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Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands
at 727 square miles. Native Hawaiian tradition gives the origin of the island's name in the legend
of Hawai‘iloa, the Polynesian
navigator attributed with discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. The story relates how he named the
island of Maui after his son who in turn was named for the demi-god Maui.
According to legend, the demi-god Maui raised all the Hawaiian Islands from the sea. The Island of
Maui is also called the "Valley Isle" for the large fertile isthmus
between its two volcanoes.
Maui is part of the State of Hawai‘i
and is the largest island in Maui County.
The population is diverse, with many ethnic groups having originally arrived in the islands to
work sugar cane and pineapple plantations from countries of the Western Pacific rim. Maui is part
of Maui County, the other islands comprising the county being Lana‘i,
Kaho‘olawe, and
Moloka‘i. The larger
towns on Maui Island include Kahului,
Wailuku,
Lahaina, and
Kîhei.
Maui is a volcanic doublet:
an island formed from two volcanic mountains that abut one another to form the isthmus between
them. The older volcano, Mauna Kahalawai,
is much older and has been eroded considerably; it is now called the West Maui Mountain. The
larger volcano in the East, East Maui Volcano (more commonly called
Haleakalā after its
famous summit depression) - rises above 10,023 feet (3,050 m). The last eruption occurred around
1790, and the lava flow can be viewed between ‘Āhihi Bay and La Perouse Bay on the
southwest shore of East Maui. Both volcanoes are shield volcanoes
and the low viscosity of the Hawaiian lava
makes the likelihood of large explosive eruptions negligible.
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Maui is a leading whale-watching center in the Hawaiian Islands due to the fact that many
Humpback whales winter
in the sheltered ‘Au‘au Channel
between the islands of Maui county. The whales migrate approximately 3,500 miles (5,600 km) from
Alaskan waters each autumn and
spend the northern hemisphere winter months mating and birthing in the warm waters off Maui. The
whales are typically sighted in pods: small groups of several adults and one or more calves.
Humpbacks are an endangered species
protected by U.S. federal and Hawai‘i state law. There are estimated to be about 3000
humpbacks in the North Pacific.
Among the many features on Maui popular with tourists are the "Road to Hāna"
(the drive from the central valley to Hāna and beyond), the drive up to Haleakalā crater,
Makawao (and Maui's Upcountry region), the Iao Valley,
and Lindbergh's grave (near Kaupō on East Maui).
Climate
 At sea level Maui has a remarkably stable tropical climate with highs in the region of 29 °C
(80 to 85 °F) and lows around 20 °C (65 to 70 °F); rainfall is greater in the northern
hemisphere winter (wet season is November through April). However, because of the two volcanic
mountains that dominate the topography, Maui has a very wide range of climatic conditions
depending on elevation and whether an area faces toward or away from the prevailing Tradewinds
(blowing from the northeast). For example the top of the West Maui mountain receives over 400
inches (10 m) of rainfall per year, whereas Kîhei receives less than 10 inches (250 mm), being in
the rain shadow of East Maui
Volcano; Kahului airport (the main airport on Maui) has average rainfall of about 19 inches
(480 mm), whereas Olinda (upslope from the airport) receives about 73 inches (1.8 m).
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org
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