Blank Hawaii map

What the outline shows

The map shows the coastlines of the main Hawaiian Islands: from the Island of Hawaii (the Big Island) in the southeast, through Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai and Oahu, to Kauai and Niihau in the northwest. There are no land borders, so the entire outline is coastline. Nothing else is drawn: no county lines, no volcanoes, no roads, no channel names. The islands appear at their real spacing, which is much wider than most students expect; the Big Island alone is larger than all the others combined. Press Capital to mark Honolulu on the south shore of Oahu. Zoom into any single island and print it on its own if the whole chain is too small for the exercise you have in mind.

Portrait or landscape

The chain runs about 350 miles from the southern tip of the Big Island to Niihau, along a diagonal from southeast to northwest, and is only about 150 miles deep. Print in landscape. In portrait the islands become a thin band across the middle of the page with the largest, Hawaii, cramped in the bottom right corner. For work on one island, zoom first: Oahu and Kauai are roughly round and fit either way; Maui is wider than tall; the Big Island is close to a triangle and suits portrait.

Five classroom exercises

1. Label the eight main islands from southeast to northwest, then check the order against the labeled state page.
2. Mark Honolulu on Oahu and Pearl Harbor just west of it; then place Hilo on the east coast of the Big Island and Kahului on Maui.
3. On the Big Island, mark Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa and shade the southeast coast where Kilauea's lava flows reach the sea.
4. Draw and name the channels between islands: the Kaiwi Channel between Oahu and Molokai and the Alenuihaha Channel between Maui and the Big Island.
5. Shade the five counties: Hawaii, Maui (which also covers Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe), Honolulu, Kauai, and the tiny Kalawao on Molokai's north coast.

How to recognise the Hawaii outline

• A chain of islands trending from southeast to northwest, with nothing but ocean between them.
• The largest island, Hawaii, at the southeast end, shaped like a rounded triangle.
• Maui, second from the southeast, looks like a figure eight with two lobes joined by a narrow isthmus.
• Oahu, third from the northwest, has a deep harbour notch (Pearl Harbor) on its south coast.
• Kauai is nearly circular and sits apart from the rest, with small Niihau off its west coast.

Answer key and related maps

• Hawaii map — the labeled version with capital, cities and borders; use it as the answer key.
• Printable Hawaii map — the same outline with cities, county lines and the capital printed on.
• Hawaii county map — all 5 counties with their seats.
• Honolulu — capital and largest city, on Oahu.
• Hawaii–Aleutian Time Zone; Hawaii does not observe daylight saving time.
• National parks (Hawaii Volcanoes and Haleakala) and state high points.
• All blank state maps and the printable US maps index.