Where in the World is Hawaii

Consisting of 137 volcanic islands that make up much of the Hawaiian archipelago—save for Midway Atoll—the U.S. state of Hawaii comprises nearly 11,000 square miles of land mass, while being physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania. Of the state’s most populated islands, including kauai, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii or the “Big Island,” of the state’s 1.4 million residents, two-thirds live on Oahu, home to the states capital and largest city, Honolulu.

Massive Uninhabited Land Mass

In addition to Hawaii’s population centers, the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands make up most of the Papahanaumokaukea Marine National Monument, the largest protected geography in the U.S. and the fourth largest in the world. Settled by Polynesians some 800 to 1,000 years ago, after European explorers such as Britain’s James Cook arrived into the islands, native Hawaiian populations declined precipitously due to foreign infectious diseases such as smallpox, tuberculosis, syphilis and measles, reducing native populations by 90% by 1890.

A Melting Pot

The eleventh least populated state in the nation, ranking thirteenth in population density, however, over several centuries of Pacific migration, Hawaii is now considered a majority-minority state due to its multiracial population, making her the ninth largest Asian American population base in the country, as well as the largest Buddhist community in the U.S., providing visitors and locals alike with a unique collision of American, indigenous Hawaiian and East Asian cultures. With a long history of plantation economy dominance, the state’s fertile soil and tropical climate makes Hawaii a major agricultural exporter, while the economy diversified by the mid-20th century to include tourism, which now makes up a whopping 21% of the state’s economy.

Strategic Naval Base

Home to the United States’ Pacific Fleet, the world’s largest naval command that employs some 75,000 Defense Department personnel, American military defense spending infused an additional 8.3% of the state’s gross domestic product in 2021. Due to Hawaii’s relative geographic isolation—some 2,400 miles from the U.S. mainland—the state’s high cost of living secures Hawaii as the third wealthiest state in the United States, making Hawaii, a remote slice of paradise in the vast expanse of Oceania.