Niihau

Niʻihau or Niihau ( /ˈniːhaʊ/; Hawaiian: ) is the seventh largest of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands in the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi, having an area of 69.5 square miles (180 km2). Niʻihau lies 17.5 miles (15.2 nmi; 28.2 km) southwest of Kauaʻi across the Kaulakahi Channel. Several intermittent playa lakes provide wetland habitats for the Hawaiian Coot, the Black-winged Stilt, and the Hawaiian Duck. The island is designated as critical habitat for Brighamia insignis, an endemic and endangered species of Hawaiian lobelioid. The United States Census Bureau defines Niʻihau and the neighboring island and State Seabird Sanctuary of Lehua as Census Tract 410 of Kauai County, Hawaii. Its 2000 census population was 160; As of June 2009, the population was 130.