Kalawao County

administration
US state :	Hawaii
Administrative headquarters :	Kalaupapa County Sheriff's Seat
Foundation :	1905
Demographics
Residents :	90 (2010)
Population density :	2.6 inhabitants / km ²
geography
Total area :	136 km²
Water surface :	101 km²
map

Section of map showing Kalawao District

The Kalawao County is the smallest of the five counties of the State of Hawaii and the second smallest county of the United States of America .

geography

Kalawao County includes the Kalaupapa Peninsula on Molokaʻi , two east adjoining valleys (Waiʻaleʻia and Waikolu), and a strip of cliffs west of the peninsula. It has 90 inhabitants (as of 2010 census) on a land area of 34.2 square kilometers.

The Kalawao County includes the three places Kalaupapa (on the west coast of the peninsula), Kalawao (on the east coast of the peninsula) and the now uninhabited Waikolu (in the valley of the same name in the southeast).

Traditionally, what is now Kalawao County was divided into four ahupuaʻa . The ahupuaʻa are reproduced below, with order from west to east, and original area information in square miles .:

No.	Ahupuaʻa	Area mi²	Area km²	Population 2001
1	Kalaupapa	2.079	5.385	122
2	Makanalua	3.229	8,363	8th
3	Kalawao	3.294	8.531	9
4th	Waikolu	5,544	14.359	0
	Kalawao County	14,146	36.638	139

Kalaupapa ahupuaʻa with the main settlement of the same name of the county and the Kamalo Harbor is located on the west side ( leeward side ) of the Kalaupapa Peninsula and includes a section of the steep coast of Molokaʻi to the west of it, on Awahua Bay.

Makanalua ahupuaʻa comprises a strip of land in the center of the peninsula to its northern tip, Kahiu Point, and extends south into the Waihanau Valley. The Kalaupapa Airport and the Molokaʻi Lighthouse are in the north on its territory, and the extinct Kauhakō Crater in the center. In the crater is the small but deep Kauhakō Crater Pond .

Kalawao ahupuaʻa is located on the east side ( windward side ) of the Kalaupapa Peninsula and also includes the Waiʻaleʻia valley southeast of it.

Waikolu ahupuaʻa, now practically uninhabited, lies even further to the southeast in the valley of the same name. In front of the coast are the small rock islands of Huelo, Okala and Mōkapu , which rise steeply from the water .

Due to the small size of Kalawao County, it is not shown as a separate county on many maps. It also has no county seat, but is "ruled" by an elected sheriff who resides in Kalaupapa. Still, Kalawao County is not the smallest county in the United States in terms of population. Loving County , Texas, has even fewer residents. However, Kalawao County is losing population.

The population pyramid at the status of the 2000 census shows the reason for the decreasing population: the lower age groups were not filled. New residents are not allowed to move in.

Population development
Census	Residents	± in%
1900	1177	-
1910	785	-33.3%
1920	667	-15%
1930	605	-9.3%
1940	446	-26.3%
1950	340	-23.8%
1960	279	-17.9%
1970	172	-38.4%
1980	144	-16.3%
1990	130	-9.7%
2000	147	13.1%
2010	90	-38.8%

population

The adjacent compilation of the census results since 1900 provides information about the population decline:

Age pyramid

history

The area had been inhabited for 900 years. The original population was forcibly resettled in the east in 1865 and also in the west (fishing village Kalaupapa) in 1895 by the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii in order to establish a leprosy colony in the remote and inaccessible area , which existed from 1866 to 1969. During this time, nearly 8,000 leprosy patients were forcibly sent to Kalawao to keep the disease under control. From 1969 leprosy could be treated. Damian de Veuster worked in the colony from 1873 until his death in 1889 . Former leprosy patients still live in the county today. The rest of the residents are employees of the Hawaii Department of Health, which is responsible for administration, employees of the Kalaupapa National Historical Park established in 1980, and some clergy.

In 1909 today's county was delimited as a separate district from the rest of the (district) Molokaʻi. In earlier documents, the ahupuaʻa Kalaupapa, Makanalua and Kalawao belong to the moku (district) Palaau, while Waikolu, located in the eastern valley, was part of the moku Halawa.

Picture gallery

Older photo of the main town of Kalaupapa
Oblique aerial view of Kalaupapa with the cliffs to the west that form a natural boundary for the county
Kalaupapa peninsula seen from the east, with the rocky islands of Huelo, Okala and Mōkapu
Oblique aerial view of the Kalaupapa Peninsula