Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at 727 square miles (1883 km²). Native Hawaiian tradition gives the origin of the island's name in the legend of Hawaiiloa, the Polynesian navigator attributed with discovery of the Hawaiian Islands.
The story relates how he named the island of Maui after his son who in turn was named for the demi-god Maui. According to legend, the demi-god Maui raised all the Hawaiian Islands from the sea. The Island of Maui is also called the "Valley Isle" for the large fertile isthmus between its two volcanoes.
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