| Maui
is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at 727 square miles (1883 km˛).
Native Hawaiian tradition tells the origin of the island's name in the
legend of Hawaiʻiloa. This is the Polynesian navigator attributed with
discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. The story relates how he named the
island of Maui after his son who in turn was named for the demi-god Maui.
According to this legend, the demi-god Maui raised all the Hawaiian Islands
from the sea. The Island of Maui is also called the "Valley
Isle" for the large fertile isthmus between its two volcanoes. Maui
is part of the State of Hawaiʻi and is the largest island in Maui
County. The island had a resident population of 117,644 in 2000—third
within the state. This is behind the islands of Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi. The
population is diverse, with many ethnic groups originally arriving
in the islands to work sugar cane and pineapple plantations from countries
of the Western Pacific rim. Maui is part of Maui County, the other islands
comprising the county being Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, and
Molokaʻi. The larger towns on Maui Island include Kahului, Wailuku, Lāhainā,
and Kīhei. See Maui County for a list of towns. |
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