Nowhere else on earth can you find such a kaleidoscopic mixture of people. Every major race is accounted for, and over 50 ethnic groups are represented throughout the islands, making Hawaii the most racially integrated state in the U.S. Its population of 1.2 million includes 100,000 permanently stationed military personnel and their dependents. It is the only state where whites are not the majority. About 56% of the people living in Hawaii were born there, 26% were born on the Mainland U.S., and 18% are foreign-born.

The population of Hawaii has been growing steadily in recent times, but it fluctuated wildly in times past. In 1876 it ebbed to its lowest, with only 55,000 permanent residents in the islands. This was

Of the 1,200,000 people in the islands today (1995 est.), 870,000 live on Oahu, with slightly less than half of these living in the Honolulu Metropolitan Area. The rest of the population is distributed as follows: 137,000 on Hawaii, with 47,000 living in Hilo; 115,000 on Maui, with the largest concentration, 53,000, in Wailuku/Kahului; 56,000 on Kauai, including 230 pure-blooded Hawaiians on Niihau; 6,700 on Molokai; and just under 3,000 on Lanai. The population density, statewide, is 186 people per square mile, approximately that of California's. The population is not at all evenly distributed, with Oahu claiming about 1,430 people per square mile, and Hawaii barely 34 residents per square mile. Statewide, city dwellers outnumber those living in the country by nine to one. For the Big Island, 61% are urban while 39% live rurally.

Population Figures

With 137,000, the Big Island has the second-largest island population in Hawaii, just under 9% of the state's total. However, it has the smallest population density of the main islands, with about 34 people per square mile. The Hilo area has the largest population with 47,000 residents, followed by North and South Kona with about 33,000, Puna at 28,000, South Kohala at 12,000, and the Hamakua Coast, North Kohala, and Kau each between 5,000-6,000. Within the last five years, the areas of Puna and South Kohala have experienced the greatest increases in population. The ethnic breakdown of the Big Island's 137,000 people is as follows: 40% Caucasian, 20% Japanese, 19% Hawaiian, 13% Filipino, 2% Chinese, 6% other.