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Research dossier · Places & Architecture

Kauaʻi

Fourth-largest island in Hawaii

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 27, 2026
Entity authoritySource title only
Source-derived summary

Kauaʻi, sometimes written Kauai, is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles, making it the fourth largest of the islands and the 21st largest island in the United States. Kauaʻi is 73 mi (117 km) northwest of Oʻahu, across the Kauaʻi Channel. The island's 2020 population was 73,298.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Kauaʻi” as fourth-largest island in Hawaii. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Kauaʻi, Fourth-largest and island.

Editorial reviewMost useful as a place-based finding aid connecting the present description to earlier jurisdictions, maps and built evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2020—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Kauaʻi, Fourth-largest and island providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Kauaʻi”, the useful work is to connect “fourth-largest island in Hawaii” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 27, 2026. The first chronological checks are 2020.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Kauaʻi”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Kauaʻi primary sources, Kauaʻi archive and Kauaʻi research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Kauaʻi”?
  2. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Kauaʻi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.