1. Hawaii is the only American state which is not in the North American continent

Hawaii is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about 2,000 miles from the U.S. mainland.

Geographically, Hawaii is considered to be located in Oceania.

 

2. Hawaii is one of only 2 US States not connected by land to another state

Because Hawaii is an Island it doesn’t border any other states. The only other state that this is true of is…..can you guess? ALASKA!

3. Hawaii is made from volcanoes

Hawaii is actually made from volcanoes – how cool, or actually very hot, is that?!

The Hawaiian Islands began to form more than 30 million years ago. Each island is made of one or more volcanoes, which first erupted on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and emerged as islands above sea level only after countless eruptions.

As the magma cooled it formed hard rock which overtime created an island.

4. Hawaii still has active volcanoes which are making some islands still grow

Because the volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kīlauea are still active volcanoes, Hawaii is growing by 42 acres a year.

Hawaii has five main volcanoes that are considered active. Four of these active volcanoes are located on Big Island. They include Kilauea, Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, and Hualalai. The other is located on Maui and it is Mount Haleakala.

Find out more about volcanoes here.

5. Astronauts have trained on Hawaii’s volcanoes

Mauna Loa’s lava fields were once a training site for astronauts before they went to the moon.

Because the island’s volcanic terrain matches that of the moon it makes a great place on Earth for astronauts to train. Apollo 15 Commander Dave Scott and lunar module pilot Jim Irwin trained on Hawaii’s Big Island in December, 1970

6. Hawaii is home to lots of incredible wildlife

In the sea around Hawaii you’ll find humpback whales, dolphins, and the endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal. Hawaii is also home to a species of green sea turtle only found in Hawaii and forest birds which are found nowhere else on earth.

Lots of the animals are endangered though so it is important we protect them.

7. Jurassic Park was filmed in Hawaii

Jurassic Park was mostly filmed on Kauai, the smallest of the four major islands of Hawaii.

8. On the island of Kauai it’s illegal for a building to be taller than a palm tree

That’s not the only unusual thing about Kauai – there are no cities and no chain restaurants like McDonalds or KFC.

9. The Word Hawaii means ‘Place of the Gods’

The word ‘Hawaii’ comes from the Proto-Polynesian ‘Hawaiki’, which means ‘Place of the Gods’ or ‘Homeland’.

10. Lilo and Stitch is set in Hawaii

No other animated feature had ever taken place on any of the Hawaiian islands before.