HAWAII, a territory of the United States of America, consisting of a group of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean; 2,000 miles from San Francisco; area, 6,449 square miles; capital Hono lulu.
Topography.—The surface of the is lands is exceedingly mountainous and of volcanic origin, with numerous active and quiescent volcanoes. The most prominent physical features of the group are the mountain peaks of Mauna Kea, and Mauna Loa, both 14,000 feet in height. Kilauea, on the Mauna Loa mountain in Hawaii, is the largest active volcano in the world, and has an oval shaped crater, 9 miles in circumference, and 6,000 feet above sea-level. On the island of Maui is the dormant crater of Mount Haleakala, from 25 to 30 miles in circumference, and 3,000 feet deep, standing 10,000 feet above sea-level. On account of its insular formation the coast line is extensive, but there are few good harbors, Pearl Harbor at Honolulu being the only important one. The rivers are few and unimportant, being mere mountain streams.
Climate, Soil and Productions.— Though the islands are entirely within the tropics the climate is mild, tem pered by the N. E. trade winds, blowing nine months of the year. The rainfall in the mountain region is quite abundant, but on the coast slopes rain seldom falls. The soil is very fertile, being formed by the dis integration of the volcanic rocks and decay of vegetable matter. There is abundance of good pasturage, and cattle and sheep raising are important indus tries. The N. E. mountain slopes are covered with dense forests, and sugar cane, Indian corn, coffee, and wheat are cultivated on the plains. Tropical and semi-tropical fruits are grown on a large scale.
The two chief crops of the islands are sugar and pineapples, and the pro duction of these has been greatly in creased in recent years. The sugar yield in 1919 was about 600,000 tons, and the yield of pineapples, about 5, 000,000 cases. The yield of sugar for the year 1920 was estimated at 568,671 tons, and that of pineapples, 6,000 cases. A large area has been made available for crops by irrigation. Extensive ir rigation systems have been developed on the four main islands. A considerable
area has been set aside as forest reserve. There were in 1920 about 74 of these reservations with a total area of 818, 739 acres.
Commerce.—The imports for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1920, amounted to $63,283,647, compared with $50,743, 899 for 1919. The exports amounted to $104,799,804, compared with $88,250,021 for 1919. The greater part of trade has been done with the United States. The imports to the United States in 1920 amounted to $53,669,174, and the ex ports to $101,194,733. The chief ex ports were sugar valued at $78,589,467; fruits and nuts, $18,509,028; and raw coffee, $521,316.
Communications.— Traffic with the mainland is conducted through lines of steamships operating direct passenger service in San Francisco and Honolulu. Five steamers were employed in 1920. This was augmented in 1921 by the addition of two additional steamers for service between New York and Honolulu, by way of the Panama Canal and San Francisco. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company operates three large steamers between San Francisco and Oriental ports, with stop-overs at Honolulu. Ten large freight steamers have also been put on this service. There is also a Manila East India service with two passenger and freight steamers which stop at Honolulu. Preparations were made in 1920 to greatly increase this service by the addition of more boats. The Jap anese company operates a fleet of vessels between China, Japan, Honolulu, and San Francisco. The Oceanic Steamship Company operates steamers between San Francisco and Australia, touching at Honolulu. There are other lines oper ating from Canada to Australia and Australasia, and from China to San Francisco, touching at Honolulu. Most of the inter-island traffic is conducted by the Inter-island Steam Navigation Company, which operates a fleet of 11 steamers. There are about 350 miles of steam railway in the islands. These carried in 1920, 2,054,568 passengers. Many of the large plantations operate their own railroads. In addition to the cable system across the Pacific, which has been in operation for a number of years, there are three wireless plants in operation.