The Big Island makes up 63% of the Hawaiian archipelago's combined landmass, but only has 13% of Hawaii's population.

According to native Hawaiian tradition, the island was named after Hawai'iloa, the legendary Polynesian navigator who first discovered it. Other accounts attribute the name to the legendary realm of Hawaiki, a place from which some Polynesian people are said to have originated, the place where they transition to the afterlife, or the realm of the gods and goddesses.

Measured from its sea floor base to its highest peak, Mauna Kea is the world's tallest mountain, taller than even Mount Everest, since the base of Mount Everest is above sea level.

The Big Island is constructed of 6 shield volcanoes that overlapped each other as they erupted: Mahukona (extinct), Kīlauea (active), Mauna Loa (active), Mauna Kea (dormant), Hualālai (dormant), and Kohala (extinct). Because Mauna Loa and Kīlauea are active volcanoes, the island of Hawaii is still growing.

Captain James Cook, the English explorer and navigator who led the first European expedition that explored the Hawaiian Islands, was killed at Kealakekua Bay on 14 February 1779, following the theft of one of his boats. In response to the theft, Cook attempted to kidnap and ransom the King of Hawaii, Kalani'ōpu'u. When the native Hawaiians realized Cook was trying to make off with their king, they attacked and killed him.

Vog (volcanic fog) is a form of air pollution that results when sulfur dioxide and other gases emitted by an erupting volcano react with oxygen and moisture in the presence of sunlight. The term is in common use on the Big Island, where Kīlauea emits 2,000 to 4,000 tons of sulfur dioxide every day.

Papakōlea Beach is one of only four green sand beaches in the world. It gets its distinctive color from olivine sand eroded out of the volcanic cone that encloses it.

Formed sometime between 400,000 and 800,000 years ago, the Big Island is the youngest Island of Hawaii, but it won't hold this title forever. A new island is already forming 15 miles southeast of the coast of Big Island: Loihi. The summit of Loihi still has one mile to go before it breaks the surface of the ocean, but in another 30 to 40 thousand years, Loihi will be born as the youngest of the Hawaiian Islands.

Sugarcane was the backbone of the island of Hawaii's economy for more than a century. In the mid-20th century, sugarcane plantations began to downsize, and in 1995 the last plantation closed. Today, most of the island's economy is based on tourism.

The fastest recorded Hawaiian lava flow was the first of three flows from the 1950 Mauna Loa southwest rift zone eruption. The front of this flow advanced from its vent to Highway 11 between Ho'okena and Miloli'i at an average speed of 6 miles per hour or 2.7 meters per second.