O‘ahu

Oahu

Nickname: The Gathering Place
Satellite photo of Oahu
Geography
Location	21°28′N 157°59′W / 21.467°N 157.983°W / 21.467; -157.983
Area	596.7 sq mi (1,545 km2)
Area rank	3rd largest Hawaiian Island
Highest elevation	4,003 ft (1,220.1 m)
Highest point	Kaala
Administration
United States
Symbols
Demographics
Population	976,372 (2012)
Pop. density	1,636 /sq mi (631.7 /km2)

Oahu (pronounced [oˈʔɐhu]) or O'ahu /oʊˈɑːhuː/, known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to about two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. Including small close-in offshore islands such as Ford Island and the islands in Kāneohe Bay and off the eastern (windward) coast, it has a total land area of 596.7 square miles (1,545.4 km²), making it the 20th largest island in the United States. Along with the rest of the Hawaiian Islands, Oahu is one of the largest and northernmost islands of Polynesia.

In the greatest dimension, this volcanic island is 44 miles (71 km) long and 30 miles (48 km) across. The length of the shoreline is 227 miles (365 km). The island is the result of two separate shield volcanoes: the Waianae and Koolau Ranges, with a broad "valley" or saddle (the central Oahu Plain) between them. The highest point is Kaala in the Waianae Range, rising to 4,003 feet (1,220 m) above sea level.

The island is home to 953,207 people in 2010 (approximately 72% of the population of the state, with approximately 81% of those living on the "city" side of the island). Oahu has for a long time been known as the "Gathering Place". The term Oahu has no confirmed meaning in Hawaiian, other than that of the place itself. Ancient Hawaiian tradition attributes the name's origin in the legend of Hawaiiloa, the Polynesian navigator credited with discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. The story relates that he named the island after a son.