US Map / Cities / Honolulu

Honolulu Map

Honolulu runs along the south shore of Oahu between the Koolau Range and the Pacific, about 2,400 miles from the nearest large city on the mainland.

Where is Honolulu?

Honolulu is on the southeastern coast of Oahu, the third-largest of the Hawaiian islands and by far the most populous. The city occupies a coastal plain a few miles deep, pinned between the sea and a wall of eroded volcanic ridges. Distance is the defining fact: San Francisco is about 2,400 miles northeast, Los Angeles roughly 2,550 miles, and Seattle some 2,680 miles. There is no closer American city of any size in any direction, and no other state capital is anywhere near this isolated.

Honolulu at a glance

Honolulu in Hawaii

Hawaii has no incorporated cities at all. Every municipality in the state is a county, and the City and County of Honolulu is a single government covering the whole island of Oahu — about a million people, or roughly two-thirds of the state. The population figure in the table is for the urban district the Census Bureau measures as Honolulu proper, not for the island-wide county. Hawaii has only five counties in total, one of which, Kalawao, is a former settlement on Molokai administered by the state health department; the Hawaii county map lays them out. Honolulu is both the state capital and the only Hawaiian city in the national top 100, which the Hawaii state page puts in context.

Two volcanoes, a reef and the trade winds

Oahu is what remains of two shield volcanoes: the older Waianae Range in the west and the younger Koolau Range in the east, whose sheer green cliffs stand directly behind Honolulu. The city sits on the leeward side, which matters more than it sounds — the northeast trade winds drop most of their rain on the windward slopes, leaving the Honolulu plain dry and sunny while valleys a few miles inland are among the wettest places in the country. Diamond Head, the tuff cone that closes the eastern end of Waikiki, and Punchbowl Crater above downtown are both late-stage volcanic vents. Pearl Harbor, a few miles west, is a drowned river valley whose branching arms make it one of the few sheltered anchorages anywhere on the American Pacific coast. Hawaii keeps Hawaii-Aleutian Time year round and does not change clocks for daylight saving.

Cities nearest Honolulu

Nothing is near, but the mainland cities on the same ocean are San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Seattle, with Anchorage to the far north. See the Pacific division page for how the Census Bureau groups Hawaii with the West Coast states.