Hawaii

Coordinates: 21deg30’N 158deg00’W / 22.5%N 158.0degW/ 21.5; -158.0(State of Hawaii).

Hawaii ( [email protected]; Hawaiian: Hawai`i [[email protected]’vaj?i] or [[email protected]’waj?i]) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about 2,000 miles from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. State that is not in North America, the only archipelago state, and the only one in the tropics.

Nearly the entire Hawaiian archipelago is comprised of 137 volcanic islands that stretch 1,500 miles (2.400 km). They are physiographically as well as ethnologically part the Polynesian Subregion of Oceania. The state’s ocean coastline is consequently the fourth longest in the U.S., at about 750 miles (1,210 km). The eight main islands, from northwest to southeast, are Ni`ihau, Kaua`i, O`ahu, Moloka`i, Lana`i, Kaho`olawe, Maui, and Hawai`i, after which the state is named; it is often called the “Big Island” or “Hawaii Island” to avoid confusion with the state or archipelago. The uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands make up most of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, the nation’s largest protected area and the third largest in the world.