• The state of Hawaii consists of eight main islands: Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe and Hawaii. The state's capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu.

• Population: 1,288,198 permanent residents (2008 est.) with a de facto population of more than 1.3 million due to large military and tourist populations.

• Languages: English and Hawaiian, a Polynesian dialect. About 75 percent of residents over age 5 speak only English at home.

• Average summer temperature: 85 degrees

• Average winter temperature: 78 degrees

• Economy: Tourism has been the most significant industry since Hawaii became a state in 1959. Other industries include coffee, macadamia nuts, pineapple, livestock and sugarcane.

• Geography: An archipelago about 2,000 miles southwest of the North American mainland, Hawaii is the southernmost state of the United States. Undersea volcanoes erupted thousands of years ago to form the islands.

• Flora and fauna: Hawaii's isolation and range of environments such as extreme altitude and tropical climate support a vast array of plants and animals, but Hawaii has more endangered species and has lost a higher percentage of its native species than any other state.

• Hawaii is the nation's only state that is not geographically located in North America. The state grows coffee, is completely surrounded by water, is entirely an archipelago, has a royal palace and does not have a straight line in its state boundary.

From www.state.hi.us; www.wikipedia.org.