<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (March 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Coordinates: 21 ° 22 ′ 04" N 157 ° 58 ′ 38" W ﻿ / ﻿ 21.3679 ° N 157.9771 ° W ﻿ / 21.3679; - 157.9771 </P> <P> Pearl Harbor is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu . It has been long visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875 . Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is now a United States Navy deep - water naval base . It is also the headquarters of the United States Pacific Fleet . The U.S. government first obtained exclusive use of the inlet and the right to maintain a repair and coaling station for ships here in 1887 . The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on December 7, 1941, was the immediate cause of the United States' entry into World War II . </P> <P> Pearl Harbor was originally an extensive shallow embayment called Wai Momi (meaning, "Waters of Pearl") or Pu ʻuloa (meaning, "long hill") by the Hawaiians . Pu ʻuloa was regarded as the home of the shark goddess, Ka ʻahupahau, and her brother (or son), Kahi ʻuka, in Hawaiian legends . According to tradition, Keaunui, the head of the powerful Ewa chiefs, is credited with cutting a navigable channel near the present Pu ʻuloa saltworks, by which he made the estuary, known as "Pearl River," accessible to navigation . Making due allowance for legendary amplification, the estuary already had an outlet for its waters where the present gap is; but Keaunui is typically given the credit for widening and deepening it . </P>

Where is pearl harbor located on a map