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The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island
in English and in Hawaiian), is a volcanic island in the U.S.
State of Hawaii in the North Pacific Ocean. With an area of 4,028
square miles (10,432 kmē), it is the largest island in the United
States and larger than all of the other Hawaiian Islands combined.
Hawaii is said to have been named for Hawaiiloa, the legendary
Polynesian navigator who first discovered it.
The Island of Hawaii is administered as the County of Hawaii. The
county seat is Hilo. It is estimated that as of the year 2008, the
island had a resident population of 201,109.
Hawaii was the home island of Kamehameha the Great,
who by 1795 had united most of the Hawaiian Islands under his rule
after several years of warfare and conquest. He gave his kingdom the
name of his native island (by which the islands now are known
collectively), Hawaiʻi. Captain James Cook, who made the Western world
aware of these "Sandwich isles", was killed on Hawaii in Kealakekua
Bay.
The earliest settlements supported by current scientific data were
made by Polynesians who traveled to Hawaii using large double-hulled
canoes. They brought with them pigs, dogs, chickens, taro, sweet
potatoes, coconut, banana, sugarcane, and much more. The precise
timing and mode theory is preferred among some archaeologists as it
appears to fit the archaeological record better.[citation needed]
Note, however, that "one-migration" does not imply a single settlement
voyage, but merely a single, continuous settlement period. Other
theories of the first inhabitants (such as that of the sunken
continent of Mu or the presence of earlier people of unknown origin,
such as the menehune) exist, but are not supported by any known
scientific data. The hypothetical date that anthropologists ascribe to
the first Polynesian arrivals has changed as new discoveries are made;
also, there is yet-unexplained evidence of contact with the Americas
and other lands that complicates the accepted anthropological
timeline.
European ships began to explore the Pacific Ocean in the 16th century,
with Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and English sailing vessels
eventually making voyages.On January 18, 1778 Captain James Cook and
his crew, while attempting to discover the fabled Northwest Passage
between Alaska and Asia, were surprised to find the Hawaiian islands
so far north in the Pacific. He named them the Sandwich Islands, after
the First Lord of the Admiralty, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, John
Montagu. After the discovery by Cook, other Europeans and Americans
came to the Sandwich Islands. An entry was found in James Cook's log
describing the natives riding the ocean's waves on wooden boards. So,
it's possible that the captain had discovered a primitive form of
surfing in Hawaii.
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