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Population <br />The County of Hawai i encompasses the entire island of Hawai i and has the largest land area of <br />Hawai iÔs counties. The land area of the County is approximately twice the combined land area of all <br />the other islands of the State. <br />Traditionally, agriculture played an important role in the CountyÔs economy an d much of the CountyÔs <br />population growth and development were tied to the growth and employment needs of its agricultural <br />economy. The island of Hawai iÔs diverse climate, topography and scenic beauty along with the <br />innovations in the travel and leisure industry ha ve caused tourism to emerge as the primary economic <br />activity. In addition, the County has seen <br />Figure 1 <br />substantial population growth beyond what <br />POPULATION GROWTH, 1940-2020 <br />would be expected from economic opportunities <br />in the CountyÔs primary industries; such <br />population growth has most likely been due to <br />in-migration of people drawn to the quality of life <br />in the County. <br />The County of Hawai i is currently the second <br />most populous County in Hawai i. The 2000 <br />U.S. Census recorded the CountyÔs population as <br />148,677. Figure 1 shows the population growth <br />since 1940, and the projected growth through <br />2020. <br />The County of Hawai iÔs population growth has <br />remained relatively constant over the last two <br />decades, with a slight decline from an annual rate of 2.71 percent in the 1980s to 2.14 percent in the <br />1990s. According to population projections provid ed in the medium series projections in the Hawai <br />i <br />County General Plan , Hawai i CountyÔs population is expected to <br />grow at about 1.9 percent a year over the next two decades. <br />Figure 2 <br />Under this growth assumption, the CountyÔs population is <br />JUDICIAL DISTRICTS <br />expected to be about 217,718 in 2020. <br />As shown in Table 1, while the overall County population <br />growth has been fairly constant, certain districts have <br />experienced much more rapid growth than the County as a <br />whole. The Districts of Puna, South Kohala and North <br />Kohala have experienced the most rapid growth during the <br />1980s and 1990s. During the 1990s Puna grew annually by <br />4.19 percent, South Kohala grew annually by 3.69 percent and <br />North Kohala grew by 3.47 percent per year. <br />H C \I N A ÐG A M January 5, 2006, Page 2 <br />AWAI I OUNTY NFRASTRUCTURE EEDS SSESSMENT ROWTH NALYSIS EMORANDUM <br /> <br />