Islands of the Hawaiian Archipelago Quiz

Answer: Hawai'i

The largest island, located at the southeast end of the archipelago, is also the youngest, having first formed about 400,000 years ago. The archipelago formed as the Pacific plate moved (about 50 km per million years) across an oceanic hot spot (point in the earth's crust through which volcanic eruptions occur).

The older islands, in the northwest, are no longer volcanically active, while those in the southeast are. Hawai'i has five live volcanoes: Kohala, Mauna Kea, Hualālai, Mauna Loa and Kīlauea.

The last three are active (which is why the island is still growing in size), with Kīlauea in continuous eruption between 1983 and 2018, when two dozen new vents opened in May, sending lava flows through suburban Puna, producing dramatic footage seen around the world.

Answer: Maui

The second-largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago is nicknamed 'The Valley Isle", in reference to the fact that the island consists of two volcanic peaks, connected by an isthmus that was formed by the two cones overlapping each other. Native tradition attributes the naming of the island to Hawaiʻiloa (credited with discovering the archipelago), who named it in honor of his son, who had been named after the demigod Māui, who legend says was responsible for creating the Hawaiian islands.

The highest point on the island is Haleakala, where an observatory has been set up that is much sought after for use by earth-based astronomers, due to its location away from lights (although this is becoming a concern) and the clear dry air found at its elevated position.

Answer: O'ahu

Many visitors to Hawaii never go past O'ahu, the third largest island, where you will find the state capital and largest city, Honolulu. Pearl Harbor, the site of the Japanese bombing raid that brought the United States into active participation in World War II, is the location of the USS Arizona Memorial, a tribute to those who lost their lives that day. If you are more interested in the beaches, there are many from which to choose. Waikīkī, close to the centre of Honolulu, is a favourite with tourists who can walk there from their hotels. If you want to see spectacularly beautiful beaches, however, you should visit the west side of the island.

Answer: Kau'i

Hawaii's fourth largest island is the oldest of the eight main islands. It is the site of one of the world's wettest areas, Mount Waiʻaleʻale, which forms its central peak. On the western side, the massive runoff has led to the creation of Waimea Canyon, formed as the Waimea River flowed over the lava that had been deposited when a portion of the volcano collapsed while it was still actively erupting to create the island.

There is a fault line through which the river flows, so that the two sides of the canyon show this collapse, which caused one side to fall dramatically.

The layers of differently-coloured rocks provide a spectacular record of the area's geological history.

Answer: Moloka'i

Although the fifth-largest island is nicknamed 'The Friendly Isle', that was not always its reputation. Between 1866 and 1969 the peninsula of Kalaupapa was a leper colony, to which over 8500 Hawaiians who had diagnosed with Hansen's disease (then called leprosy) were exiled and declared legally dead.

At one time around 1900 there were over a thousand residents. The Belgian priest known as Father Damien de Veuster, or Saint Damien of Molokai, moved to the leper colony to treat the patients in 1873.

He contracted the disease himself, and died there in 1889.

Answer: Lānaʻi

This comma-shaped island was the site of a large sugar plantation during the 19th century, but that business collapsed in 1901. In 1921 the first pineapples were planted, and in 1922 James Dole bought 98% of the island and developed the land into a massive pineapple plantation.

In 1992, pineapple production ceased, and the owners of the land started to shift from agriculture to tourism as an income basis for the island. Travel is difficult, as the roads are mostly dirt tracks, but if you are a keen golfer, you will find no fewer than three golf courses on the island.

The one called The Challenge at Manele was designed by Jack Nicklaus, and its 12th hole tee-off area was the site of the wedding of Bill Gates and Miranda French on New Year's Day, 1994.

Answer: Ni'ihau

The second-smallest of the eight main islands is nicknamed 'The Forbidden Isle', because it is privately owned and can only be visited (aside from government officials) with permission of the owners. The island is quite arid, and has very few trees. Afforestation efforts by Aubrey Robinson during the early part of the 20th century made a significant improvement, but due to the limited habitat available to those plants that do grow there, most of them are critically endangered.

The 'ōlulu, a member of the bellflower family, may in fact be extinct in the wild.

Despite the lack of water, there are a number of playa (depressions that fill with rainwater, then slowly lose moisture through evaporation) which provide a habitat for such wetland species as the Hawaiian coot (ʻalae keʻokeʻo) and the Hawaiian duck (koloa maoli).

Answer: Kaho'olawe

Because this small island is located close to Maui and Lanai, and has a very low elevation, it gets virtually no rain - its higher neighbors grab the moisture from the trade winds, and it lies in their precipitation shadow. Annual rainfall is about 65 mm (26 in).

This is not enough to create permanent streams, but there is evidence that it was not always so dry. Early settlers cleared the land for firewood and to create open spaces for agriculture. This led to a change from a dry forest with intermittent streams to an open savanna, with greatly reduced water retention.

The cinder cone of Pu'u Moiwi was a significant basalt quarry used for the production of stone tools by the inhabitants. While the population was never large (possibly a few hundred people), there have been attempts over the years to establish viable businesses.

In 1993, commercial use was banned, and access to the island restricted to those engaged in Native Hawaiian cultural practices, environmental restoration or historical preservation.

Answer: Molokini

Okay, this is hardly an island, more of an islet, but it is the spot that was the inspiration for this quiz, so had to be included! Located between the islands of Maui and Kahoʻolawe, Molokini is formed by a portion of the rim of an extinct volcano that protrudes (a maximum of 50 m) from the sea. Scuba divers, using boats anchored offshore as their base, can explore an amazing range of fish in the coral reef enclosed by the islet. Due to the number of divers, the fish are quite comfortable in the presence of humans, and you can get quite close.

Answer: Midway

The choice of a tenth island led me to decide that Midway Atoll, a name familiar to many due to its role in World War II, was suitable, despite the fact that it is technically an unincorporated territory of the United States, and not part of the state of Hawaii, despite being in the Hawaiian archipelago.

As its name suggests, it is located almost exactly halfway between the west coast of the USA and Asia. Since the closure of the Naval Air Facility Midway in 1994, the control of the atoll has been in the hands of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, who manage the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial.

The atoll is a crucial area for a number of Pacific seabirds, and it is a breeding ground for a number found primarily there, including the Laysan albatross and the black-footed albatross. Hawaiian monk seals, a critically-endangered species, raise their pups on the beaches.