Northwestern Hawaiian Islands - Definition and Overview

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or the Leeward Islands are the small islands and atolls in the Hawaiian island chain that are located northwest of the islands of Kaua'i and Ni'ihau. All the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are uninhabited and are administered by the U.S. state of Hawai‘i (except Midway Atoll, which has temporary residential facilities and is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).

The Northwestern or Leeward Hawaiian Islands include:

• Kaula
• Nihoa
• Necker
• French Frigate Shoals
• Gardner Pinnacles
• Maro Reef
• Laysan
• Lisianski
• Pearl and Hermes Reef
• Midway (temporary residential facilities)
• Kure

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands were formed by the same volcanic hot spot that formed the Emperor Seamounts and the rest of the Hawaiian chain. As the Pacific Plate moved northwest over the hot spot, these volcanoes gradually eroded and subsided, evolving from high islands to atolls (or seamounts north of the Darwin Point).

Islands of Hawai‘i
Hawai‘i | Kaho‘olawe | Kaua‘i | Lāna‘i | Maui | Moloka‘i | Ni‘ihau | Northwestern Hawaiian Islands | O‘ahu
Counties
Hawai‘i | Honolulu | Kalawao | Kaua‘i | Maui