University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law

Joint degrees awarded: J.D./M.B.A.; J.D./M.A.; J.D./M.S.W.

Student activities: University of Hawaii Law Review, Asia Pacific Law and Policy Journal, Jessup, Environmental, Native American, Intellectual Property and Hispanic Moot Court Teams, Client Counseling Team.

Address: 2515 Dole St, Honolulu, HI 96822

Before you can study in any of the above 1 law programs in Hawaii, you will need to take the Law School Admissions Test. The exam dates throughout the year are also provided on the site.

Hawaii Overview

Hawaii, a state of the United States, consisting of 132 volcanic islands in a 2450 km long island chain (formerly Sandwich Islands) in the North Pacific; 16,760 km², 1.37 million residents (2011). 99% of the area is made up of the eight main islands to the southeast and the entire population lives here; most on Oahu (953,200) with the capital of Honolulu. The many small islands in northwestern Hawaii are uninhabited; the military base Midway has special status. In 1959 Hawaii became the United States' 50th state. Nickname: The Aloha State.

• Songaah.com: Are you interested in official state song of Hawaii? Here you can find its composers and lyricists as well as song lyrics of "Paradise, Hawaiian Style".

Against the background of a periodic immigration from especially North America and Asia, the population is ethnically very composed. Residents of mixed Hawaiian (Polynesian) descent constitute a minority of approx. one-tenth, while Asians and whites make up respectively. 42% and 27%. In 1950-95 the population was more than doubled, and growth continued to be high, mainly due to a large birth surplus (birth rate 18.5‰, death rate 6.1‰).

With a staff of approx. 60,000, the military is a major employer and important economic factor. The largest military facilities are located on Oahu with the Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor and on Hawaii Island with the Pohakuloa Military Reserve. The island of Kahoolawe, which was brought to trial in 1941, turned over in 1994 for civilian purposes following pressure from groups working for an independent Hawaii.

The importance of the military is surpassed only by that of tourism; it employs nearly half the population and has been the state's most important profession since the charter flight's breakthrough in the 1960s. Apart from Kahoolawe and the privately owned Niihau, the main islands are holiday destinations for 7 million tourists a year. Top attractions include Waikiki Beach, followed by Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii and Haleakala National Park in Maui. In addition, the climate, nature and the many recreational opportunities seem alluring in themselves. For example, the islands have more than 1600 surfing beaches and 60 golf courses.

Agriculture benefits from the tropical climate and fertile, volcanic soils. Complemented by irrigation, you can grow almost anything: sugar cane, pineapple, cotton, rice, sisal, bananas, macadamia nuts, vegetables and the exotic flowers and fruits of the world. Excluding the illegal sale of marijuana (locally: pakalolo), sugar has been around since the 1800s. and pineapple since 1900 have historically been the most important export crops, but in the late 1900s. they had completely lost their meaning. The entire agricultural sector is dominated by large agribusiness companies that own most of the agricultural area, incl. extensive grazing land for cattle.

Forests are found especially on the NE-facing hillsides; Among other things, there are remnants of the original rainforest with thousands of endemic plant and animal species. Elsewhere, natural plant growth consists of semi-arid steppe vegetation. The variation is due to different exposure to the prevailing trade winds, and the annual rainfall varies from over 1100 cm on the windward side of the mountains to less than 40 cm on the leeward side. Except for the high mountain areas (Mauna Kea 4205 m), the climate is predominantly tropical, and temperatures everywhere are fairly uniform with average temperatures of 22 ° C in January and 26 ° C in July. The coasts alternate between steep cliffs and wide sandy beaches and are in most places surrounded by coral reefs.

Geology

The archipelago consists of a number of volcanic islands, of which only the largest island, Hawaii, has active volcanoes; in 1790, however, there were also outbreaks on the neighboring island of Maui. Hawaii consists of five large shield volcanoes formed by basaltic lava. Only Mauna Loa and Kilauea are active, while Hualalai was most recently in eruption 1800-01. Earthquakes are frequent, especially around Hawaii. The highest point is the extinct volcano Mauna Kea, whose total height above the ocean floor exceeds 9000 m.

Hawaii Island is formed over the past 750,000 years by a large number of lava flows. In the northwestern direction, the group's islands gradually grow older. For example, Kauai is approx. 5 million years old. The volcanism of the Hawaiian archipelago is formed over a hot spot, i.e. over an area where convection current from Earth's sheath creates volcanism. As the Pacific plate here moves approx. 10 cm per years to the northwest, previously formed volcanic islands move away from the hot spot area, thereby becoming inactive while volcanism begins a new place. The range of volcanic islands continues in the Hawaii ridge toward NV. This ridge consists of underwater mountains (guyots, seamounts) that were formerly volcanic islands but have since sunk below sea level. On some volcanoes in this underwater ridge, coral islands and atolls have been developed in line with subsidence. The Kure Atoll, the last island in the series, has a volcanic core that is approx. 30 million years old. The strip of undersea volcanic mountains continues from here in a more northerly direction in the so-called Emperor Seamount Chain almost to Kamchatka. The oldest volcanoes from here are approx. 75-80 million years old.

The continued plate movement has developed a new eruption site 30 km south of Hawaii and formed the submarine Loihi volcano, which is now 969 m below sea level.

wildlife

The composition of the archipelago's wildlife is a school example for oceanic islands that have never been associated with the mainland. The isolation means that there are no native species of freshwater fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals (except for a single bat species). At the same time, many species are endemic, for example, the 30 species of seal birds, a group of finches, are known only from Hawaii (eight are extinct in recent times). Endemic species swarms are also common among land snails and insects; For example, Hawaii houses over 600 endemic species of banana flies, many of which have quite a different lifestyle than banana flies from the rest of the world.

Ethnography

The indigenous population, kanaka maoli 'the true people', immigrated from central Polynesia to Hawaii from the 1st century AD They developed a hierarchical social system that is closely related to a religious understanding of man as related to the surroundings and everything living. Many still believe that land cannot be owned, but must be cared for, loved and respected as an older relative. The chieftains of the gods had mana, divine power, which had to be protected by kapu, the Hawaiian form of taboo. Agriculture, collection and fishing were the main sources of nutrition and are still an important part of the indigenous population's economy. 20% of Hawaii's population is kanaka maoli, which is the lowest social group in Hawaii by western scale.

According to a government office's calculation, by 2044 there will be no more "pure" kanaka maoli left. However, this is counteracted by a strong cultural awareness and local research that has resulted in a political movement to win, among other things. land, cultural rights and self-government.

Language

In Hawaii, there is predominantly English, but also Hawaiian, Pidgin-English and various immigrant languages, especially the Filipino languages ​​ilokano and Tagalog. Japanese and Spanish are the first foreign language in the school. The original Hawaiian language, which is a Polynesian language in the Austronesian language family, is spoken by only a few, but since 1992 has been the official language next to English. Hawaiian is typically Polynesian with only eight consonants and five vowels.

History

Hawaii’s indigenous population is believed to have migrated from Polynesia in multiple waves during the first millennium AD. In 1778, James Cook came as the first European to the islands; he named them Sandwich Islands after the then British naval minister, John Montagu, Earl of Sandwich (1718-92).

About 1795, all but one of the islands was united into a kingdom under Kamehameha 1. (1758-1819); the last two islands were incorporated after negotiations in 1810. Kamehameha's successor abolished the traditional stool religion, but a real missionary business only began in the 1820s. A large part of the indigenous population then died of a number of diseases that European and American whalers had brought. In 1851, Kamehameha placed the 3rd (1814-54) islands under US protection, in 1887 the United States became available over Pearl Harbor, and from 1908 the port was expanded as a base for the Pacific Fleet.

Growing US interests in sugar plantations with the use of labor imported from China and Japan and the islands' dependence on the US market resulted in the alienation of Queen Liliuokalani (1838-1917) in 1893. However, US President Grover Cleveland rejected the coup makers' request to annex the islands. Instead, the Republic of Hawaii was established in 1894 with the American Sanford B. Dole (1844-1926) as president.

With the United States acquisition of the Philippines in 1898, the annexation plans were again taken up; Hawaii was granted US territory in 1900. After World War I, Americanization took off.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 12, 1941 became the immediate occasion for US entry into World War II, and Hawaii was given a pivotal role in the Pacific war. Following several proposals both before and after the war, Hawaii was incorporated in 1959 as a state in the United States at the same time as Alaska.