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Geography

The State of Hawaii is comprised of a string of 137 islands in the north central Pacific Ocean. The islands are located approximately 2,400 miles from the west coast of the continental United States. The State of Hawaii has eight major islands: Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Maui and Hawaii.

Capital

Honolulu

Governor

Ms. Linda Lingle (Jan. 2003- )

Landspace and Population

The land area of Hawaii is 16634.5 sq.km.. Total resident population for the State of Hawaii was 1,211,537 for the year 2000. Ethnic breakdown for the year 2000 measured: Hawaiian/part Hawaiian 22.1%, Caucasian 20.5%, Japanese 18.3%, Filipino12.3% and Chinese 4.1%.

History and Culture

Discovered by Polynesian settlers between the 3rd and 7th centuries A.D. and later by British Captain James Cook in 1778. Hawaii became the 50th state on August 21, 1959. Hawaii is a place characterized by ethnic diversity and a merger of East and West culture. English is the dominant language in Hawaii, but it is infused with Hawaiian words, phrases and pidgin slang. Religions practiced include predominantly Catholic, but also Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, Jewish and Muslim. The ethnically diverse food includes Japanese, Chinese, Korean, native Hawaiian, Thai and Vietnamese food.

     
                  Diamond Head                                     Hawaii Convention Center

Economy and Industry 

Gross State Product (2000): $ 39.1 billion. Major export industries are Visitor expenditures (2000), $10.9 billion; Federal defense spending (2000), $4.4 billion; Sugar and pineapple (2000), $276.2 million. The State of Hawai‘i is committed to diversifying the economy. Industries encouraged are science and technology, film and television production, sports, ocean research and development, health and education tourism, diversified agriculture and floral and specialty food products.

Establishment of Sister Province/State Relationship

On May 21, 1985, Mr. LIANG Lingguang, Governor of GD Province signed the Agreement to establishment of Sister Province/State Relationship with Mr. George R. Ariyoshi, Governor of the State of Hawaii in Guangzhou.

Friendly Exchanges

GD and Hawaii have developed close friendly cooperative relations throughout the years. The early exchanges and cooperation focused on economy, trade and technology. More substantive exchanges and cooperation were carried out in health, tourism and culture.·GD held three business & trade fairs in Hawaii in 1986, 1989 and 1991 respectively with total contracted value at USD40 million.·GD Provincial Government has so far sent 39 senior officials to the University of Hawaii (UH) for one-year training since 1999. GD Provincial Labour and Social Security Department has had 40 teachers from GD's technical schools trained in Honolulu Community College, UH.·The State Government of Hawaii provided financial support to Sun Yat-sun Library of GD Province during the library's exhibition tour in Hawaii in 2002 on the 1911 revolution and donated 2 batches, totaling over 1100 volumes of English books to the library.

Aloha Alumni Reception, Guangzhou

Book Donation Ceremony

Group Photo with Hawaii Governor Cayetano

Editor: Wing