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Honolulu

Honolulu

State

Hawai

Country

Hawaii

Continent

North America

Size

177 KM2

Population

898,000

Spending Budget

$200 - $1,400

Famous For

  • Pearl Harbor
  • USS Arizona memorial
  • Diamond Head State Monument
  • Hanauma Bay
  • Honolulu Museum of Art

Best Time to Visit

  • April
  • May
  • June
  • July
  • August
  • September

History

Evidence of the first settlement of Honolulu by the original Polynesian 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. Overlooked by Captain James Cook and other early explorers, the harbour with its outlet through the reef of Nuuanu Stream and sheltered by Sand Island was entered by Captain William Brown in 1794. After 1820 Honolulu assumed first importance in the islands and flourished as a base for sandalwood traders and whalers. A Russian group arrived there in 1816, and the port was later occupied by the British (1843) and the French (1849) but was returned to King Kamehameha III, who on August 31, 1850, officially declared Honolulu a city and the capital of his kingdom (Honolulu had been the de facto capital since 1845). In December 1941 the city and the adjacent Pearl Harbor naval-military complex came under Japanese aerial attack. Honolulu became a prime staging area for the remainder of World War II, a position it retained during the Korean War and until the end of the Indochina (Vietnam) conflict in 1973. Military expenditure remains an important source of income. The focus of Honolulu’s civic centre is the Iolani Palace (completed 1882); it is now a museum but served as the legislative seat until replaced by the nearby new State Capital (an unusual rectangular structure featuring legislative chambers shaped like volcanoes and columns shaped like royal palms). Within a two-block radius of the palace are several historic buildings, including Kawaiahao Church (1841) and the early Mission Houses, built in the 1820s from lumber brought from Boston around Cape Horn by the first missionary contingents. The Library of Hawaii and the Honolulu Hale (City Hall) are also in the vicinity.

Present Day

Honolulu's ideally located port made the city a perfect stop for merchant ships traveling between North America and Asia, making it the center of business and the main seaport for the Hawaiian Islands. The port serves numerous manufacturing plants in the city-county, including pineapple canneries, sugar refineries, clothing factories, and steel, aluminum, oil, cement, and dairying enterprises. The international airport is one of the busiest in the United States, with nearby Waikiki—which has a beach lined with luxury hotels and contains an aquarium, zoo, and the lively International Market Place for Pacific basin crafts—as the primary destination of tourists. Honolulu extends inland from the southeast shore of Oahu, east of Pearl Harbor to Makapu'u Point, and incorporates many neighborhoods and districts. People refer to these districts by name like Waikiki, Manoa, Kahala, Hawaii Kai, as though they're not part of the same city. In fact, the municipal government of Honolulu covers the entire island of Oahu, including its outlying suburbs. Statehood for the islands brought rapid economic growth to Honolulu, with all the state's major businesses headquartered in the city, the Honolulu airport as the primary entrance point for visitors, and Waikiki as the center of the island's tourism industry.

Future

Honolulu’s further plans are to promote economic growth and enhance the quality of life for the residents of the City and County of Honolulu by cultivating tourism and hospitality, advancing businesses, assisting agricultural development, and promoting the screen industries. To accomplish this, the Office of Economic Development partners with Oahu’s businesses, non-profit groups, and communities, and builds and strengthens relationships with state, federal, military, and international partners. The Office of Economic Development Strategy focuses on four areas: Attracting businesses to Oahu and supporting local businesses, Supporting Transit-Oriented Development, Promoting Diversified Agriculture/Aquaculture, Expanding Screen Industries like Film, Television, News Media. Office of Economic Development is also responsible for international relations for the City and its Sister City programs which it leverages to support its focus areas.
Must Visit Places ------------

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor is the largest natural harbor in Hawaii, named for the numerous pearls that were once harvested from its depths. While it is still an active naval base, it is also a National Historic Landmark that houses several attractions that are part of the World War II Valor in the Pacific Monument, including memorials for the USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, and USS Utah, as well as Battleship Row and Ford Island. The Pearl Harbor Visitor Center, operated by the National Park Service, is free and open to the public. Here, tourists can learn about the tragic 1941 attack, as well as other aspects of the harbor's military and natural history. This is also the starting point for tours to the USS Arizona, as well as the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island.

USS Arizona memorial

The USS Arizona Memorial is the most visited tourist attraction in Hawaii and one of Pearl Harbor's five locations that are part of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument. The memorial floats above the sunken remains of the USS Arizona, which was destroyed, along with 1,177 crew members, on December 7, 1941. Free tours of the memorial begin at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center with a film about the attack and its historical context, after which visitors board a U.S. Navy boat and are brought to the memorial.

Diamond Head State Monument

The most recognizable of Hawaii's natural landmarks, Diamond Head has a distinctive profile. Located on the eastern portion of Waikiki's coastline, this historic peak was once an important part of the island's coastal defense. Today, visitors can hike up the steep trail that rises 560 feet from the floor of the crater to the summit in just 0.8 of a mile. At the summit of Diamond Head Crater is an enormous lighthouse built in 1917, as well as bunkers and the Fire Control Station that controlled artillery at Fort Ruger and Waikiki.

Hanauma Bay

Hanauma Bay is a unique natural bay that formed within the crater of an ancient volcano. In the past, it was such a popular snorkeling destination that it became polluted and damaged from over-use. Thanks to restoration efforts that began in 1990, today the bay is pristine, and its ecosystem thrives, allowing visitors to truly enjoy the reef and its many inhabitants.

The Shangri-La

The Shangri-La museum features the complete collection of the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, a result of the benefactor's love for Islamic design and artwork. The largest portion of the collection is its ceramic art, most notably tile-work, including medieval Persian examples. Some of the most striking examples, however, are the large architectural pieces commissioned for the museum in the 1930s, created by artists in Iran, India, and Morocco.

Tour the USS Missouri Battleship

Docked at Pearl Harbor, visitors can choose from one of two tours: The shorter tour includes a look at the captain's quarters and the bridge and provides an overview of the ship's history as tourists are led along the upper decks. The longer, more in-depth tour includes exploration of the battleship's inner workings. This extensive guided tour not only allows visitors to see below deck into the engine room and other important posts, but also provides hands-on experiences, like the opportunity to light one of the ship's massive boilers or program the old analog computers in the aft plotting room.

Aloha Tower

Named for the Hawaiian greeting etched in the side of the building, welcoming passenger ships arriving in Honolulu Harbor, this 184-foot-tall tower was built in 1926 as a lighthouse. The tower has been a landmark ever since, and was so important to locals that it was camouflaged during World War II to prevent it from becoming a target. Today, it continues to greet cruise ship passengers, and the observation deck is a popular place to visit to get panoramic views of the harbor and surrounding city; access is free of charge. The building also houses the Aloha Tower Marketplace where visitors can find shopping, food, and entertainment.

Lyon Arboretum and Manoa Falls

The Lyon Arboretum is a 194-acre botanical garden in a rain forest, featuring a collection of more than 5,000 tropical plants from Hawaii and Polynesia. It has one of the largest collection of palms found in a botanical garden and maintains a number of themed gardens. Among these are a herb and spice garden, bromeliad garden, the Beatrice H. Krauss Hawaiian Ethnobotanical Garden, and many others. The arboretum is also an active research facility, working on preserving the state's tropical forests. Tourists can take a path from the entrance of the Lyon Arboretum that leads to the 150-foot Manoa Falls, a beautiful natural site where bathing is permitted. Another lovely garden is the Foster Botanical Garden, which features an Orchid Conservatory, butterfly Garden, and other notable fauna.

Honolulu Museum of Art

Nearly half of the 50,000 pieces at the Honolulu Museum of Art are in its Asian Art collection, emphasizing the extent that Asian culture has influenced Hawaii. With more than 23,000 objects, this collection is best known for its representation of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean Art. Naturally, Hawaiian art is also a major focus of the museum's exhibits, with a wide range of media representing Hawaiian artists from the 1700s through today. The museum is also home to around 18,000 examples of European and American art, including sculpture and decorative arts. This includes an extensive collection of paintings by influential 19th-century European artists including Van Gogh, Cézanne, Rodin, and Monet. Although small, the museum's antiquity collection has some remarkable examples of ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian artifacts that are more than 5,000 years old.

Bishop Museum and Planetarium

Bishop Museum, Hawaii's state museum, contains one of the best collection of Polynesian arts and artifacts in the state. The museum's permanent exhibits include kahilis, a collection of the feathered royal standards that served as flags for past royalty, as well as Hawaiian feathered capes and helmets. The museum's first floor is dedicated to Kai Ākea, the world of Hawaiian legend, where the ancient gods exist. Other areas of the museum focus on the region's natural history, including traditional occupations like whaling. Also of note is a large collection of artifacts from the South Pacific, and objects brought by the Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Portuguese, German, and other early settlers. The museum is also home to the J. Watumull Planetarium, which presents a variety of shows that explore the Hawaiian night sky and other celestial topics, as well as films about dinosaurs and Polynesian culture.