Hawaii (Hawaiian/Hawaiian English: Hawai'i, with the 'okina; also, historically, the Sandwich Islands) (IPA: hawai'i) is located in the archipelago of the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Admitted on August 21, 1959, Hawai'i constitutes the 50th state of the United States and is situated 2,300 miles (3,700 km) from the mainland. The Hawaiian Archipelago comprises nineteen islands and atolls extending across a distance of 1,500 miles (2,400 km). Of these, eight high islands are considered the "main islands" and are located at the southeastern end of the archipelago. These islands are, in order from the northwest to southeast, Ni'ihau, Kaua'i, O'ahu, Moloka'i, Lāna'i, Kaho'olawe, Maui and the Island of Hawai'i.

The movement of the Hawaiian royal family from the Island of Hawai'i to Maui and subsequently to O'ahu explains why certain population centers exist where they do today. The largest city, Honolulu, was the one chosen by King Kamehameha III as the capital of his kingdom because of the natural harbor there, the present-day Honolulu Harbor.

The largest city is the capital, Honolulu, located along the southeast coast of the island of O'ahu. Other populous cities include Hilo, Kāne'ohe, Kailua, Pearl City, Kahului, Kailua-Kona, and Līhu'e.

Hawai'i is currently the only state in the union with a unified school system statewide. It is also the oldest public education system west of the Mississippi River. Policy decisions are made by the fourteen-member state Board of Education, with thirteen members elected for four-year terms and one non-voting student member. The Board of Education sets statewide educational policy and hires the state superintendent of schools, who oversees the operations of the state Department of Education. The Department of Education is also divided into seven districts, four on O'ahu and one for each of the other counties.

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