Why "Nobody" Lives Outside of Oahu

these are the major Hawaiian Islands there's eight of them home to a combined 1.45 million people and are visited by up to 10 million tourists every year the

beauty and climate in this Tropical Paradise have drawn plenty of attention towards Hawaii but not in an equal way looking at this population density map of the islands we can see an

overwhelming amount of people on aahu Hawaii's thirdd largest island by area and barely any people living any where else the population of Oahu as of 2024

is about a million people a significantly larger figure than the big Islands 200,000 Maui's 164,000 or the migga 84,000 on the rest of the five

Islands combined oahu's population density is an astounding 1,704 people per square mile which is roughly equal to that of taiwan's for

comparison all in all it translates to aahu just 9% of Hawaii's land mass containing 70% of the population overall but how did this come to be while the

rest of the islands have remained quite Rural and better yet how did Hawaii even become so populated in the first place well it's estimated that the Hawaiian

Isles remained relatively unpopulated up until around 1,000 ad when Polynesian seafaring explorers from further west in the Pacific discovered the islands these first native Hawaiians established

chiefdoms that ruled over their respective Islands societies across the islands utilized a cast system of social hierarchy and depended on fishing gardening and agriculture to sustain

their gradual growth in population throughout this long period lasting until the mid 18th century Hawaiians formed a distinct culture and identity centered around the concept of lahi

which emphasized Harmony unity and agreement within community and nature by the mid 18th century an estimated 150,000 to 300,000 inhabitants lived

across the islands under chiefdoms it wasn't until 1778 that the first European explorer Captain James Cook of Britain made contact with Hawaii and the

event represented a quick shift in the political and social structure Hawaii had maintained for centuries Cook's initial exploration of the islands introduced natives to firearms and

launched a period of instability and violence amongst the Chiefs eventually by 1795 the battles ended and all of the haw ha Islands became unified under one

king kameha Maya the great kameha Maya and his dynasty would last for nearly the next 100 years but the cultural landscape for native Hawaiians would suffer dramatic setbacks as European

contact became part of everyday life after news of Cook's discoveries and books recounting his voyages made their way to the rest of Eurasia and North America Hawaii became a hot spot for

Traders businessmen and explorers with the first Western company a sugar Plantation lad and C opening in 1835 along with these opportunity

Seekers came a wide variety of new diseases including influenza small poox measles and leprosy that Shrunk the native population significantly by 1870

the population of native Hawaiians had evaporated to a mere 50,000 in addition to physical detriments wave after wave of Christian missionaries altered the

spiritual culture of Hawaii dramatically conversion among native Hawaiians was strong and thus the cult Al identity of native Hawaii grew weaker with time nevertheless kameha Maya's lineage

continued to rule the islands up until 1874 when kameho V 5 suddenly died but had not yet named an heir to the throne political turmoil resulted in sporadic

violence across the islands to Aid in ending the violence and perhaps to use the laps in leadership as a political opportunity the United States and British sent in military units to keep

peace soon after King kalakaua was elected to rule Hawaii and was forced into signing a Hawaiian Constitution that had been drafted exclusively by American and British settlers and

businessmen this constitution effectively disintegrated native control over the islands in 1891 king kalaka passed away and his sister Lily okalani

replaced him on the throne the queen made it her utmost priority to reestablish native control over their lands to do so she drafted a new Constitution and proclaimed an absolute

monarchy against G this action was met with us and British military presence a treason trial for the queen in 1892 and ultimately a coup led by us and European businessmen who claimed the throne back

in 1893 the group of businessmen behind the coup named the committee of safety elected Stanford B Dole to be the provisional president of the islands

Stanford Dole a cousin to James Dole owner of the doll food company sought the annexation of Hawaii to the US to support the company's Enterprise which will get into in a bit by 1898 as

expansionist President William McKinley took office in Washington and Grove Cleveland a supporter of Queen lilio akalani finished his term Hawaii inevitably was annexed to the United

States it became an official US governed territory despite strong opposition from native populations by 1900 under its own US Territorial self-governance Hawaii's

landscape became almost entirely dedicated to the sugar and fruit Industries whole islands were exclusively used for a few businesses such as the Dole company and population

growth on these islands was therefore extremely limited on Neha Hawaii's westernmost Island the entire Island was and still is privately owned by Aubry

Robinson and His descendants who dedicated the entire Island to sugar cane plantation Additionally the Dole company owned around 98% of Lai and dedicated all their land to pineapple

and other fruit plantations the period of the early 20th century in Hawaiian history was categorized by extreme land grabs by wealthy tycoons and much of these early purchases are still owned by

a select few individuals today nonetheless Hawaii became a business Haven for the super rich in the early 20th century and upcoming Global conflicts would cause even further

investment and population growth specifically on aahu speaking of good investment I'd like to introduce you to the sponsor of today's video surf shark

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VPN while traveling than trying this out anyways another motive for annexing Hawaii was a its strategic location as the US expanded adding new territories at home and abroad Guam and the

Philippines were now us Realms that required military protection both Guam and the Philippines were across the entire Pacific and for naval fleets to reach these lands a Midway military Port

would need to be created Hawaii's central location in the Pacific showed excellent promise and the greatest opportunity for a port of all the islands was at Pearl Harbor in aahu this

is because Pearl Harbor is the largest and deepest natural Harbor of all the islands it features deep Waters that can easily house massive military vessels and the Lagoon home to Pearl Harbor has

only one entrance to the ocean meaning any Naval attacks on Pearl Harbor would have to come from only one point so in 1875 the Kingdom of Hawaii and the US

signed the reciprocity Treaty of 1875 which in a later extension the US negotiated for exclusive use of the lands in the area known as puula which were later used for the Pearl Harbor

Naval Base but Pearl Harbor wasn't the only ideal Harbor location along oahu's southern coast Hulu's Waterfront just a few miles east proved perfect to be

another Harbor destination for Commerce it's Southward facing making it much easier to trade for a multitude of reasons see in many parts of the world including Hawaii prevailing winds blow

from the east or Northeast a south facing Harbor is naturally shielded from these winds making it calmer and safer for ships to Dock and and unload cargo without being battered by strong winds

or rough Seas it's the same thing with tropical storms and hurricanes in the Pacific they typically track from the North or Northwest so a south-facing harbor is less exposed to direct Storm

surges or high waves reducing damage risks to ships and Coastal infrastructure a calm and well-protected harbor encouraged trade creating ideal conditions for the Honolulu Harbor to

become the most commercially important port in Hawaii as well as for a large civilization to grow near it naturally for these reasons Honolulu was also the capital of Hawaii a title it's held

since it was first named the capital by the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1850 this brought a large concentration of government jobs and services to the city which contributed to the population

imbalance as an island aahu has a natural aquafer system unique among all the others there are massive underground Fresh Water Resources completely unmatched by the other sometimes drought

prone neighbor islands all the main Islands get a fair amount of rainfall but none have the natural storage mechanism of a Wahoo's aquafers this water is among the cleanest anywhere having been purified through years of

draining downward through soil and volcanic rock it's the source of water for many Wells and springs providing approximately 90% of ao's drinking water these conditions combined with an influx

of government Investments to build up the area naturally saw American populations shoot up on aahu as the other islands with either private ownership or less than favorable living

conditions saw minimal growth in the 1920s Hawaii's population returned to its pre-colonization high estimate of 300,000 but now most inhabitants were

Americans in the military or business the native population around the same time had dwindled to just 20,000 by 1940 the population of Hawaii had grown to

425,000 but so too grew concerns about Hawaiian safety as Japanese expansionism in East Asia continued in fear of Japanese invasion of us Pacific

territories and to protect both Hawaii and Mainland us pear Harbor became the US Navy headquarters in 1940 a year later though the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and

brought the us into World War 2 news of the attack rang around the country and the world and the prominence of aahu Pearl Harbor was solidified forever despite suffering losses of 2,400 in the

attacks the US won the Pacific side of the war while Pearl Harbor remained key base for aerial and Marine Warfare and in the conflicts that would follow World War II including the Korean War and

Vietnam War Pearl Harbor would remain a pivotal military base for the US Navy operation as residents of Hawaii recognized the importance of their islands for both business and military

use a massive push for Statehood swept the state in the 1950s statehood would provide Hawaii with greater funding representation in Congress and electoral

votes by 1959 Hawaii was granted state Ood as the 50th state of the union and Honolulu already boasting over 250,000 people became the state's capital in the

years that have followed since 1959 Hawaii's population has more than doubled from around 600,000 to 1,450,000 today additionally Hawaii's

economy has experienced a dramatic shift from agricultural plantations centered around sugar and fruit production to tourism which is now a dominant player

in Hawaii's GDP Hawaiian tourists with Mass 9 to 10 million visitors a year spend $2.7 billion in Hawaii in 2023 5.6

million of these visitors went to aahu which obviously houses Hawaii's largest airports and transportation infrastructure in the relative present day though there's more additional reasons people go to aahu outside of

just the benefits of its geography for example the most famous attraction in Hawaii is arguably W Kiki Beach which too is in aahu it was historically a

Retreat for Hawaiian royalty because of how perfect it was especially for things like surfing which is a large cultural part of Hawaii speaking of Duke Kahana maku a native Hawaiian who's known as

the father of Surfing because of how he's popularized it surfed there making weiki the epicenter for the sports growth for many people going to Hawaii

is going to weiki beach or Pearl Harbor it's no wonder that modern-day Hawaii is characterized by aahu almost entirely like I said before of Hawaii's total

land area aahu accounts for only 9% but conversely accounts for roughly 70% of Hawaii's total population hence its nickname The Gathering Place as shown throughout ao's history and its

beneficial geography there have been plenty of reasons for the population to grow on the island but why haven't any of the other Islands seen substantial growth too what factors might be

limiting them well three main factors contribute to low populations on the rest of the islands freshwater access and rainfall topography and private or government land ownership being islands

in the middle of the ocean freshwater access is critical to survival while all the Hawaiian Islands experience some freshwater rainfall a few Islands experience it far more than others low

elevation Islands such as molai Lanai Niha and kulawi have drier conditions and less rainfall per year which limits drinking water sustainably for larger

populations on the other hand islands like Maui Hawaii and Hawaii the Big Island see plenty of rainfall each year but have limited flat landscape to develop on most of Maui's population

lives in its low elevation Center but very few live in the rugged east and west on Hawaii massive Peaks fill the center of the island and only a bit of flat plain land can be populated on the

east and west sides Kawaii with a smaller area but a rugged topography offers very little flat land for development as well finally private ownership of Hawaii by a handful of Rich

individuals prevents the creation of new communities or towns across Hawaii as previously mentioned niow today is entirely privately and government owned

and lenai although under new ownership by Larry Ellison of Oracle Corporation is still 98% privately owned Mark Zuckerberg has purchased nearly 2,000

acres in Kawaii to build a retreat and Oprah Winfrey continually buys acreages of land on Maui as of 2024 11% of private land in haw is owned by just 37

billionaires making it difficult for new population centers to grow throughout the state Additionally the federal and Hawaiian governments own a combined 39% of land meaning just half of Hawaii is

owned by the people of it land across all the islands has been continuously reserved for a few Rich business owners and for the government with very little space available for locals or small

scale investment it's worth noting as well the entire island of kuhala since the 1990s has been devoted to Nature conservation but only after years of war

in the mid 20th century where kahula served as a military testing and firing ground the island to this day is littered with bombs and debris thus making it uninhabitable for humans it's

the only Hawaiian island with a population of zero many islands overall have stricter regulations aimed at preserving natural beauty and local culture considering the factors above

aahu being urbanized and densely populated with optimal geographical and meteorological climates has managed to draw a vast majority of Hawaiian residents the mountains on aahu are just

high enough to sustain rainy weather patterns that keep fresh drinking water sources on the island and the landscape still offers plenty of flat terrain centered around Honolulu and Pearl

Harbor for human expansion the strong historical demand to build up Pearl Harbor and create a subsidiary City for Commerce nearby has skyrocketed ao's population and the extreme privatization

Trend across the islands has largely stated away from Honolulu and aahu due to its extreme density All Things Considered for being a small dot in the ocean aahu is certainly anything but

naturally this brings out different problems because it's made the cost of living on the island extremely expensive for many residents of Hawaii or at least former residents who had to leave

because of the costs the phrase priced out of paradise is a somber reminder to the situation they found themselves in but that's a whole another story thank you for watching and again thank you to

Surf shark for sponsoring this video don't forget to try it for 4 months free using my link in the description below I'll see you in the next one