18 Interesting Trivia Facts About Hawaii

From interesting tidbits of information about ancient Hawaiians, to geographic wonders, the Hawaiian Islands are the subject of many incredible trivia facts. Some of these facts are common, while others are a bit more obscure, but regardless, everyone who lives in Hawaii should have these 18 trivia facts in their arsenal. How else are you going to win that competitive round of bar trivia?

Hawaii is home to approximately one-third of all the endangered species in the United States.

Jen R/Flickr

Forget Seattle, the rainiest place in America – and across the world – is Kauai’s Mt. Waialeale, which receives approximately 450 inches of rain each year.

James Gideon/Flickr

The next Hawaiian island, Loihi is currently forming and is expected to reach sea level in approximately 250,000 years.

Hawaii Island Topographic Map/Wikipedia

The people of Hawaii eat approximately 6 million cans of spam each year. Spam musubi, anyone?

Sandwich/Flickr

In ancient Hawaii, the penalty for breaking the law was death – unless, that is, the criminal were to flee to a puuhonua, or city of refuge.

Sarah Camp/Flickr

Hawaii is the most geographically isolated population center in the world, and is 2,390 miles from the nearest continent (North America).

Ron Cogswell/Flickr

Approximately 6 million tourists visit Hawaii every year, and spend a combined 11 billion dollars.

Thai Tran/Flickr

As one of the world’s most active volcanoes, Kilauea has been actively erupting since 1983.

Howard Ignatius/Flickr

Hawaii is home to the longest life expectancy in the country – 75 for males, and 80 for females.

TCDavis/Flickr

In the 1960s, astronauts prepared for moon voyages by walking on the hardened lava fields on the slopes of Mauna Loa.

Jeff Kubina/Flickr

Waikiki Beach was a swamp until the 1920s, when sand was shipped in to create the beach.

Jen Karlsson/Flickr

The small Hawaiian island of Kaho’olawe was used as a target for military training until 1990, and is littered with bomb shells to this day.

Justin De La Ornellas/Flickr

The Hawaiian language, when written with the English alphabet, uses only 12 letters and a symbol, the okina (‘).

Tokotoko.life/Flickr

Measured from the sea floor to the summit, Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain on Earth.

Barry Norton/Flickr

There are only two mammals native to Hawaii: the hoary bat and monk seal.

Jared Wong/Flickr

Everyone is a minority in Hawaii, and the state is home to the lowest percentage of Caucasians in the country.

Dylan/Flickr

The day before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the USS Arizona filled up with 1.5 million gallons of fuel and, according to the History Channel, the sunken ship “continues to spill up to nine quarts of oil into the harbor each day.”

Josh Berglund19/Flickr

The hula was originally a form of worship performed only by highly trained men who were allegedly taught by Luka, a Hawaiian god.

Ray S/Flickr

What other interesting pieces of Hawaii trivia do you know? Share your interesting, albeit sometimes useless,, facts in the comments below!