The Koolau Mountains rise north of the main urban area of Honolulu, and the Waianae Mountains are west of this area. Downtown Honolulu, which lies next to Honolulu Harbor, has many office and apartment buildings. Government buildings in the downtown area include City Hall and the Hawaii State Capitol. Iolani Palace, the former capitol and once the royal palace of Hawaiian monarchs, stands across a walkway from the new capitol. The governor of Hawaii lives in Washington Place, a home of Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii's last monarch.
Factories occupy districts west of downtown Honolulu.
The Ala Moana Center, a shopping area with about 180 stores, and Waikiki, a famous coastal resort section, lie east of the downtown district. Residential communities have grown up throughout Honolulu. The largest communities include Aiea, Kailua, Kaneohe, Pearl City, and Waipahu. About a fourth of Honolulu's people have Japanese ancestry, and about another fourth of the people are white. About a fifth of the people in Honolulu are Hawaiian or part Hawaiian.