City Information

Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at 727 square miles (1883 km²). Native Hawaiian tradition gives the origin of the island's name in the legend of Hawaiiloa, 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 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 Hawai'i and is the largest island in Maui County. The island had a resident population of 117,644 in 2000--third within the state behind the islands of O'ahu and Hawai'i. The population is diverse, with many ethnic groups having originally arrived 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 Lana'i, Kaho'olawe, and Moloka'i. The larger towns on Maui Island include Kahului, Wailuku, Lahaina, and Kihei.