<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Released in 2008 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Lists of United States state symbols </Td> </Tr> <P> Hawaii (/ həˈwaɪ. i / (listen) hə - WY - ee; Hawaiian: Hawai ʻi (həˈvɐjʔi)) is the 50th and most recent state to have joined the United States, having received statehood on August 21, 1959 . Hawaii is the only U.S. state located in Oceania and the only one composed entirely of islands . It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean . Hawaii is the only U.S. state located outside North America . </P> <P> The state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian archipelago, which comprises hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles (2,400 km). At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight main islands are--in order from northwest to southeast: Ni ʻihau, Kaua ʻi, Oʻahu, Moloka ʻi, Lāna ʻi, Kaho ʻolawe, Maui, and the Island of Hawai ʻi . The last is the largest island in the group; it is often called the "Big Island" or "Hawai ʻi Island" to avoid confusion with the state or archipelago . The archipelago is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania . </P>

When did hawaii become a state of the united states
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