50 Fun Facts About Honolulu

Honolulu sits on the southeast coast of which Hawaiian island?

The city and county are consolidated, so the County of Honolulu covers the entire island.

What does the name Honolulu mean in Hawaiian?

The old name for the downtown area was Kou; the Maori place name Whangaruru in New Zealand is a linguistic cousin.

Honolulu has been the capital of Hawaii since which year?

Kamehameha III moved the seat of the kingdom there from Lahaina on Maui.

Kamehameha III moved the kingdom's capital to Honolulu from which town?

He and his successors then built St. Andrew's Cathedral, Iolani Palace and Aliiolani Hale to make it a modern capital.

Who was the first foreigner to sail into what is now Honolulu Harbor, in November 1794?

The port quickly became a stopover for merchant ships sailing between North America and Asia.

Kamehameha I moved his royal court to Oahu in 1804 after conquering the island in a battle fought where?

The court first sat at Waikiki and moved to today's downtown in 1809; the capital briefly went back to Kailua-Kona in 1812.

The Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown in which year?

Annexation by the United States followed five years later, in 1898.

The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that pushed the US into World War II happened on which date?

The harbour still hosts the United States Pacific Fleet, the world's largest naval command.

Which is the closest major city to Honolulu?

It is about 2,083 nautical miles away, making Honolulu the most remote major city in the United States.

The exact opposite point on Earth from Honolulu lies in which country?

Almost every other US city's antipode is in the Indian Ocean.

Which building, completed in 1996, became the tallest in Honolulu?

At 438 feet it houses First Hawaiian Bank, the state's largest and oldest bank.

Ala Moana Center is billed as the world's largest what?

It has more than 300 tenants and is Hawaii's biggest mall.

The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific sits inside which Honolulu landform?

The crater fronts the Pauoa Valley, inland from downtown.

Honolulu's climate is officially classed as which type?

It is warm enough to be tropical year-round but too dry, thanks to a rain-shadow effect; it averages 278 sunny days a year.

What was the highest temperature ever recorded in Honolulu?

It happened twice, in September 1994 and August 2019; the record low is a mild 52 °F.

The last hurricane to hit near Honolulu was which storm, in 1992?

It was a Category 4; hurricanes are rare in the city despite its tropical latitude.

Which ethnic group is the largest single Asian group in Honolulu?

Asian Americans together make up over half the city's population, with Filipinos second and Chinese third.

The Bishop Museum holds the world's largest collection of what?

It is Honolulu's largest museum and also holds the state's biggest natural history collection.

Founded in 1900, the Honolulu Symphony ranks as the second-oldest US orchestra west of what?

Its main venues include the Hawaii Theatre, the Blaisdell Concert Hall and the Waikiki Shell.

The Honolulu Museum of Art keeps its Islamic art collection at which estate?

The house was built by heiress Doris Duke, who also gave her name to the museum's cinema.

Which world-championship endurance event was first held in Honolulu?

The very first Ironman was staged in the city, and the event doubles as the world championship.

Which NFL event was held in Honolulu almost every year from 1980 to 2016?

Only the 2010 and 2015 editions moved away, to Miami Gardens and Glendale.

Honolulu Little League teams won the Little League World Series in 2018 and which other year?

In 2024 the city was also the official home of the Pokemon World Championships.

Honolulu's main airport is named after which US senator?

The airport code HNL remains the principal aviation gateway to the state.

Honolulu's interstate highways carry which unusual letter prefix?

Interstate H-1, H-2, H-3 and H-201 serve the island even though none connect to any other state.

Honolulu once topped a US traffic-congestion ranking, beating which former record holder?

An INRIX scorecard put Honolulu first in 2012; drivers were wasting more than 58 hours a year in jams, and 17% of households own no car at all.

What is the name of Honolulu's rail transit line whose first segment opened in June 2023?

The 20-mile line will eventually link the city with the western suburbs; the first stretch runs from East Kapolei to Aloha Stadium.

Honolulu's public bus system, twice named America's Best Transit System, is called what?

It runs 107 routes with a fleet of 531 buses across the island.

What colour are Honolulu's fire trucks?

The Honolulu Fire Department covers the whole of Oahu.

The University of Hawaii's main campus is in which Honolulu valley?

The valley sits just inland of Waikiki and downtown, and also hosts the East-West Center.

Waikiki served as the first capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii during which years?

In the 1800s the area became a retreat where royalty surfed on early longboards.

What does Waikiki mean in Hawaiian?

The name refers to springs and streams that fed wetlands once separating the area from the rest of the island.

Why was the Ala Wai Canal dug in Waikiki in the 1920s?

The seven-year project by Walter F. Dillingham's dredging company was originally called the Waikiki Drainage Canal.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Waikiki's sand was shipped in by barge from where?

The famous beach is almost entirely man-made and still loses about a foot a year to erosion.

Which author stayed at Waikiki's Sans Souci resort in 1893, helping put it on the tourist map?

The resort was set up by Greek-American George Lycurgus, and a nearby stretch is still called Sans Souci Beach.

Waikiki's main hotel avenue is named after which Hawaiian king?

The other big thoroughfare, Kuhio Avenue, is named for Prince Kuhio and is known for restaurants and nightlife.

Iolani Palace holds what distinction in the United States?

After the 1893 overthrow it served as the capitol for the provisional government, republic, territory and state until 1969.

Which king built the current Iolani Palace, completed in 1882?

He had toured Europe and wanted a palace to match; a formal coronation followed in 1883, nine years into his reign.

Iolani Palace's unique architectural style is known by what name?

The grand hall has a koa-wood staircase, and the throne room later hosted Queen Liliuokalani's trial.

How long was Queen Liliuokalani imprisoned in an upstairs room of Iolani Palace after the 1895 rebellion?

The quilt she sewed there is still on display in what is now called the Imprisonment Room.

What is the Hawaiian name for Diamond Head?

It probably means 'tuna brow', because the ridgeline resembles a tuna's dorsal fin.

British sailors named Diamond Head after mistaking which mineral for diamonds?

The 1825 name was originally 'Diamond Hill'; the tuff cone is only around 400,000 to 500,000 years old.

What did Hawaiians originally call the lagoon now known as Pearl Harbor?

The name means 'Waters of Pearl'; legend made it the home of the shark goddess Kaahupahau.

Duke Kahanamoku won his first Olympic gold medal in the 100-metre freestyle at which Games?

The Honolulu-born swimmer had smashed the 100-yard world record in Honolulu Harbor a year earlier, a time the AAU refused to believe.

Duke Kahanamoku served 13 consecutive terms in which Honolulu office?

He held the post from 1935 to 1961 and also worked as a military police officer during World War II.

Which Honolulu Harbor landmark, opened in 1926, was Hawaii's tallest structure for 40 years?

The retired lighthouse greeted arriving immigrants much as the Statue of Liberty did in New York, and was painted in camouflage after Pearl Harbor.

In which year was Hawaii annexed by the United States, making Honolulu a territorial capital?

The city had already been the royal capital since 1845 and became a state capital in 1959.

Roughly what was Honolulu's population at the 2020 census?

The wider Urban Honolulu metro area was estimated at just under one million people in 2024, the 56th-largest in the nation.

Who began serving as the 15th mayor of Honolulu County in January 2021?

He was elected on August 8, 2020, and governs from Honolulu Hale in the Capitol District alongside the state government buildings.

What was the old Hawaiian name for the area that is now the heart of downtown Honolulu?

It covered roughly the blocks from Nuuanu Avenue to Alakea Street and from Hotel Street to Queen Street.