Facts About Niihau Island

A collection of facts about the island of Niihau in Hawaii.

Quick Facts About Niihau Island
NICKNAME: "Forbidden Island" or "Distant Island"
LARGEST TOWN: Puuwai
SIZE: About 70 square miles
DIMENSIONS: About 6.2 miles by 18.6 miles
COASTLINE: Abut 200 miles
POPULATION: 170 in 2010 (230 in 1990)
PRIMARY LANGUAGE: Hawaiian
HIGHEST POINT: Mt. Paniau (about 1,280 feet)
OFFICIAL FLOWER: Pupu keokeo (white shell)
OFFICIAL COLOR: White (keokeo)
LOCATION: About 18 miles southwest of Kauai Island
COUNTY: Kauai County

In 1864 King Kamehameha V had sold Niihau to the Robinson family, in whose hands it has since remained. The native Niihauans–and the Robinson family, for whom most of them work–were and still are a fiercely independent lot. In 1959, Niihau was the one out of Hawaii’s 240 precincts to vote against statehood.

The predominantly native Hawaiian inhabitants herd sheep and cattle and gather honey, and they have made the island famous through the export of highly prized jewelry made of tiny shells collected on the island’s beaches. Humpbacked little Niihau–known throughout Hawaii as the ‘forbidden island’–has a very dry climate since most rainfall is intercepted by the towering mountains of Kauai, 17 miles to the east across the Kaulakahi Channel.

Niihau Cultural Heritage Foundation

Wikipedia "Niihau" Article

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About the Private Island of Niihau

Other Islands of Hawaii

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