Hawaii Fact 40 of 50: Hawaii’s Coastline
Posted on Tue, Aug 11, 2009 by Sheila
Earlier in our series of 50 Facts about the 50th State, we looked at how Hawaii’s total land mass compared to other states. We discovered that Hawaii is the fourth smallest state. In that discussion, Dave wondered how Hawaii stacked up to the other states in terms of combined coastline miles. Again, Hawaii fell into the fourth position, but this time of the other end of the spectrum. Hawaii has 750 miles of combined coastline. Only Alaska, Florida, and California have more miles of coastline. To see how other states rank, see this source.
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I am sure that since you just went to Alaska you know your map is not to scale! :>) Alaskans seem to be a little annoyed that we in the “lower 48″ don’t realize just how big they really are! What a great state they have, in many ways like Hawaii, remote, rugged, incredibly beautiful and something you need to experience for yourself. I was curious as well as to the coastline miles.
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@ Janet – Hehe…there was a t-shirt that I saw in Alaska that showed a map of Alaska with Texas easily fitting inside the borders of Alaska. The caption was, “Size Matters”
I really learned a lot about Alaska on this cruise. I didn’t realize how many islands it has.
As you mentioned, there are many similarities between Alaska and Hawaii. I couldn’t help but compare them while I was on the cruise. From what you’ve already mentioned, I’d add both have rainforests. That was a big surprise to me that Southeast Alaska is basically a giant rainforest (Tongass National Forest).
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Wow! – 750 miles of combined coastline! Only 90 miles less than California!
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Actually, if you are going to say “coastline” – and not specify ocean or lake, Hawaii would be 5th. Michigan has 3,288 miles and is second only to Alaska in total coastline (ocean+lake). If you are specifying ocean only, then you would be correct… but then I couldn’t nitpick.
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@ Dave – your comparison to California really puts into perspective how much combined coastline Hawaii has.
@ Alec – oh dear, if you like nitpicking, you’d probably have a field day here.
Oh and by the way, that’s an interesting observation to factor in lakes.
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there was a final jeopardy question that said hawaii had the longest coastline of all the states yet i can not find that fact anywhere on the internet. can anyone else verify or did you see that particular jeopardy show. thanks
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