The Hawaiian Islands are in the Pacific Ocean almost 4,000, kilometres west of California. Tourism is very important to Hawaii. The tropical weather and beaches bring people from all over the world. But Hawaii is also experiencing problems from the downturn . Last year was the first year since 2004 that Hawaii has had fewer than seven million visitors. The state had 6,800,000 arrivals in 2008. That was a decrease of 10% from the year before. State officials expect a decrease this year of another 2%. And they expect no growth in the economy through most of the year. The Hawaiian Islands were formed millions of years ago by hot liquid rock flowing from undersea volcanoes. Visitors can still watch the process take place on the largest island, which like the state is named Hawaii. People usually just call it the Big Island. Experts say Polynesian people first sailed to Hawaii about 2,000 years ago. A king ruled the islands when the 18th century British explorer James Cook arrived. At first, Hawaiians treated Captain Cook like a god. But in the end, he was killed on the Big Island in 1779. Britain gave the islands their independence in 1843. Then, fifty years later, a group of American businessmen ousted the ruler and founded the Republic of Hawaii. It became an American territory in 1900. That was three years after the United States set up a naval base at Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu, which served as the command base for American operations in the Pacific during World War Two. After the war, most Hawaiians required that Hawaii should be an independent state. In Congress , though, there was resistance from southern states because of Hawaii's non-white native population. But Congress passed the Hawaii Statehood Bill in 1959. Hawaiians accepted it, and on August 21st, President Eisenhower declared Hawaii the fiftieth state. The number of visitors to Hawaii in 2009 is expected to be about   _  .
5,984,000 6,664,000 6,800,000 6,936,000