My Expanding List of Things I Find Intriguing About The Big Island:
- If you want to sound like you are kupa o Hawaiʻi (born on) the Island of Hawaiʻi, call it The Big Island. Only the tourism industry and people from Oʻahu call it “Hawaiʻi Island”.
- The Big Island is by far the largest of the eight main Hawaiian islands and is approximately twice as big as all the other main Hawaiian islands combined.
- The Big Island is the third largest island in Polynesia.
- The Big Island has the second largest population of the eight main Hawaiian islands but is the fourth most densely populated with a population density of 46 persons/sq mile. For reference, Oʻahu (Hawaii’s most densely populated island) is approximately 35 times more densely populated than The Big Island.
- On February 14, 1779, Captain James Cook was killed at Kealakekua Bay on The Big Island. In 1877, Princess Miriam Likelike bestowed upon England a 5,682-square-foot plot near Captain Cook's demise site for just $1, under the condition the site serves to maintain a monument in memory of Captain Cook. While standing on the site, you will be on British soil!
- Weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-1, a J1 type large cruiser submarine, shelled the Hilo Harbor area the night of December 30th 1941. No one was injured in the shelling. The I-1 was destroyed at Guadalcanal in an intense deck-to-deck close-range naval gun battle on January 26th 1943 by two Royal New Zealand Navy minesweeper corvettes, the HMNZS Kiwi and HMNZS Moa.
- Kīlauea is the most active volcano in the world.
- Mauna Loa is the world’s largest active volcano.
- Mauna Loa and Kīlauea are neighbors in the same park.
- Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world. It is nearly 33,500 ft high when measured from the sea floor. That’s almost 20,000 ft below the ocean floor!
- The Big Island of Hawaiʻi has 10 out of the 14 Köppen climate zones.
- Ka Lae on The Big Island is also known as South Point and is the southernmost point in the United States.
- At one time, the nickname The Orchid Island was popular to use but the orchid industry has long been dwarfed by other diversified agricultural.
I add new discoveries to my growing list here after I verify sources.
Geeky Stats I Find Interesting About The Big Island:
Name: The Island of Hawaiʻi, The Big Island, or Hawaiʻi Island.
Hawaiian name: Moku o Keawe or Hawaiʻi
Nickname: The Orchid Isle.
Population: 201,513 (14% of state population) (source: United States Census Bureau 2019)
Most populated town and county seat is Hilo.
Area: 4029 sq miles.
Highest elevation: 13,803 ft. (Mauna Kea)
Flower: ʻŌhi’a Lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha)
Island color: ʻUlaʻula (red)
Airports:
Hilo International Airport (ITO)
Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport (KOA)
Waimea-Kohala Airport (MUE)
Distance from Kailua-Kona to
Honolulu 167 miles
Los Angeles: 2512 miles
New York City: 4931 miles
London: 7304 miles
Tokyo: 4011 miles
Sydney: 5069 miles
Temperature at (source: NOAA Climate Data):
Hilo International Airport
Average Temperature: 73.9 F
Ave Low Temperature: 66.8 F
Ave High Temperature: 80.9 F
Ave Hottest Months: August/September
Ave Coldest Months: January/February
Annual Rainfall: 126.7 inches!
Driest Month: June
Wettest Month: November
Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport
Average Temperature: 77.9 F
Ave Low Temperature: 71.8 F
Ave High Temperature: 84.1 F
Hottest Months: August/September
Coldest Months: January/February
Annual Rainfall: 18.3 inches
Driest Month: July
Wettest Month: December