So, you're thinking about attending a college or university in Hawaii?

Being the last state to become part of the U.S., Hawaii, located in the North Pacific Ocean, is the southernmost point in the United States. Hawaii is the only state completely surrounded by water, without territory on the mainland of any continent, and is continuously growing in area, due to the existence of active extrusive lava flows. It is made up of a total of eighteen islands and atolls that, together, form the state of Hawaii.

With the exception of Easter Island, Hawaii is farther away from land than any other landmass on Earth. If one was to measure Hawaii's tallest mountain, Mauna Kea, from its base on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, it would be taller than Mount Everest. Hawaii is also known to have more endangered species per square mile within it than anywhere else.

While Hawaii is a tropical area, due to the moderating effect of the surrounding ocean, temperatures and humidity tend to be less extreme than one would expect in such a climate. Summer highs rarely reach above the upper 80s°F and winter temperatures seldom drop below the mid-60s.

While hurricanes are an uncommon event in Hawaii, they have been known to strike here. Hurricane Iniki, which struck the islands on September 11, 1992, was the most powerful hurricane to strike the Hawaii in recorded history. It caused around $1.8 billion in damage, which makes it one of the costliest hurricanes on record in the eastern Pacific. Luckily, due to well-executed warnings, Iniki only caused six deaths.

Hawaii, as calculated in 2005, has an estimated population of 1,275,194. It is also one of only four states that have an ethnic majority other than non-Hispanic whites. The largest percentage of the population, 57.53%, are Asian Americans.

The political domain of Hawaii has been primarily dominated by the Democratic Party. Hawaiian voters have supported the Democratic candidate for president in 10 of the 12 elections in which Hawaii was allowed to participate. During the 2004 presidential election, John Kerry received 54.01% of the vote while George W. Bush received only 45.26%.

Religiously, Hawaii is also very different from other states in the U.S. While Christians still claim the majority, they do so with only 68% of the population. 9% of residents hold Buddhist beliefs, 5% follow various other religions, while 18% say they are agnostic or non-religious.

In 2002 and 2003, Hawaiian residents were known to have the highest state tax per capita at $2,757 and $2,838. This is because of the fact that, unlike most other locations, services such as health care, education, and social services are all rendered at the state level instead of the local level. Thanks to the millions of tourists that visit Hawaii, not all the tax revenues are collected directly from residents.

There are several universities and colleges stationed in Hawaii. A few of these are:

• The University of Hawaii

• Brigham Young University

• Hawaii Pacific University

To find more information about universities and colleges in this area, visit the Online College Degrees page on this website.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hawaii".

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