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''The Garden Isle''
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54,200+
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1,446 km&2
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4th largest of the Hawaiian Islands
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Kawaikini 1,598 m (5,243 ft)
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(usually called outside the Hawaiian Islands, pronounced ''kawa-ee'') is the oldest and fourth largest of the main
Hawaiian Islands , having an area of 1,446 km&
2 . Known also as the "Garden Isle", Kauai lies 105 miles (170 kilometers) across the
Kauai Channel , northwest of
Oahu . Of
Volcanic origin, the highest peak on this mountainous island is Kawaikini at 1,598 m (5,243 ft). The second highest peak is
Mount Waialeale near the center of the island, 1,570 m (5,148 ft) above sea level. One of the wettest spots on Earth, with an annual average rainfall of 460 inches (11,700 millimeters), is located on the east side of Mount Waialeale. The high annual rainfall has eroded deep valleys in the central mountain, carving out canyons with many scenic waterfalls.
There is no known meaning behind the name of Kauai. Native Hawaiian tradition indicates the name's origin in the legend of
Hawaiiloa — the
Polynesia n navigator attributed with discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. The story relates how he named the island of Kauai after a favorite son; therefore a possible translation of Kauai is "place around the neck", meaning how a father would carry a favorite child.
During the reign of
King Kamehameha , the islands of Kauai and
Niihau were the last Hawaiian Islands to join his
Kingdom Of Hawaii . Their ruler,
Kaumualii , resisted Kamehameha for years. King Kamehameha twice prepared a huge armada of ships and canoes to take the islands by force and twice failed, once due to a storm, once due to an epidemic. In the face of the threat of a further invasion, however, Kaumualii decided to join the kingdom without bloodshed, and became Kamehameha's vassal in
1810 , ceding the island to the kingdom of Hawaii upon his death.
on the
Nā Pali Coast ]]
The city of .
The island of Kauai was featured in Disney's
2002 Animated Feature Film ''
Lilo & Stitch ''. Waimea Canyon was used in the filming of the
1993 Film ''
Jurassic Park ''.
Kauai is home to the U.S. Navy's
Pacific Missile Range Facility .
Kauai was known for its distinct dialect of the
Hawaiian Language before it went extinct there. Whereas the standard language today is based on the dialect of
Hawaii Island (also extinct), the Kauai dialect was known for pronouncing /k/ as /t/. Therefore, the native name for Kauai was , and the major settlement of
Kapaa would have been called Tapaa.
- Edward Joestring. ''Kauai, the Separate Kingdom''. University of Hawaii Press and Kauai Museum Association. Honolulu. 1984. ISBN 0824811623
