haw, Panakō o Hawaii; abbreviated BOH) is a regional commercial bank headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is Hawaii's second oldest bank and its largest locally owned bank in that the majority of the voting sto ...

* Central Pacific Bank *

First Hawaiian Bank First Hawaiian, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. Its principal subsidiary, First Hawaiian Bank, founded in 1858, is Hawaii’s oldest and largest financial institution headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the Firs ...

Hawaii Medical Service Association Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) is a nonprofit health insurer in the state of Hawaii. HMSA was founded in 1938, is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, and is the largest insurer in the state of Hawaii servi ...

Hawaii Pacific Health Hawaii Pacific Health is a nonprofit health care network of hospitals, clinics, physicians and care providers covering Hawaii and the Pacific Region. History Hawaii Pacific Health was formed in December 2001 with the merger of four hospitals: K ...

Hawaiian Electric Industries Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HEI; ) is the largest supplier of electricity in the state of Hawaii, supplying power to 95% of Hawaii's population through its electric utilities: Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., Hawai'i Electric Light Comp ...

Matson Navigation Company Matson may refer to: * Matson (surname) *Matson, Gloucester, England, a suburb of Gloucester *Matson, Missouri, an unincorporated community * 2586 Matson, an asteroid * Matson, Inc., a shipping company, formerly Matson Navigation Company * Matson F ...

The Queen's Health Systems The Queen's Medical Center, originally named and still commonly referred to as Queen's Hospital, is the largest private non-profit hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii. The institution was founded in 1859 by Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV, and is l ...

Hawaiian Airlines Hawaiian Airlines ( haw, Hui Mokulele o Hawaiʻi ) is the largest operator of commercial flights to and from the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is the tenth-largest commercial airline in the United States, and is based at Honolulu, Hawaii. The airl ...

, Island Air, and

Aloha Air Cargo Aeko Kula, LLC, DBA Aloha Air Cargo, is an American air-cargo airline headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, operating from a hub at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. Formerly Aloha Airlines, it became an independent cargo operator following ...

are headquartered in the city.Honolulu CDP, HI
." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on May 21, 2009. Until it dissolved,

Aloha Airlines Aloha Airlines was an American airline headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, operating from a hub at Honolulu International Airport (now Daniel K. Inouye International Airport). Operations began on July 26, 1946, and ceased operations on March 3 ...

was headquartered in the city. At one time Mid-Pacific Airlines had its headquarters on the property of

Honolulu International Airport Daniel K. Inouye International Airport , also known as Honolulu International Airport, is the main airport of Oahu, Hawaii. Similarly, the general cost of living, including gasoline, electricity, and most foodstuffs, is much higher than on the U.S. mainland, because 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. Since the only national banks in Hawaii are all local, many visitors and new residents must get accustomed to different banks. First Hawaiian Bank is Hawaii's largest and oldest bank and its headquarters are at the

, the state's tallest office building.

Cultural institutions

First Hawaiian Center Tower in Honolulu, Hawaii USA

Natural museums

The Bishop Museum is Honolulu's largest museum. It has the state's largest collection of natural history specimens and the world's largest collection of Hawaiiana and Pacific culture artifacts. The

Honolulu Zoo The Honolulu Zoo is a zoo in Queen Kapiʻolani Park in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is the only zoo in the United States to be established by grants made by a sovereign monarch and is built on part of the royal Queen Kapiʻolani Park. The Honolulu Z ...

is Hawaii's main

zoological Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and dis ...

institution, while the Waikīkī Aquarium is a working marine biology laboratory. The Waikīkī Aquarium partners with the

and other universities worldwide. Established for appreciation and

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

, Honolulu is home to several gardens:

Foster Botanical Garden Foster Botanical Garden, measuring , is one of five public botanical gardens on Oahu. It is located at 50 North Vineyard Boulevard, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, near Chinatown, Honolulu, Chinatown at the intersection of Nu'uanu Avenue and Vine ...

Liliuokalani Botanical Garden The Liliuokalani Botanical Garden (7.5 acres) is a city park and young botanical garden located on North Kuakini Street, Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii. It is one of the Honolulu Botanical Gardens, and open daily without charge. The garden's ...

Walker Estate The H. Alexander Walker Residence or Walker Estate is a historic home located in the upper Nuuanu Valley of Honolulu, Hawaii. History The house was built in 1903 by George Rodiek of Hackfield and Company, a naturalised German immigrant. Orig ...

, among others.

Performing arts

Established in 1900, the

Honolulu Symphony The Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, formerly known as Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, was founded in 1900. It is the second oldest orchestra in the USA west of the Rocky Mountains. The orchestra now plays at Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall and the Hawaii Th ...

is the second-oldest U.S. symphony orchestra west of the Rocky Mountains. Other classical music ensembles include the

Hawaii Opera Theatre The Hawaii Opera Theatre (HOT) is the islands' only major opera company established in 1960. The company performs three or more operas in a season. Opera seasons start in October and end in the early summer of the following year. It performs mostly ...

. Honolulu is also a center for

Hawaiian music The music of Hawaii includes an array of traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip hop. Styles like slack-key guitar are well known worldwide, while Hawaiian-tinged music is a frequent part ...

. The main music venues include the

Hawaii Theatre The Hawaii Theatre is a historic 1922 theatre in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii, located at 1130 Bethel Street, between Hotel and Pauahi Streets, on the edge of Chinatown. It is listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places. History ...

, the Neal Blaisdell Center Concert Hall and Arena, and the Waikīkī Shell. Honolulu also includes several venues for live

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

, including the

Diamond Head Theatre The Diamond Head Theatre is a cultural institution in the United States. Calling itself the ''Broadway of the Pacific'', it is located on the slopes of Diamond Head, Hawaii, Diamond Head in Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii. Opened in 1915, it ...

and Kumu Kahua Theatre.

Visual arts

Various institutions for the visual arts are located in Honolulu. The

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. The museum has one of the largest single co ...

has Hawaii's largest collection of Asian and Western art. It also has the largest collection of Islamic art, housed at the Shangri La estate. Since the merger of the Honolulu Academy of Arts and The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu (now called the

Honolulu Museum of Art Spalding House The Honolulu Museum of Art Spalding House, formerly The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, was integrated into the Honolulu Museum of Art under this name. It was the only museum in the state of Hawaii devoted exclusively to contemporary art. The Contemp ...

) in 2011, the museum is also the state's only

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

. The contemporary collections are housed at main campus (

Spalding House Spalding House, also known as the Cooke-Spalding House and called Nuumealani (heavenly terrace) by Anna Rice Cooke, who commissioned it, together with its gardens constitute a -acre former art museum in Makiki Heights, Honolulu, Hawaii. Spalding ...

) in

and a multi-level gallery in

at the

. The museum hosts a film and video program dedicated to arthouse and world cinema in the museum's Doris Duke Theatre, named for the museum's historic patroness

Doris Duke Doris Duke (November 22, 1912 – October 28, 1993) was an American billionaire tobacco heiress, philanthropist, art collector, horticulturalist, and socialite. She was often called "the richest girl in the world". Her great wealth, luxurious l ...

. The Hawaii State Art Museum (also downtown) has pieces by local artists as well as traditional

Hawaiian art The Hawaiian archipelago consists of 137 islands in the Pacific Ocean that are far from any other land. Polynesians arrived there one to two thousand years ago, and in 1778 Captain James Cook and his crew became the first Europeans to visit H ...

. The museum is administered by the

Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts The Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts was established by the Hawaii State Legislature in 1965 to "promote, perpetuate, preserve, and encourage culture and the arts, history and the humanities as central to the quality of life of th ...

Honolulu also annually holds the

Hawaii International Film Festival The Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) is an annual film festival held in the United States state of Hawaii. HIFF has a focus on Asian-Pacific cinema, education, and the work of new and emerging filmmakers. HIFF’s primary festival is ...

(HIFF). It showcases some of the best films from producers all across the Pacific Rim and is the largest "East meets West" style film festival of its sort in the United States.

Tourist attractions

* Bishop Museum * Diamond Head *

Hanauma Bay Hanauma (; ) is a marine embayment formed within a tuff ring and located along the southeast coast of the Island of Oahu in the Hawaii Kai neighborhood of East Honolulu, in the Hawaiian Islands. Hanauma is one of the most popular tourist destin ...

Lyon Arboretum The Harold L. Lyon Arboretum is a arboretum and botanical garden managed by the University of Hawaii at Mānoa located at the upper end of Mānoa Valley in Hawaii. Much of the Arboretum's botanical collection consists of an artificial lowland t ...

USS Arizona Memorial The USS ''Arizona'' Memorial, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors and Marines killed on during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and commemorates the events of that day. The ...

* Waikīkī Aquarium *

Waikiki Beach Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...

Waikiki Trolley Waikiki Trolley is an Oahu-based transportation company that shuttles Hawaii visitors and local passengers throughout Waikiki, Honolulu and East Oahu on multiple lines. The company began operations on April 19, 1986, with two buses. Today the comp ...

International Market Place International Market Place is an open-air shopping center located in Waikīkī on the island of O‘ahu. It first opened in 1956 as a commercial, retail and entertainment center. After closing for complete renovation in 2013, the International ...

* Kapi'olani Park

Sports

Honolulu's tropical climate lends itself to year-round activities. In 2004, ''

Men's Fitness ''Men's Fitness'' was a men's magazine published by American Media, Inc and founded in the United States in 1987. The premier issue featured Michael Pare from the television series '' The Greatest American Hero''. The magazine's slogan was "How ...

'' magazine named Honolulu the fittest city in the United States. Honolulu has three large road races: * The

Great Aloha Run The Hawai'i Pacific Health Great Aloha Run is a road race that takes place annually in Honolulu, Hawaii on the third weekend in February ( Presidents' Day in the United States). It is a charity event that benefits Carole Kai Charities, a philanthr ...

is held annually on

Presidents' Day Presidents' Day, also called Washington's Birthday at the federal governmental level, is a holiday in the United States celebrated on the third Monday of February to honor all persons who served as presidents of the United States and, since 1879 ...

. * The

Honolulu Marathon The Honolulu Marathon (branded JAL Honolulu Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is a marathon (26.2 miles or 42.2km) in Honolulu, Hawaii, first held in 1973. It is one of the world's largest marathons, taking place annually on the second Sunday in ...

, 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

Honolulu Triathlon Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

is an Olympic distance

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

event governed by

USA Triathlon USA Triathlon (USAT) is the national governing body for the multisport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and winter triathlon in the United States. USA Triathlon is a member federation of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and ...

and partly by the Japanese. Held annually in May since 2004, there is an absence of a sprint course.

Ironman Hawaii The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualification ...

was first held in Honolulu. It was the first ever Ironman triathlon event and is also the world championship. The Waikiki Roughwater Swim race is held annually off the beach of Waikiki. Founded by Jim Cotton in 1970, the course is and spans from the New Otani Hotel to the Hilton Rainbow Tower. Fans of spectator sports in Honolulu generally support the football,

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

programs of the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. High school sporting events, especially football, are especially popular. Honolulu has no professional sports teams, with any prospective teams being forced to conduct extremely long travels for away games in the continental states. It was the home of the

Hawaii Islanders The Hawaii Islanders were a minor league baseball team based in Honolulu, Hawaii, that played in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League for 27 seasons from 1961 through 1987. Originally an affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics, the Islanders played ...

( Pacific Coast League, 1961–87), The Hawaiians ( World Football League, 1974–75),

Team Hawaii Team Hawaii was a soccer team based out of Honolulu that played in the NASL for one season, 1977. Their home field was Aloha Stadium. After two unsuccessful years as the San Antonio Thunder, the franchise moved to Hawai'i in time for the 19 ...

( North American Soccer League, 1977), and the

Hawaiian Islanders The Hawaiian Islanders were a minor league team of the Arena Football League's developmental league, the AF2. Based in Honolulu, Hawaii, the Hawaiian Islanders home field was at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center Arena. It competed in the AF2 Natio ...

(

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

, 2002–04). The

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

football

Hawaii Bowl The Hawaiʻi Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played in the Honolulu, Hawaii area since 2002. The game was originally held at Aloha Stadium in Halawa, Hawaii, a suburb of Honolulu, before moving to the Clarence T. C. Ching Ath ...

is played in Honolulu. Honolulu has also hosted the NFL's annual

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

each February from 1980 to 2009. After the 2010 and 2015 games were played in

Miami Gardens Miami Gardens is a city in north-central Miami-Dade County, Florida. It is located north of Downtown Miami with city boundaries that stretch from I-95 and Northeast 2nd Avenue to its east to Northwest 47th and Northwest 57th Avenues to its west ...

and Glendale, respectively, the Pro Bowl was once again in Honolulu from 2011 to 2014 with 2016 the most recent. From 1993 to 2008, Honolulu hosted

Hawaii Winter Baseball Hawaii Winter Baseball (HWB), based in Honolulu, Hawaii, was a professional baseball league in the Hawaiian islands. It was loosely affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB). History The HWB league first began play in 1993. Funded by Major ...

, featuring minor league players from

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

, Korea Baseball Organization, and independent leagues. 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 United States championship game, where it bested Georgia's Peachtree City American Little League team 3–0. In the world championship game, the team faced off against South Korea's South Seoul Little League team. Hawaii pitcher Ka'olu Holt threw a complete game shutout while striking out 8, and Honolulu Little League – again by a score of 3–0 – secured the victory, capturing the

2018 Little League World Series The 2018 Little League World Series was held from August 16 to August 26 at the Little League headquarters complex in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Eight teams from the United States and eight teams from around the world competed in the 72nd ...

championship as well as Hawaii's third overall title at the

Little League World Series The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children—typically boys—aged 10 to 12 years old, held in the Eastern United States. Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for the Wor ...

Venues

Venues for

spectator sports A spectator sport is a sport that is characterized by the presence of spectators, or watchers, at its competitions. Spectator sports may be professional sports or amateur sports. They often are distinguished from participant sports, which are m ...

in Honolulu include: * Les Murakami Stadium at UH-Mānoa (

) *

Neal S. Blaisdell Center The Neal S. Blaisdell Center is a community center near downtown Honolulu, Hawaii. The complex has a multi-purpose arena, concert hall, exhibition hall, galleria, meeting rooms, Waikiki Shell and others. Constructed in 1964 on the historic Wa ...

Arena (basketball) *

Stan Sheriff Center The SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center is a 10,300-seat multi-purpose arena in Honolulu CDP,basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and

) Aloha Stadium, a venue for

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

and soccer, is located in

Halawa Halawa () is a census-designated place (CDP) in the ‘Ewa District of Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. Halawa Stream branches into two valleys: North and South Halawa; North Halawa is the larger stream and fluvial feature. Their conflue ...

near

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...

, just outside Honolulu.

Government

Rick Blangiardi Rick Blangiardi (born September 15, 1946) is an American television executive and politician from the state of Hawaii. Blangiardi was elected mayor of Honolulu in the 2020 mayoral election, and took office on January 2, 2021. He previously worke ...

was elected mayor of Honolulu County on August 8, 2020, and began serving as the county's 15th mayor on January 2, 2021. The municipal offices of the

City and County of Honolulu Honolulu County (officially known as the City and County of Honolulu, formerly Oahu County) is a consolidated city–county in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The city–county includes both the city of Honolulu (the state's capital and largest cit ...

, including

, the seat of the city and county, are located in the Capitol District, as are the Hawaii state government buildings. 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

. The division boundary follows the Koolau crestline, so Makapuu Beach is in the Ko'olaupoko District. On the west, the division boundary follows Halawa Stream, then crosses Red Hill and runs just west of

Aliamanu Crater Salt Lake is a neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii on the island of O‘ahu. The area is also known as Āliamanu after a nearby crater, although Salt Lake itself is in a crater called ''Ālia pa‘akai'' — meaning "salt pond" in the Hawaiian ...

, so that Aloha Stadium,

(with the

), and

Hickam Air Force Base Hickam Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation, named in honor of aviation pioneer Lieutenant Colonel Horace Meek Hickam. The installation merged in 2010 with Naval Station Pearl Harbor to become part of the newly formed Joint ...

are actually all located in the island's Ewa CCD. The Hawaii Department of Public Safety operates the Oahu Community Correctional Center, the jail for the island of Oahu, in Honolulu CCD. The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

operates post offices in Honolulu. The main Honolulu Post Office is by the international airport, at 3600 Aolele Street.

Federal Detention Center, Honolulu The Federal Detention Center, Honolulu (FDC Honolulu) is a United States federal prison facility in Hawaii which holds male and female prisoners of all security levels prior to or during court proceedings in Hawaii Federal District Court, as wel ...

, operated by the

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...

, is in the CDP.

Foreign missions on the island

Several countries have consular facilities in Honolulu. They include consulates of Japan,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise a ...

, Australia, and the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Intern ...

Education and research

Colleges and universities

Colleges and universities in Honolulu include

Honolulu Community College Honolulu Community College is a public community college in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is one of ten branches of the University of Hawaii system and is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. HCC's strengths are in its indu ...

, Kapiolani Community College, the

, and Hawaii Pacific University. UH Mānoa houses the main offices of the University of Hawaii System.

Research institutions

Downtown, Honolulu, HI, USA - panoramio (8)

Honolulu is home to three renowned international affairs research institutions. The Pacific Forum, one of the world's leading Asia-Pacific policy research institutes and one of the first organizations in the United States to focus exclusively on Asia, has its main office on Bishop Street in downtown Honolulu. The

East–West Center The East–West Center (EWC), or the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West, is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peopl ...

(EWC), an education and research organization 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, is headquartered in Mānoa, Honolulu. The

Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies The Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS) is a U.S. Department of Defense institute that officially opened Sept. 4, 1995, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Center addresses regional and global security issues, inviting militar ...

(APCSS), a

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

institute is based in

, Honolulu. APCSS addresses regional and global security issues and supports the U.S. Pacific Command by developing and sustaining relationships among security practitioners and national security establishments throughout the region.

Public primary and secondary schools

Hawaii Department of Education operates public schools in Honolulu. Public high schools within the CDP area include

Wallace Rider Farrington Wallace Rider Farrington (May 3, 1871 – October 6, 1933) was an American journalist who served as the sixth Governor of Hawaii, Territorial Governor of Hawaii, serving from 1921 to 1929. Prior to his term, he was editor of ''The Honolulu A ...

, Kaiser,

Kaimuki Kaimukī is a residential neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. History In the 19th century the area was a farm of King Kalākaua, where ostriches roamed wild over the mountain side. It later became the site of a carnation farm f ...

, Kalani,

Moanalua Moanalua is a valley, a stream, an ahupuaa, and a residential neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii. The valley extends inland from behind Āliapaakai crater ( Salt Lake) to the crest of the Koʻolau Range. Neighboring areas include Māpunapuna and ...

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

, and

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. It also includes the

Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind (HSDB) is a public school for deaf and blind children in Honolulu, Hawaii. Operated by the Hawaii Department of Education (HIDOE), it has grades K–12. All of the teachers are certified in American sign ...

, the statewide school for blind and deaf children. There is a charter school, University Laboratory School.

Private primary and secondary schools

almost 38% of K-12 students in the Honolulu area attend private schools. Private schools include

Academy of the Pacific Academy of the Pacific was a private, nonsectarian co-educational high school in Honolulu, Honolulu CDP, Honolulu County of Hawai’i, United States. It had grades 6-12. The school closed in 2013. Enrollment The Academy had a ratio of 15 student ...

, Damien Memorial School,

Hawaii Baptist Academy Hawaii Baptist Academy (HBA) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory primary and secondary Christian school that serves grades K-12 on three campuses. The school is governed by a board of directors elected by the executive board of ...

Iolani School Iolani is a masculine Hawaiian name meaning "royal ''hawk''." It comes from the Hawaiian words ''ʻio'', meaning "Hawaiian hawk," and ''lani'', meaning "royal." It may refer to: *ʻIolani School, a private school located in Hawaii *ʻIolani Palac ...

, Lutheran High School of Hawaii, Kamehameha Schools,

Maryknoll School Maryknoll School is a private, coeducational Catholic school serving children in kindergarten through twelfth grade in Honolulu, Hawaii. The school is located on the island of Oahu and is administered by the Diocese of Honolulu in association with ...

Mid-Pacific Institute Mid-Pacific Institute is a private, co-educational college preparatory school for grades preschool through twelve with an approximate enrollment of 1,538 students, the majority of whom are from Hawaii (although many also come from other states and ...

, La Pietra, Punahou School,

Sacred Hearts Academy Sacred Hearts Academy, also known as Sacred Hearts or SHA, is located on 3253 Waialae Avenue, in the town of Kaimuki in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a historic Roman Catholic college preparatory school for girls founded in 1909 to serve the needs of early ...

, St. Andrew's Priory School, Saint Francis School,

Saint Louis School Saint Louis School, located in the neighborhood of Kaimuki in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a historic Roman Catholic college preparatory school for boys. It was founded in 1846 to serve Catholics in the former Kingdom of Hawaii. Located within the Roman ...

, the

Education Laboratory School University Laboratory School (ULS) is a charter school in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, United States, serving grades K-12. Prior to 2002, the school was known as the Education Laboratory School or University High School (when referring to grades 9 through ...

, Saint Patrick School, Trinity Christian School, and

Varsity International School Varsity International School is an independent, private co-educational high school in Honolulu, Hawaii. The school is nonsectarian Nonsectarian institutions are secular institutions or other organizations not affiliated with or restricted to a pa ...

. Hawaii has one of the nation's highest rate of private school attendance.

Public libraries

Hawaii State Public Library System The Hawaii State Public Library System (HSPLS) is the only statewide public library system in the United States. The system has 51 libraries on all the major Hawaiian Islands: Big Island of Hawaii, Kauai, Lānai, Maui, Molokai and Oahu. The s ...

operates public libraries. The

Hawaii State Library The Hawaii State Library is a historic building in Honolulu, Hawaii, that serves as the seat of the Hawaii State Public Library System, the only statewide library system and one of the largest in the United States. The Hawaii State Library buil ...

in the CDP serves as the main library of the system, while the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, also in the CDP area, serves handicapped and blind people. Branches in the CDP area include Aiea, Aina Haina, Ewa Beach, Hawaii Kai, Kahuku, Kailua, Kaimuki, Kalihi-Palama, Kaneohe, Kapolei, Liliha, Mānoa, McCully-Moiliili, Mililani, Moanalua, Wahiawa, Waialua, Waianae, Waikīkī-Kapahulu, Waimanalo, and Waipahu.

Weekend educational programs

The Hawaii Japanese School – Rainbow Gakuen (ハワイレインボー学園 ''Hawai Reinbō Gakuen''), a supplementary weekend Japanese school, holds its classes in Kaimuki Middle School in Honolulu and has its offices in another building in Honolulu. The school serves overseas Japanese nationals. In addition Honolulu has other weekend programs for the Japanese, Chinese, and Spanish languages.

Media

Honolulu is served by one daily newspaper, the ''

Honolulu Star-Advertiser The ''Honolulu Star-Advertiser'' is the largest daily newspaper in Hawaii, formed in 2010 with the merger of ''The Honolulu Advertiser'' and the ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' after the acquisition of the former by Black Press, which already owned the ...

,'' along with a magazine, ''

Honolulu Magazine ''Honolulu'' is a city magazine covering Honolulu and the Hawaii region. It dates back to 1888 when it was called ''Paradise of the Pacific.'' It is the oldest magazine in the state of Hawaii and is the longest published magazine west of the Missi ...

'', several

radio stations Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio sta ...

and

television stations A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the ear ...

, among other media. Local news agency and CNN-affiliate

Hawaii News Now ''Hawaii News Now'' (also abbreviated as ''HNN'') is a news department shared by three television stations in Honolulu, Hawaii: CBS affiliate KGMB (channel 5), NBC affiliate KHNL (channel 13), and Telemundo affiliate KFVE (channel 6). The new ...

broadcasts and is headquartered out of Honolulu. Honolulu and the island of Oahu has also been the location for many film and television projects, including ''

Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series) ''Hawaii Five-O'' is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and created by Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for 12 seasons on CBS from September 20, 1968, to April 8, 1980, and continues i ...

'', ''

Magnum, P.I. ''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on ...

'' and ''

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

''.

Transportation

Air

Located at the western end of the CDP,

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport Daniel K. Inouye International Airport , also known as Honolulu International Airport, is the main airport of Oahu, Hawaii.Kalaeloa Airport Kalaeloa Airport , also called John Rodgers Field (the original name of Honolulu International Airport) and formerly Naval Air Station Barbers Point, is a joint civil-military regional airport of the State of Hawaii established on July 1, 1999, ...

is primarily a commuter facility used by unscheduled air taxis, general aviation and transient and locally based military aircraft.

Highways

Honolulu has been ranked as having the nation's worst traffic congestion, beating former record holder

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Drivers waste on average over 58 hours per year on congested roadways. The following

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

s, part of the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

serve Honolulu: * I-H1

Interstate H-1, western terminous is at

Kapolei Kapolei () is a planned community in Honolulu County, Hawaiʻi, United States, on the island of Oʻahu. It is colloquially known as the "second city" of Oʻahu, in relation to Honolulu. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau ...

where you can connect to the Farrington Highway. The H-1 passes

and

Honolulu International Airport Daniel K. Inouye International Airport , also known as Honolulu International Airport, is the main airport of Oahu, Hawaii.

Interstate H-201 Interstate H-201 (H-201) is the only auxiliary Interstate Highway located outside the Contiguous United States, serving the island of O‘ahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The H-201 designation is also known as the Moanalua Freeway. The loop ro ...

—also known as the Moanalua Freeway and sometimes numbered as its former number, Hawaii State Rte. 78—connects two points along H-1: at Aloha Stadium and

Fort Shafter Fort Shafter, in Honolulu CDP, Page 4/ref> City and County of Honolulu, Hawai‘i, is the headquarters of the United States Army Pacific, which commands most Army forces in the Asia-Pacific region with the exception of Korea. Geographically, F ...

. Close to H-1 and Aloha Stadium, H-201 has an exchange with the western terminus of Interstate H-3 to the windward side of Oahu ( Kaneohe). This complex of connecting ramps, some directly between H-1 and H-3, is in

. *

Interstate H-2 Interstate H-2 (H-2, named the Veterans Memorial Freeway) is an intrastate Interstate Highway located on the island of O‘ahu in the U.S. state of Hawai‘i. The north–south freeway connects H-1 in Pearl City to Mililani and Wahiawā, wh ...

Connects at a junction near Waipau and Pearl City with the H-1 freeway. The H-2 freeway will take you up to Schofield barracks before ending at Wahiawa where it connect to the north shore. * I-H3

Interstate H-3 Connects at a junction near Halawa Heights. This interstate highway will take you from Halawa heights through the Ko'olau Range to Kaneohe. Its final termination is at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. Exit 15 is the last exit before entering Marine Corps Base Hawaii. Other major highways that link Honolulu CCD with other parts of the Island of Oahu are: * HI-61

Pali Highway, State Rte. 61, crosses north over the Koolau range via the Pali Tunnels to connect to

Kailua Kailua () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. It lies in the Koolaupoko District of the island of Oahu on the windward coast at Kailua Bay. It is in the judicial district and the ahupua'a named Ko'ol ...

and Kaneohe on the windward side of the Island. * HI-63

Likelike Highway, State Rte. 63, also crosses the Koolau to Kaneohe via the Wilson Tunnels. * HI-72

Kalanianaole Highway, State Rte. 72, runs eastward from Waialae/Kahala to

and around the east end of the island to Waimanalo Beach. *

Kamehameha Highway Kamehameha Highway is one of the main highways serving suburban and rural O‘ahu in the U.S. state of Hawai‘i. Informally known as Kam Highway, it begins at Nimitz Highway near Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, serves the ...

, State Rte. 80, 83, 99 and 830, runs westward from near

to Aiea and beyond, eventually running through the center of the island and ending in Kaneohe. *

Farrington Highway Farrington Highway is a major highway through the western part of O‘ahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Starting from Kamehameha Highway north of Pearl Harbor, it heads west along the island's southwestern and western coast; another part of the h ...

, State Rte 93 runs western leeward Oahu from Kaena Point through Waianae and Makaha before the start of the H-1. State Rte 930 starts east to west in the north shore connecting you from Wailua to Kaena Point Like most major American cities, the Honolulu metropolitan area experiences heavy traffic congestion during rush hours, especially to and from the western suburbs of

Ewa Beach Ewa or EWA may refer to: Places ; Ethiopia * Ewa (woreda) ; Nauru * Ewa District, Nauru ; United States * Eastern Washington, the portion of the state of Washington east of the Cascade Range * ʻEwa Beach, Hawaii, a census-designated place * E ...

, Aiea,

Pearl City Pearl City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in the Ewa District and City & County of Honolulu on the Island of Oahu. As of the 2010 Census, the CDP had a total population of 47,698. Pearl City is located ...

Waipahu Waipahu () is a former sugarcane plantation town and now census-designated place (CDP) located in the Ewa District on the island of Oahu in the City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP population was 43,4 ...

, and

Mililani Mililani () is a city located near the center of the island of Oahu in Honolulu County, Hawaiʻi, United States. It consists of two census-designated places, Mililani Town, with a population of 28,121 at the 2020 census, and Mililani Mauka, wi ...

. There is a Hawaii Electric Vehicle Demonstration Project (HEVDP).

Public transport

Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation

In November 2010, voters approved a charter amendment to create a

public transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typic ...

authority to oversee the planning, construction, operation and future extensions to Honolulu's future rail system. The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) currently includes a 10-member board of directors; three members appointed by the mayor, three members selected by the Honolulu City Council, and the city and state transportation directors. The opening of the first phase of the

Honolulu Rail Transit The Honolulu Rail Transit Project (also known as the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project) is a light metro system under construction in Honolulu County, Hawaii, U.S. The mostly elevated system features design elements from both heav ...

is delayed until approximately March 2021, as HART canceled the initial bids for the first nine stations and intends to rebid the work as three packages of three stations each, and allow more time for construction in the hope that increased competition on smaller contracts will drive down costs; initial bids ranged from $294.5 million to $320.8 million, far surpassing HART's budget of $184 million.

Bus

Established by former Mayor Frank F. Fasi as the replacement for the Honolulu Rapid Transit Company (HRT), Honolulu's TheBus (Honolulu), TheBus system was honored in 1994–1995 and 2000–2001 by the American Public Transportation Association as "America's Best Transit System". TheBus operates 107 routes serving Honolulu and most major cities and towns on Oahu. TheBus comprises a fleet of 531 buses, and is run by the non-profit corporation Oahu Transit Services in conjunction with the city Department of Transportation Services. , Honolulu was ranked fourth for highest per-capita use of mass transit in the United States. Para-transit Options The island also features TheHandi-Van. available for riders who require para-transit operations. To be eligible for these parantransit service, individuals must meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). TheHandi-Van has a fare of $2.00, available Mondays – Sundays from 4:00 am – 1:00 am. There is a 24 hours per day service but only within 3/4 of a mile of TheBus route 2 and route 40. TheHandi-Van comprises a fleet of 160 buses. Additionally the parantransit branch also run's Human Services Transportation Coordination (HSTCP), which mainly provides transportation for people with disabilities, older adults, and people with limited incomes, assisted by the Committee for Accessible Transportation (CAT). Both organizations work together to provide transportation for elderly and persons with disabilities.

Rail

Currently, there is no urban rail transit system in Honolulu, although electric street railways were operated in Honolulu by the now-defunct Honolulu Rapid Transit Company prior to World War II. Predecessors to the Honolulu Rapid Transit Company were the Honolulu Rapid Transit and Land Company (began 1903) and Hawaiian Tramways (began 1888). The City and County of Honolulu is currently constructing the rail transit line that will connect Honolulu with cities and suburban areas near

and in the Leeward and West Oahu regions. The Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project is aimed at alleviating traffic congestion for West Oahu commuters while being integral in the westward expansion of the metropolitan area. The project, however, has been criticized by opponents of rail for its cost, delays, and potential environmental impacts, but the line is expected to have large ridership.

Bicycle sharing

Since June 28, 2017, Bikeshare Hawaii administers the bicycle sharing program in O'ahu while Secure Bike Share operates the
Biki
' system. Most ''Biki'' stations are located between Chinatown/Downtown and Diamond Head, however an expansion in late 2018 added more stations towards the University of Hawaii Manoa Campus, Kapi'olani Community College, Makiki, and Kalihi area. The GoBiki.org website has
''Biki'' stations map

Modal characteristics

According to the 2016 American Community Survey (five-year average), 56 percent of Urban Honolulu residents commuted to work by driving alone, 13.8 percent carpooled, 11.7 used public transportation, and 8.7 percent walked. About 5.7 commuted by bike, taxi, motorcycle or other forms of transportation, while 4.1 percent worked at home. The city of Honolulu has a high percentage of households without a motor vehicle. In 2015, 16.6 percent of Honolulu households were car-free, which increased slightly to 17.2 percent in 2016 – in comparison, the United States national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Honolulu averaged 1.4 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8.

Public safety

The Honolulu Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency for the city and county of Honolulu and serves the entire Oahu Island. Honolulu Police Department has a mixed fleet of marked patrol cars and unmarked along with a subsidized vehicle program in place. Marked vehicles are white with blue stripes and white lettering HONOLULU POLICE. The Honolulu Police Departments offers officers of a certain rank to purchase a private vehicle for police use. Subsidized vehicles are unmarked but will have a small blue roof light on top of the vehicle. Subsidized vehicles can be any make, model and color but does require to follow department rules and guidelines. Honolulu Police and Hawaii County Police on the big island are the only departments in the state of Hawaii and the US to have subsidized vehicles in place. Honolulu Police along with other city, county law enforcement in Hawaii uses blue lights for their vehicles. They also keep their cruise blue lights on while on patrol. The Honolulu Fire Department provides fire fighting services and emergency medical services on the island of Oahu. Fire trucks are painted yellow.

Notable people

Sister cities

Honolulu's Sister city, sister cities are: * Baguio, Philippines, 1991 * Baku, Azerbaijan, 1998 * Bruyères, France, 1960 * Cali, Colombia, 2012 * Candon, Philippines, 2015 * Caracas, Venezuela, 1990 * Cebu City, Philippines, 1990 * Chengdu, China, 2011 * Chigasaki, Kanagawa, Chigasaki, Japan, 2014 * Fengxian District, Fengxian (Shanghai), China, 2012 * Funchal, Portugal, 1979 * Fuzhou, China, 2021 * Haikou, China, 1985 * Noreña, Spain, 1960 * Hiroshima, Japan, 1959 * Huế, Vietnam, 1995 * Incheon, South Korea, 2003 * Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 1962 * Kyzyl, Russia, 2004 * Laoag, Philippines, 1969 * Majuro, Marshall Islands, 2001 * Mandaluyong, Philippines, 2005 * Manila, Philippines, 1980 * Mombasa, Kenya, 2000 * Mumbai, India, 1970 * Nagaoka, Niigata, Nagaoka, Japan, 2012 * Naha, Japan, 1960 * Qinhuangdao, China, 2010 * Rabat, Morocco, 2007 * San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1985 * Seoul, South Korea, 1973 * Sintra, Portugal, 1998 * Uwajima, Japan, 2004 * Vigan, Philippines, 2003 * Zhangzhou, China, 2012 * Zhongshan, China, 1997

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

City and County of Honolulu
official site
Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau

{{Authority control Honolulu, 1907 establishments in Hawaii Capitals of former nations Census county divisions Census-designated places in Honolulu County, Hawaii Cities in Hawaii County seats in Hawaii Populated coastal places in Hawaii Populated places established in 1809 Populated places in Honolulu County, Hawaii Populated places on Oahu Port cities and towns in Hawaii

History

Neighborhoods, boroughs, and districts

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Cultural institutions

Natural museums

Performing arts

Visual arts

Tourist attractions

Sports

Venues

Government

Foreign missions on the island

Education and research

Colleges and universities

Research institutions

Public primary and secondary schools

Private primary and secondary schools

Public libraries

Weekend educational programs

Media

Transportation

Air

Highways

Public transport

Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation

Bus

Rail

Bicycle sharing

Modal characteristics

Public safety

Notable people

Sister cities

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links