Hawaii
Hawaii is a U.S. state located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the only state outside North America, the only island state, and the only state in the tropics. Hawaii is also one of a few U.S. states to have once been an independent nation.Hawaii encompasses nearly the entire Hawaiian archipelago, composed of 137 volcanic islands spanning 1,500 miles, which are physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania. The state's... Show more ocean coastline is consequently the fourth longest in the U.S., at about 750 miles. The eight main islands, from northwest to southeast, are Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and Hawaiʻi, 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 Papahānaumokuākea Marine National...