The State of Hawaii ( or ; Hawaiian: Moku āina o Hawai i) is a state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August 21, 1959, making it the 50th state. Its capital is Honolulu on the island of Oahu. The most recent census puts the state's population at 1,283,388.

This state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian Island chain, which is made up of hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles (2,400 km). At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight "main islands" are (from the northwest to southeast) Ni ihau, Kaua i, O ahu, Moloka i, Lāna i, Kaho olawe, Maui, and Hawai i. The last is by far the largest, and is often called the "Big Island" or "Big Isle" to avoid confusion with the state as a whole. This archipelago is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania.

In standard American English, Hawaii is generally . In the Hawaiian language, it is generally or 1.

Etymology

The Hawaiian language word Hawai i derives from Proto-Polynesian *Sawaiki, with the reconstructed meaning "homeland"; cognate words are found in other Polynesian languages, including Māori (Hawaiki), Rarotongan ( Avaiki), and Samoan (Savai i). (See also Hawaiki).

According to Pukui and Elbert (1986:62) "Elsewhere in Polynesia, Hawai i or a cognate is the name of the underworld or of the ancestral home, but in Hawai i the name has no meaning; see Pukui, Elbert, and Mookini, 1974." (emphasis added)

Geography

main: Geography of Hawaii

Topography

Hawaii is the only state of the United States that

• is not geographically located in North America

• is completely surrounded by water
• has a royal palace
• does not have a straight line in its state boundary
• continuously grows in area (due to currently active lava flows, most notably from Kilauea (Kīlauea).)

Hawaii's tallest mountain, Mauna Kea stands at but is taller than Mount Everest if followed to the base of the mountain—from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, rising 33,476 feet (10,203 m).

All of the Hawaiian islands were formed by volcanos erupting from the sea floor from a magma source described in geological theory as a hotspot. The theory maintains that as the tectonic plate beneath much of the Pacific Ocean moves in a northwesterly direction, the hot spot remains stationary, slowly creating new volcanoes. This explains why only volcanoes on the southern half of the Big Island, and the Loihi Seamount (Lō ihi) deep below the waters off its southern coast, are presently active, with Loihi being the newest volcano to form.