On the island of Hawaii, Punaluu is famous for its black sand beach.

The state of Hawaii is officially changing the name of the largest island in the archipelago from Island of Hawaii to simply Hawaii. The Hawaii Board on Geographic Names approved the name change at a meeting in December to align it with the naming conventions of the other islands, such as Oahu, Maui and Kauai.

“Island of Hawaii was the official name for many years, but was inconsistent with the rest of the islands within the state. The name change to Hawaii is an affirmation of the proper name for the island, removing the descriptive words previously used to distinguish it in legal documents,” Marques Marzan told SFGATE in an email. He is a member of the volunteer board and a cultural adviser at Honolulu’s Bishop Museum.

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The move immediately changes how the island is referred to in documents and on maps across all state government agencies, including the Hawaii Tourism Authority, which manages the Islands’ tourism and marketing. The U.S. Board on........

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