The Island of Hawai‘i (called the Big Island or Hawai‘i proper) is one of eight main islands that make up the U.S. State of Hawai‘i. It is said to have been named after Hawai‘iloa, a legendary Polynesian navigator who first discovered the Hawaiian Islands. However, other accounts attribute the name to the legendary land or realm of Hawaiki, or Havaiki, a place from which the Polynesians originated (see also Manu‘a), the place where they go in the afterlife, the realm of the Gods.
The Island of Hawai‘i is administered under the County of Hawai‘i. It is estimated that as of the year 2003, the island had a resident population of 158,400 persons.
Geology and geography
The Island of Hawai‘i is built from five separate
shield volcanoes that erupted somewhat sequentially, one overlapping the other. These are (from oldest to youngest):
Kohala (extinct),
Mauna Kea (dormant),
Hualālai (dormant),
Mauna Loa (active, partly within
Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park), and
Kīlauea (very active; part of
Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park). Interpretation of geological evidence from exposures of old surfaces on the south and west flanks of Mauna Loa led to the proposal that two ancient volcanic shields (named Ninole and Kulani) were all but buried by the younger Mauna Loa (MacDonald and Abbott, 1970). Geologists now consider these "outcrops" to be part of the earlier building of Mauna Loa.
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