Hawaii Demographics

As of 2005, Hawai'i has an estimated population of 1,275,194, which is an increase of 13,070, or 1.0%, from the prior year and an increase of 63,657, or 5.3%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 48,111 people (that is 96,028 births minus 47,917 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 16,956 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 30,068 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 13,112 people. The center of population of Hawai'i is located directly between the two islands of Oahu and Molokai [4].

Hawai'i has a de facto population of over 1.3 million due to military presence and tourists. Oahu, which is aptly nicknamed "The Gathering Place", is the most populous island (and the one with the highest population density), with a resident population of just under one million in 597 square miles, about 1,650 people per square mile (for comparison, New Jersey, which has 8,717,925 people in 7,417 square miles is the most-densely populated state with 1,134 people per square mile.[11]) Hawai'i's 1,275,194 people, spread over 6,423 square miles (including many unpopulated islands) results in an average population density of 188.6 persons per square mile,[12] which makes Hawai'i less densely populated than states like Ohio and Illinois.[13]

Hawai'i may be an especially healthy place to live. The average projected lifespan of those born in Hawai'i in the year 2000 is 79.8 years (77.1 years if male, 82.5 if female), longer than the residents of any other state.[14]

U.S. military personel makes up aprox. 1.3% of the total population in the islands.

Ethnically, Hawai'i is one of only four states in which non-Hispanic whites do not form a majority, and has the largest percentage of Asian Americans. Hawaii was the first majority-minority state in the United States, having been one since the early 20th century. Hawai'i also has the largest percentage of persons of mixed race, who constitute some 20% of the total population.

The third group of foreigners to arrive upon Hawai'i's shores, after the Polynesians and Europeans, were the Chinese. Chinese employees serving on Western trading ships disembarked and settled starting in 1789. In 1820 the first American missionaries arrived in Hawai'i to preach Christianity and teach the Hawaiians what the missionaries considered "civilized" ways. A large proportion of Hawai'i's population has become a people of Asian ancestry (especially Chinese, Japanese and Filipino) many of whom are descendants from those waves of early foreign immigrants brought to the islands in the nineteenth century, beginning in the 1850's, to work on the sugar plantations. The first 153 Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawai'i on June 19, 1868. They were not "legally" approved by the Japanese government established after the Meiji Restoration because the contract was between a broker and the Tokugawa shogunate, by then terminated. The first Japanese government-approved immigrants arrived in Hawai'i on February 9, 1885 after Kalakaua's petition to Emperor Meiji when Kalakaua visited Japan in 1881.

Religion/Adherents (Percent of Population) Christian/351,000 (28.9%) Buddhist/110,000 (9%) Jewish/10,000 (0.8%) Other*/750,000 (61.1%)

Other includes: agnostic or atheist, unaffiliated, Bahai, Confucian, Daoist, Druid, Hawaiian, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Shinto, Scientology, Unitarian, Wiccan, Zoroastrian, etc.

Sources: State of Hawai'i Data Book 2000, Section 1 Population, Table 1.47 [5] Glenmary Research Center [6] Honolulu Advertiser [7]

The State of Hawai'i has two official languages recognized in its constitution adopted at the 1978 constitutional convention: English and Hawaiian. Article XV, Section 4, specifies that "Hawaiian shall be required for public acts and transactions only as provided by law" [italic added]. Hawaii Creole English (locally referred to as 'Pidgin') is the native dialect of many born-and-raised residents and is a second dialect for many other residents. After English, the second- and third-most spoken individual languages are Ilokano (most are billingual in Wikang Filipino) and Japanese, respectively. Significant European immigrants and descendants also speak their native languages; the most popular are Spanish, German, Portuguese and French.

As of the 2000 U.S. Census, 73.44% of Hawai'i residents age 5 and older speak only English at home. Tagalog speakers make up 5.37% (which includes non-native speakers of Wikang Filipino, the national co-official Tagalog-based language), followed by Japanese at 4.96%, Ilokano at 4.05%, Chinese at 1.92%, Hawaiian at 1.68%, Spanish at 1.66%, Korean at 1.61%, and Samoan at 1.01% [8].

Hawaiian is a member of the Polynesian branch of the Austronesian family. It began to develop around 1000 A.D., when foreign Marquesans or Tahitians of that era colonized Hawai'i. Those originally foreign Polynesians remained in the islands, thereby becoming the Hawaiian people. Consequently, their originally foreign language developed into the Hawaiian language.

Before the arrival of Captain James Cook, the Hawaiian language was never written. The present written form of Hawaiian was developed mainly by American Protestant missionaries during 1820–1826. They assigned letters from the Latin alphabet that corresponded to the Hawaiian sounds.

Hawaiian distinguishes between long and short vowels. In writing, vowel length can be indicated with a macron (kahak?). Hawaiian also uses the glottal stop as a consonant. In writing, it can be indicated with the apostrophe, or with the opening single quote (?okina).

As a result of the constitutional provision, interest in the Hawaiian language was revived in the late 20th century. Public and independent schools throughout the state began teaching Hawaiian language standards as part of the regular curricula, beginning with preschool. With the help of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, also created by the 1978 constitutional convention, specially designated Hawaiian language immersion schools were established where students would be taught in all subjects using Hawaiian. Also, the University of Hawaii System developed the only Hawaiian language graduate studies program in the world. Municipal codes were altered in favor of Hawaiian place and street names for new civic developments.

In Hawaiian-language newspapers published from 1834–1948, the spelling "Hawaii" was used. However, in texts written mainly for Hawaiian-language pedagogy, especially since 1950, the modern Hawaiian-language spelling used is Hawai?i, with an apostrophe or other similar character, such as an opening single quote, written between the final two vowels. The character represents a consonant, the glottal stop, in the Hawaiian language. Although not used and not needed by native speakers of Hawaiian for over 100 years, its use is appropriate in modern written Hawaiian. Therefore, when actual Hawaiian-language forms are cited in this article, they will appear in italic, and will mark the glottal stop, and/or vowel length, if they are a part of the particular word. These citations will be given within parentheses, immediately following the English-language spellings of the particular words, but only at the initial use of the words in the article. English-language spellings of Hawaiian words do not use the modern Hawaiian marks for the glottal stop or vowel length. In that respect, English spellings of Hawaiian words are in harmony with the spellings familiar to Hawaiians before the 1957 Pukui and Elbert dictionary introduced the written kahak? and ?okina.

Many residents speak Hawaii Creole English (HCE), often called "pidgin". HCE is mostly made up of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Portuguese. During the 19th century, there was a great increase in immigration from foreign countries (mainly China, Japan, Portugal—especially from the Azores archipelago—and Spain), and a pidgin English developed which by the early 20th century became a creole English, as pidgin speakers had children who acquired the pidgin as their own native language.

HCE borrows vocabulary and syntax from Hawaiian. HCE speakers can use some Hawaiian words without those words being considered archaic. Most place names are retained from Hawaiian, as are some names for plants or animals. For example, tuna fish are often called "ahi" (?ahi). Also, some Hawaiian words are loanwords in the mainstream American English lexicon. HCE speakers have modified the meanings of certain English words. For example, the terms "auntie" and "uncle" can be used to refer to any adult who is a friend, or a friend to the family. It is also used as a sign of respect for elders. Throughout the surfing boom in Hawaii, HCE has influenced surfer slang. Some HCE expressions, such as brah and da kine, have found their way to other places.

HCE syntax often follows that of Hawaiian. Certain words can be dropped if their meaning is implicit. For example, instead of saying "It is hot today, isn't it?", an HCE speaker is likely to say simply "stay hot, ah?" Grammatically, pidgin follows an English translation of the Hawaiian language.

A somewhat divisive political issue that has arisen since The Constitution of the State of Hawaii added Hawaiian as a second official state language is the exact spelling of the state's name. As prescribed in the Admission of Hawaii Act that granted Hawaiian statehood, the federal government recognizes "Hawaii" to be the official state name.

Official government publications, as well as department and office titles, use the traditional Hawaiian spelling, that is, with no symbols for glottal stops or vowel length. In contrast, some private entities, including a local newspaper, are using such symbols.

The title of the state constitution is "The Constitution of the State of Hawaii". In Article XV therein, Section 1 uses "The State of Hawaii", Section 2 "the island of Oahu", Section 3 "The Hawaiian flag", and Section 5 specifies the state motto as "Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono". Note that English spellings, not Hawaiian spellings, are used in all of those cases. No okinas nor kahakos are used.

The nuances in the Hawaiian language debate are often not obvious or well-appreciated outside Hawaii. The issue has often been a source of friction in situations where correct naming conventions are mandated, as people frequently disagree over which spelling is correct or incorrect, and where it is correctly or incorrectly applied.

Hawaii Population Density Map