Hawaii Counties Map: Click All 5 Counties

How many counties are in Hawaii?

Hawaii has 5 counties. 47 states have more, and 1 have fewer.

Hawaii has five counties and no city governments below them. Honolulu is a consolidated city and county that covers the whole island of Oahu. Kalawao County, on the Kalaupapa peninsula of Molokai, is run by the state Department of Health; it was the site of the Hansen's disease (leprosy) settlement and has fewer than 100 residents.

Each county is made of whole islands, so learning Hawaii's counties is really learning the islands. From northwest to southeast the main islands are Niihau and Kauai (Kauai County), Oahu (Honolulu County), Molokai, Lanai, Maui and Kahoolawe (Maui County, except the Kalaupapa peninsula on Molokai, which is Kalawao County), and the island of Hawaii (Hawaii County). The islands get younger as you move southeast: the Big Island is still growing, with active volcanoes at Kilauea and Mauna Loa in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

How Hawaii's counties were formed

Hawaii had no counties during the kingdom or the early territory. The territorial legislature created all five in 1905, and Oahu's county soon became the City and County of Honolulu, a combined city and county government. The county lines have not changed since. Hawaii has no separate city or town governments, so county councils and mayors run local services statewide, and the state runs the public schools as one statewide district.

Hawaii regions and the counties in each

Each county is a set of islands. Kauai County (Kauai and Niihau) is the oldest part of the main chain, with Waimea Canyon. Honolulu County is Oahu, home to Pearl Harbor and about two of every three residents. Maui County is Maui, Molokai, Lanai and uninhabited Kahoolawe, with Haleakala on Maui. Hawaii County, the Big Island, has Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa and Kilauea. Tiny Kalawao County is only the Kalaupapa peninsula on Molokai's north shore.

Notable places on the Hawaii county map

Mauna Kea, the state's highest point at 13,796 feet, is on the Big Island in Hawaii County; measured from its base on the sea floor, it is taller than Mount Everest. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, also in Hawaii County, includes Kilauea and Mauna Loa. Haleakala National Park, on Maui, protects a volcano summit over 10,000 feet high. Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial are in the City and County of Honolulu, and Waimea Canyon, often called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, is on Kauai. Kalaupapa National Historical Park covers all of Kalawao County and tells the story of the people sent there with Hansen's disease and of Saint Damien, who cared for them. Because each county is made of whole islands, only two share a land border: Maui and Kalawao counties, on Molokai.

Hawaii counties map: the biggest and smallest

Hawaii County is the largest county in Hawaii, with 4,028 square miles of land, about 63% of the state. That's more land than the whole state of Delaware and Rhode Island. Kalawao County is the smallest, at 12 square miles.

Which counties in Hawaii have the most people?

Honolulu County has the most people, about 998,747 in the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate, or 69% of everyone in Hawaii. The three biggest counties together hold 95% of the state's 1,446,146 people. Kalawao County has the fewest, about 81.

The most crowded is Honolulu County, with about 1,663 people per square mile. The emptiest is Kalawao County, with about 7 people per square mile. Comparing the two is a quick way to show children that a big county on the map isn't always a big county in people.

What county is Honolulu in?

Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii, is in Honolulu County. It's also the county with the most people. Hawaii is called the Aloha State, and it became the 50th state in 1959.

Where Hawaii's counties are

Hawaii has no land border with another state, so its counties are framed by the ocean.

How Hawaii's counties compare with other states

Hawaii ranks 47th among the 50 states in land area and 40th in population. Its average county covers about 1,284 square miles and holds about 289,229 people. Across the 50 states, the average county-level area covers about 1,139 square miles and holds about 109,381 people, so Hawaii's counties are close to the national average in size.

Landmarks for learning the counties of Hawaii

• Hawaii County is the Big Island, larger than all the other islands put together.
• Maui County includes Maui, Lanai, Kahoolawe and most of Molokai.
• Kauai County includes Kauai and Niihau in the northwest.
• Honolulu County is the island of Oahu, home of the capital.

With 5 counties, you can take on the whole map at once in a Practice round. Then print the Hawaii county map worksheet to check that it sticks on paper.

All 5 Hawaii counties

Every county on the map, A to Z, with its land area and July 2024 population estimate.

Hawaii geography for homeschoolers

Pair this map with the West states and capitals quiz and the US states quiz. If you teach at home, see homeschooling in hawaii, and check hawaii school choice to see whether a program may help pay for Hawaii history and geography curriculum. Each program decides what it covers.