Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
August 2016 boundary and location
Location	Honolulu County, Hawaii / Midway Atoll, United States Minor Outlying Islands
Nearest city	Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Coordinates	25°42′00″N 171°44′00″W / 25.70000°N 171.73333°W / 25.70000; -171.73333Coordinates: 25°42′00″N 171°44′00″W / 25.70000°N 171.73333°W / 25.70000; -171.73333
Area	583,000 square miles (1,510,000 km2)
Established	June 15, 2006
Governing body	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Fish and Wildlife Service, Hawai'i Department of Land and Natural Resources
Website	Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Criteria	Cultural and Natural: (iii), (vi), (viii), (ix), (x)
Reference	1326
Inscription	2010 (34th Session)
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The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (roughly /pɑːpɑːˈhɑːnaʊmoʊˌkwɑːkeɪə/) is a World Heritage listed U.S. National Monument encompassing 583,000 square miles (1,510,000 km²) of ocean waters, including ten islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Created in June 2006 with 140,000 square miles (360,000 km²), it was expanded in August 2016 by moving its border to the limit of the exclusive economic zone, making it the world's second largest protected area. It is internationally known for its cultural and natural values as follows:

"The area has deep cosmological and traditional significance for living Native Hawaiian culture, as an ancestral environment, as an embodiment of the Hawaiian concept of kinship between people and the natural world, and as the place where it is believed that life originates and to where the spirits return after death. On two of the islands, Nihoa and Makumanamana, there are archaeological remains relating to pre-European settlement and use. Much of the monument is made up of pelagic and deepwater habitats, with notable features such as seamounts and submerged banks, extensive coral reefs and lagoons."