List of islands of Hawaii
The following is a list of the islands in Hawaii. The state of Hawaii, consisting of the Hawaiian Islands, has the fourth-longest ocean coastline of the 50 states at. It is the only state that consists entirely of islands, with of land. The Hawaiian Island archipelago extends some from the southernmost island of Hawaii to the northernmost Kure Atoll. Despite being within the boundaries of Hawaii, Midway Atoll, comprising several smaller islands, is not included as an island of Hawaii, because it is classified as a United States Minor Outlying Islands and is therefore administered by the federal government and not the state. The Palmyra Atoll, historically claimed by both Hawaii and the United States is not included because it was separated from Hawaii when it became a state in 1959 and is part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands. The Johnston Atoll which is not included in this list was claimed by both the United States and the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1858 but the Hawaiian Claim was revoked by King Kamehameha the IV later that year upon his learning of the US claim to the island and is now part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands.
Hawaii is divided into five counties: Hawaii, Honolulu, Kalawao, Kauai, and Maui. Each island is included in the boundaries and under the administration of one of these counties. Honolulu County, despite being centralized, administers the outlying Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Kalawao and Maui, both occupying the island of Molokai, are the only counties that share an island. Hawaii is typically recognized by its eight main islands of which seven are inhabited. The main eight islands of Hawaii are:
| Island | Area | Area | Population |
| Hawaii | 10,430 | 4,028 | 201,513 |
| Kahoolawe | 116.47 | 45 | 0 |
| Kauai | 1,456.4 | 562.3 | 58,303 |
| Lānai | 364 | 140.5 | 3,193 |
| Maui | 1,883 | 727.2 | 117,644 |
| Molokai | 673.4 | 260 | 7,404 |
| Niihau | 180 | 69.5 | 160 |
| Oahu | 1,545 | 596.7 | 876,156 |
The state of Hawaii officially recognizes only 137 islands in the state which includes four islands of the Midway Atoll. An island in this sense may also include much smaller and typically uninhabited islets, rocks, coral reefs, and atolls. For that reason, this article lists 152 separate islands. Some of these are too small to appear on maps, and others, such as Maro Reef, only appear above the water's surface during times of low tide. Others, such as the islands Shark and Skate, have completely eroded away.
The majority of the Hawaiian Islands are uninhabited, with Niihau being the westernmost island with a population of around 130 natives, no one else is allowed on the island. All the islands west of Niihau—those categorized as the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands—are unpopulated and recently incorporated into the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. The island of Oahu has just over one million residents, and the island of Hawaii is by far the largest island with an area of —62.7% of the state's land area. The islands were first settled as early as AD 300 by Polynesian long-distance navigators. British captain James Cook was the first European to land on the islands in January 1778. The islands, which were governed independently up until 1898 were then annexed by the United States as a territory from 1898 to 1959. On August 21, 1959, they were collectively admitted as the 50th state.
The islands are the exposed peaks of a great undersea mountain range known as the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain, formed by volcanic activity over a hotspot in the Earth's mantle. The archipelago formed as the Pacific plate moved slowly northwestward over a hotspot in the mantle at about per million years. The islands in the northwest of the archipelago are older and typically smaller, due to longer exposure to erosion. The age of the archipelago has been estimated using potassium-argon dating methods. It is estimated that the northwesternmost Kure Atoll is the oldest at approximately 28 million years, while the southeasternmost Hawaii Island is approximately 400,000 years old and still subjected to ongoing volcanism—one of the most active hotspots on Earth.
Note that there are typos in the sources for the smaller islands, such as 'Mokulai', which is not a possible Hawaiian name. The okina and macrons for long vowels are mostly missing from the lists below.
Hawaii County
Hawaii County centers on Hawaii Island. With an area of, it is larger than all of the other islands of Hawaii combined, encompassing approximately 62.7% of the entire state's land area. It is also the List of islands of [the United States by area|largest island in the United States]. In modern times, Hawaii is known commonly as the "Big Island" to reduce confusion between the island and the state itself. The island also contains the state's highest peak: Mauna Kea at. Hawaii County as a whole has 27 islands and a total population of 185,079.Honolulu County
Known officially as the City and County of Honolulu, the county includes both the urban district of Honolulu and the rest of the island of Oahu, as well as several minor surrounding islands. The county also administers the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands with the exception of the federally governed Midway Atoll. The county's population in 2010 was 953,207, making it the 43rd most populated county in the United States. At, the island of Oahu is the third largest island and also the most populated, accounting for approximately 70% of the entire state's population. The county as a whole has 63 islands, and 32 of those belong to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.Northwestern Hawaii Islands
The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are the small islands and atolls in the Hawaiian island chain located northwest of the larger islands of Kauai and Niihau. For administrative purposes, all of these islands are controlled by Honolulu County. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands consist of nine main islands and innumerable islets, coral reefs, atolls, sandbar, and intermittent islands—some of which are officially named. All of these islands account for only and have no permanent residents.Midway Atoll, sometimes referred to as Midway Island, is a archipelago. For quite some time, it had a permanent population of naval personnel. It is one of the northwesternmost islands, located east of the International Date Line. Kure Atoll is the only island west at beyond Midway Atoll. It also observes a different time zone than the rest of the Hawaiian Islands. Because of its strong military history, Midway Atoll is classified as a Minor Outlying Island, an unorganized territory of the United States and is therefore not under the jurisdiction of Hawaii. Midway Atoll consists of four individual islands.
| Island | Coordinates |
| Bare Island | |
| Bird Island | |
| Disappearing Island | |
| Eastern Island | |
| East Island | |
| French Frigate Shoals | |
| Gardner Pinnacles | |
| Gin Island | |
| Grass Island | |
| Green Island | |
| Hermes Atoll | |
| Kittery Island | |
| Kure Atoll | |
| Laysan Island | |
| La Perouse Pinnacle | |
| Lisianski Island | |
| Little Gin Island | |
| Little North Island | |
| Maro Reef | |
| Midway Atoll | |
| Mullet Island | |
| Necker Island | |
| Nīhoa | |
| North Island | |
| Pearl Atoll | |
| Round Island | |
| Sand Island1 | |
| Sand Island2 | |
| Seal Island | |
| Shark Island | |
| Skate Island | |
| Spit Island | |
| Southeast Island | |
| Tern Island | |
| Trig Island | |
| Whale Island | |
| Shallow Island | n/a |
| Near Island | n/a |
| Ocean Island | n/a |
Kalawao County
Kalawao County contains no individual islands of its own. With a census population of 90, the county is the country's smallest county in terms of population with 44 fewer residents than Loving County, Texas. At, it is the smallest county by land area in the United States and is often omitted from maps. Kalawao County shares the island of Molokai with Maui County and occupies only 5% of the island's and 1.2% of the island's 7,404 residents.| Island | Coordinates |
| Molokai | |
| Mōkapu | |
| Huelo | |
| Okala Island |
Kauai County
Kauai County is the northwesternmost county in the state. It occupies the two main islands of Kauai and Niihau. Kauai is fourth largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago at. With a population of 58,303, it holds 99.7% of the county's population of 58,463. The remaining 160 residents reside on Niihau. Lehua and Kaula are the third and fourth largest islands, although they are very small and uninhabited. Kaula is the westernmost of the Hawaiian Islands not included in the Northwestern Hawaiian Island chain. The county as a whole has eight islands.| Island | Coordinates |
| Kaula | |
| Kalanipuao Rock | |
| Kauai | ' |
| Kuakamoku Rock | |
| Lehua | |
| Mokuaeae | |
| Niihau | ' |
| Puukole |