Molokai in the context of "Kāneʻohe Bay"

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⭐ Core Definition: Molokai

Molokaʻi or Molokai is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length and width with a usable land area of 260 sq mi (673.40 km), making it the fifth largest in size of the main Hawaiian Islands and the 27th-largest island in the United States. It lies southeast of Oʻahu across the 25-mile-wide (40 km) Kaʻiwi Channel and north of Lānaʻi, separated from it by the Kalohi Channel.

The island's agrarian economy has been driven primarily by cattle ranching, pineapple production, sugarcane production and small-scale farming. Tourism comprises a small fraction of the island's economy, and much of the infrastructure related to tourism was closed and barricaded in the early 2000s when the primary landowner, Molokai Ranch, ceased operations due to substantial revenue losses. In Kalawao County, on the Kalaupapa Peninsula on the north coast, settlements were established in 1866 for quarantined treatment of persons with leprosy; these operated until 1969. The Kalaupapa National Historical Park now preserves this entire county and area. Several other islands are visible from the shores of Molokaʻi, including Oʻahu from the west shores; Lānaʻi from the south shores, and Maui from the south and east shores.

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👉 Molokai in the context of Kāneʻohe Bay

Kāneʻohe Bay, at 45 km (17 sq mi), is the largest sheltered body of water in the main Hawaiian Islands. This reef-dominated embayment constitutes a significant scenic and recreational feature along the northeast coast of the Island of Oʻahu. The largest population center on Kāneʻohe Bay is the town of Kāneʻohe.

The Bay is approximately 8 mi (13 km) long and 2.7 mi (4.3 km) wide, with a mouth opening of about 4.6 mi (7.4 km) wide and a maximum depth of 40 ft (12 m) in the dredged channel. It has one of the two barrier reefs in the archipelago, the other being the 27 mi (43 km) barrier reef of Molokaʻi island, and also has extensive development of shoaling coral reefs within a large lagoon. Two navigable channels cut across the northern and southern ends of the barrier reef. The deeper, northern channel, located off Kualoa Regional Park, provides entrance from the North Pacific Ocean to a ship channel dredged the length of the lagoon between 1939 and 1945. The lagoon contains extensive patch and fringing reefs and its southern end is partly enclosed by the Mokapu Peninsula. This peninsula is occupied by Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

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Molokai in the context of Lānaʻi

Lānaʻi, sometimes written Lanai, is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is colloquially known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The island's only settlement of note is the small town of Lānaʻi City. The island is 98% owned by Larry Ellison, cofounder and chairman of Oracle Corporation; the remaining 2% is owned by the state of Hawaii or individual homeowners.

Lānaʻi has a land area of 140.5 square miles (364 km), making it the 43rd largest island in the United States. It is separated from the island of Molokaʻi by the Kalohi Channel to the north, and from Maui by the Auʻau Channel to the east. The United States Census Bureau defines Lānaʻi as Census Tract 316 of Maui County. Its population rose to 3,367 as of the 2020 United States census, from 3,193 as of the 2000 census and 3,131 as of the 2010 census. As visible via satellite imagery, many of the island's landmarks are accessible only by dirt roads that require a four-wheel drive vehicle.

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Molokai in the context of Maui

Maui is the second-largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km). It is the 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of Maui County's four sizable islands, along with Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, and Kahoʻolawe.

In 2020, Maui had a population of 168,307, the third-highest of the Hawaiian Islands, behind Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island. Kahului is the largest census-designated place (CDP) on the island, with a 2020 population of 28,219. It is Maui's commercial and financial hub. Wailuku is the county seat and was the third-largest CDP as of 2010. Other significant populated areas include Kīhei (including Wailea and Makena in the Kihei Town CDP), Lāhainā (including Kāʻanapali and Kapalua in the Lāhainā Town CDP), and Upcountry Maui (including Makawao, Pukalani, Kula, and Ulupalakua), although Lāhainā was mostly destroyed by fire in 2023.

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Molokai in the context of Marianne Cope

Marianne Cope, OSF (also known as Marianne of Molokaʻi; January 23, 1838 – August 9, 1918) was a German-born American Religious Sister who was a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Syracuse, New York, and founding director of its St. Joseph's Hospital in the city, among the first of 50 general hospitals in the country. In 1883 she led a group of six other Sisters to the Kingdom of Hawaii to care for persons suffering leprosy on the island of Molokaʻi and aid in developing the medical infrastructure in Hawaiʻi. Despite direct contact with the patients over many years, Cope did not contract the disease.

In 2005, Marianne was beatified by decision of Pope Benedict XVI. She was canonized (declared a saint) by the same pope on October 21, 2012, along with Kateri Tekakwitha, a 17th-century Native American. Cope was the 11th Catholic active in what is now the United States to be canonized by the Catholic Church.

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Molokai in the context of Kalawao County

Kalawao County (Hawaiian: Kalana o Kalawao) is a county in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is the smallest county in the 50 states by land area and the second-smallest county by population, after Loving County, Texas. The county encompasses the peninsula on the north coast of the island of Molokaʻi. The peninsula was developed and used from 1866 to 1969 as a leper colony, chosen because it is isolated from the rest of Molokaʻi by cliffs over a quarter-mile high; the only land access is a mule trail, now closed to visitors.

Due to the small population (82 as of the 2020 United States census), Kalawao County does not have the same functions as other Hawaii counties. Instead, it operates as a judicial district of Maui County, which includes the rest of the island of Molokaʻi. The county has no elected government.

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Molokai in the context of Kalaupapa National Historical Park

Kalaupapa National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located in Kalaupapa, Hawaiʻi, on the island of Molokaʻi. Nearly coterminous with the boundaries of Kalawao County, and primarily on Kalaupapa peninsula, it was established by Congress in 1980 to expand upon the earlier National Historic Landmark site of the Kalaupapa Leper Settlement. It is administered by the National Park Service. Its goal is to preserve the cultural and physical settings of the two leper colonies on the island of Molokaʻi, which operated from 1866 to 1969 and had a total of 8500 residents over the decades.

The only way for the general public to visit the settlement is by booking a guided tour. Tours were suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but resumed in September 2025 after the selection of a new tour operator. Current tours include a round-trip flight from Honolulu, and require a reservation. The Kalaupapa Trail also provides access to the settlement, but it currently cannot be used by the general public due to trailhead access issues. The Peninsula Overlook, situated high above the settlement within Palaʻau State Park, is currently the only other publicly accessible part of the park

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Molokai in the context of Maui County, Hawaii

Maui County (Hawaiian: Kalana ʻo Maui), officially the County of Maui, is a county in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It consists of the islands of Maui, Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi (except for a portion of Molokaʻi that comprises Kalawao County), Kahoʻolawe, and Molokini. The latter two are uninhabited. As of the 2020 census, the population was 164,754. The county seat is Wailuku.

Maui County is included in the Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI Metropolitan Statistical Area.

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