​​​Inc.

Inc.

Copyright © Hawaiian West Travel Inc. All rights reserved.

Islands


The Hawaiian Islands are a chain of islands, islets, seamounts, atolls, and reefs, totaling 137 in number. The stretch, roughly, 1500 miles across the mid-Pacific and have a land area of 5423 square miles. Kilauea is still adding to that when its flow goes into the ocean off the southern coast of the Big Island. Honolulu County, from border to border, is the largest county in the United States, since it stretches from Hawai’i Kai to Kure Atoll.

This is a picture from Wikipedia, that is probably the best picture I have found of the main, Southern Windward, part of the Island chain.


If you would like to learn more about the Northwestern Leeward part of the Hawaiian Islands, Wikipedia has a good reference page. This is a list of smaller Islands, atolls and reefs in that part of the chain. Clicking on them will take you to their Wikipedia page.


Nihoa (Mokumana)
Necker (Mokumanamana)
French Frigate Shoals (Kānemilohaʻi)
Gardner Pinnacles (Pūhāhonu)
Maro Reef (Nalukākala)
Laysan (Kauō)
Lisianski Island (Papaʻāpoho)
Pearl and Hermes Atoll (Holoikauaua)
Midway Atoll (Pihemanu)
​Kure Atoll (Mokupāpapa)


There is also a good discussion on the small Islands in the Leeward part of the chain.

​All of these Islands were formed by a “hotspot” moving from Northwest to Southeast. Kure was the first to form and it is about 28 million years old. The newest island is being formed off of the South coast of the Big Island, but don’t expect to vacation there anytime soon.