ABOUT HAWAII:

Hawaii is the most northerly of the Polynesian archipelagos and is the 50th state of the United States. Made up of eight islands (seven are inhabited and six allow visitors), it is bordered by several small islands aligned along a northwest to southeast axis. The archipelago lies 3860km off mainland America.

Its tropical allure and fascinating Hawaiian culture has memorised many outsiders and spawned a booming tourist industry. It was here that rock legend, Elvis Presley, made a string of hit movies and fell in love with the island lifestyle and culture. Little wonder then that Hawaii has become one of the most popular honeymoon destinations in the world.

The capital of Hawaii, Honolulu, is based on the island of Oahu - the most commercialised island in the group. Oahu has two diagonal mountain ranges (the Waianae and Koolau), with many beautiful waterfalls. The largest island, also called Hawaii, is covered in macadamia orchards and coffee plantations. Kilauea, the most active volcano in the world, is based on Hawaii. The two largest mountains in the Hawaii group are also based here (Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea) and both have snow in winter. The Hawaiian Islands are the peaks of massive volcanoes that rose from the floors of the Pacific. These mountains are mainly extinct volcanoes, with only a few that are still considered active.

The islands were discovered by Captain James Cook in 1778, two centuries after it had been sighted by the Spanish. Mistaken for a god, Cook was welcomed by a 2500 strong flotilla. The following year though, the famous explorer suffered an ignoble death after a beach skirmish with the natives.

A few years later, the islands were united as one kingdom by Hawaiian king, Kamehameha I. Although the islands were dominated by a powerful Hawaiian royal dynasty, a complex political and social system existed. Inter-island wars were frequent and settlers and missionaries used divide and rule tactics to conquer the islands.

Many Hawaiians died when foreign diseases were introduced to the islands. In 1875, a commercial agreement regarding the export of sugar sealed the fate of the Hawaiian's economy. Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos were brought in to work on the plantations and gradually outnumbered the indigenous peoples. Within 20 years, Hawaii's total population had tripled. In 1894, the US replaced the monarchy with a republic, and in 1898, Hawaii was annexed to the US. The "Aloha State" was finally admitted to the US in 1959 as its fiftieth state.

Today the country has a population of over one million people. Of these, 21% are native Hawaiians, 22% Caucasian and 34% Asian (Japans, Filipino and Chinese). Large plantations, the US military and tourism are all important to Hawaii's economy. Sugar, pineapple, coffee, macadamia nuts and flowers are also staple industries.

Support for indigenous rights among native Hawaiians started gathering momentum in the early 1990s. Many schools have been set up to teach the Hawaiian language and culture. This indigenous sovereignty movement has also been looking at land issues that came as a result of land dispossession after colonisation.