Hawaii was admitted to the Union on August 21, 1959 and elects U.S. Senators to Classes 1 and 3. Seven people including only one Republican have served as a U.S. Senator from Hawaii. The state's current U.S. Senators are Democrats Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono. Hawaii's Class 1 seat is the only in the United States that has always been held by an ethnic minority.[ citation needed ]
Hawaii is the 50th and most recent state to have joined the Union, having received statehood on August 21, 1959. Hawaii is the only U.S. state geographically located in Oceania, although it is governed as a part of North America, 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.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city is New York City. Most of the country is located contiguously in North America between Canada and Mexico.
