Hawaii (Austria and others)

Hawaii (Hawaiian:Hawaiʻi), officially the Kingdom of Hawaii (Hawaiian:Aupuni Mōʻī o Hawaiʻi) is a country located in Oceania. It occupies most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States and Mexico, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. Hawaii’s natural beauty, warm tropical climate, inviting waters and waves, and active volcanoes make it a popular destination for tourists, surfers, biologists, and volcanologists alike. Due to its mid-Pacific location, Hawaii has many North American and Asian influences along with its own vibrant native culture. Hawaii has over a 200,000 permanent residents along with many visitors. Its capital is Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu.

Hawaii is one of four teritories that were independent prior to becoming part of the United States, along with the Vermont Republic (1791), the Republic of Texas (1845), and the California Republic (1846), and one of two (Texas was the other) with formal diplomatic recognition internationally. The Kingdom of Hawaii was sovereign from 1810 until 1893 when the monarchy was overthrown by resident American (and some European) businessmen. It was an independent republic from 1894 until 1898, when it was annexed by the United States as a territory, regaining independence again in 1917, after the Mexican victory in the Second Mexican-American War.the monarchy was restored in 1920.

The country encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian Island chain, 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 (from the northwest to southeast) Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and Hawaiʻi. The last is by far the largest and is often called "The Big Island" to avoid confusion with the country as a whole. The archipelago is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania.