Kahoolawe
| Nickname: The Target Isle | |
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Landsat satellite image of Kahoolawe.
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| Geography | |
| Location | 20°33′N 156°36′W / 20.550°N 156.600°W |
| Area | 44.59 sq mi (115.5 km2) |
| Area rank | 8th largest Hawaiian Island |
| Highest elevation | 1,483 ft (452 m) |
| Highest point | Puʻu Moaulanui on the crater rim of Lua Makika |
| Administration | |
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United States
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| Symbols | |
| Flower | Hinahina kū kahakai (Heliotropium anomalum var. argenteum) |
| Color | ʻĀhinahina (gray) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Uninhabited |
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Kahoolawe Island Archeological District
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| NRHP Reference # | 81000205 |
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| Added to NRHP | March 18, 1981 |
Kahoʻolawe (/kəˌhoʊ.əˈlɑːwiː/; Hawaiian: [kəˈhoʔoˈlɐve]) is the smallest of the eight main volcanic islands in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Kahoʻolawe is located about seven miles (11 km) southwest of Maui and also southeast of Lanai, and it is 11 mi (18 km) long by 6.0 mi (9.7 km) wide, with a total land area of 44.97 sq mi (116.47 km2). The highest point on Kahoʻolawe is the crater of Lua Makika at the summit of Puʻu Moaulanui, which is about 1,477 feet (450 m) above sea level. Kahoʻolawe is relatively dry (average annual rainfall is less than 65 cm or 26 in) because the island's low elevation fails to generate much orographic precipitation from the northeastern trade winds, and Kahoolawe is located in the rain shadow of eastern Maui's 10,023-foot-high (3,055 m) volcano, Haleakalā. More than one quarter of Kahoʻolawe has been eroded down to saprolitic hardpan soil.
Kahoʻolawe has always been sparsely populated, due to its lack of fresh water. During World War II, Kahoʻolawe was used as a training ground and bombing range by the Armed Forces of the United States. After decades of protests, the U.S. Navy ended live-fire training exercises on Kahoolawe in 1990, and the whole island was transferred to the jurisdiction of the state of Hawaii in 1994. The Hawaii State Legislature established the Kahoolawe Island Reserve to restore and to oversee the island and its surrounding waters. Today Kahoolawe can be used only for native Hawaiian cultural, spiritual, and subsistence purposes.
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