Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and Leeward Islands (Hawaii ) ( abbreviated NWHI, english Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or the Leeward Islands, hawaiian Papahānaumokuākea ) are a chain of small islands, atolls and coral reefs in the Pacific Ocean dar.

They are located northwest of the main islands (English: Southeastern Hawaiian Islands or the Windward Islands ) appertaining islands of Kauai and Niihau and include with the exception of the Midway Islands, which constitute a so-called unincorporated territory of the United States, the U.S. state of Hawaii. Administratively, they are assigned to the Honolulu County.

Geography

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands extend in the Pacific Ocean at about 25 ° north latitude over a length of approximately 2,000 kilometers of about 161 ° west longitude to the International Date Line at 180 ° longitude.

The total land area of ​​all islands is only about 14.3 km ², of which almost half ( 6.23 km ²) is on the Midway Islands.

The island chain are in geographical order from southeast to northwest:

1 ) Scientists

Geology

The island chain is volcanic in origin and part of which extends from Alaska to Hawaii Hawaii -Emperor seamount chain. They emerged from the same volcanic hotspot that formed the Hawaiian main islands and for the growth of the largest island of Hawaii (Big Iceland ) is responsible to the southeast of the archipelago.

While Big Iceland is still in the growth, all the islands are in the Northwest already shrinking again. Thus decreases the height of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands from southeast to northwest in general, northwest of Kure Atoll, then there are only so-called seamounts.

The age of the islands ranges from 7.2 million years ( Nihoa ) to 27.7 million years ( Midway Atoll ).

Population

Nihoa and Necker have evidence of an early Hawaiian settlement, at the time of discovery by Europeans but uninhabited. The islands now have no permanent population, but on the Midway Islands carry on for about 40 residents, mostly academic staff on.

Conservation

Due to the dramatic decline in bird populations all, northwestern Hawaiian Islands except Midway by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt Bird Sanctuary Hawaiian Islands Bird Reservation have already been explained on February 3, 1909. The Midway Islands were on 31 October 1996, after deduction of the military, part of the Pacific Iceland Wildlife Refuge Complexes.

After the string of islands and their surrounding waters in 2002, now including Midway, were declared a National Marine Sanctuary, George W. Bush proclaimed it on June 15, 2006 Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. The National Monument covers more than 362,000 km ², making it currently the largest marine conservation area in the world. The islands can only be entered with special permission from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services for scientific purposes today.