Kalawao County, Hawaii
The Kalawao County is the smallest of the five counties of the state of Hawaii and is the second smallest county in the United States of America.
Geography
Kalawao County encompasses the Kalaupapa Peninsula on Molokai, two east adjacent valleys ( Waialeia and Waikolu ), as well as a strip of cliffs to the west of the peninsula. It has 90 inhabitants ( 2010 census ) on a land area of 34.2 square kilometers.
For Kalawao County include the three places Kalaupapa ( on the west coast of the peninsula) Kalawao ( on the east coast of the peninsula) and the now uninhabited Waikolu ( in the homonymous valley in the southeast ).
Traditionally, the area now Kalawao County was divided into 4 ahupuaa. The ahupuaa are reproduced below, with order from west to east, and the original square footage in square miles.:
Kalaupapa ahupuaa with the same main settlement of the County and the Kamalo Harbor is located on the west side ( leeward side ) of the Kalaupapa Peninsula and even includes a section of the cliff of Molokai west of it, at the Awahua Bay.
Makanalua ahupuaa includes a strip of land in the center of the peninsula to its northern tip, Kahiu Point, and extends south into the Waihanau Valley. The Kalaupapa Airport and the Molokai Lighthouse lie to the north on its territory, and the extinct Kauhakō Crater in the center. In the crater is the small but deep Kauhakō Crater Pond.
Kalawao ahupuaa located on the east ( windward ) side of the Kalaupapa Peninsula and includes the Waialeia Valley south-east of it.
Still farther to the southeast lies the now virtually uninhabited Waikolu ahupuaa in the homonymous valley. Upstream from the coast are the steeply projecting from the aquatic rocky islets Huelo, Okala and Mokapu.
Due to the small size of the Kalawao County it is not shown on many maps as a separate county. It also has no county - seat, but is by an elected Sheriff "ruled", who resides in the village of Kalaupapa. Nevertheless Kalawao County is the smallest county in terms of population not the United States. The Texas Loving County has fewer inhabitants. However Kalawao County loses population.
The population pyramid the state of the 2000 census shows the cause of the diminishing population: lack of occupation of the lower age groups. Inflows of new residents are not permitted.
Demographics
The following compilation of the census results since 1900, provides information about the population decline:
History
The area has been inhabited for 900 years. The original population was 1865 in the East and in the West in 1895 ( the fishing village of Kalaupapa ) forcibly resettled by the Government of the Kingdom of Hawaii to establish a leper colony in the remote and inaccessible area that existed from 1866 to 1969. During this time, nearly 8,000 leprosy patients were forcibly sent to Kalawao to keep the disease under control. In 1969, leprosy could be treated. From 1873 until his death in 1889 had Damian de Veuster in the colony. Even today, former leprosy patients living in the County. The remaining residents are employees of the Hawaii Department of Health, which is responsible for the management, employees of 1980 furnished Kalaupapa National Historical Park, as well as some clergymen.
In 1909 the present County was delineated as a separate district from the rest (District) Molokai. In earlier documents, the ahupuaa Kalaupapa, Makanalua and Kalawao for moku ( district ) Palaau included, while the located in the eastern valley Waikolu was a part of the moku Halawa.
Gallery
Oblique aerial image of Kalaupapa by the cliffs in the west, which form a natural boundary of County
Seen Kalaupapa Peninsula from the east, with the rocky islands Huelo, Okala and Mokapu
Oblique aerial view of the Kalaupapa Peninsula