Q 01/05

Honolulu sits on the southeast coast of which Hawaiian island?

A) Oahu

B) Kauai

C) Hawaii (the Big Island)

D) Maui

Answer · why

A) Oahu

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

Q 02/05

What does the name Honolulu mean in Hawaiian?

A) Rising sun

B) Spouting water

C) Place of chiefs

D) Sheltered harbour

Answer · why

D) Sheltered harbour

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

Q 03/05

Honolulu has been the capital of Hawaii since which year?

A) 1795

B) 1845

C) 1893

D) 1959

Answer · why

B) 1845

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

Q 04/05

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

A) Hilo

B) Kaneohe

C) Lahaina

D) Kailua-Kona

Answer · why

C) Lahaina

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

Q 05/05

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

A) Captain James Cook

B) Captain William Brown

C) George Vancouver

D) Nathaniel Portlock

Answer · why

B) Captain William Brown

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