# Is Hawaii considered part of North America? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 30, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544 "2003-05-30T15:19:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544/21 "2016-08-19T20:44:27Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Nit-pickers! > > Hawaii is part of the US, and the US is definitely part of North America. Ergo, Hawaii is politically part of North America. In any kind of summary statistics related to population, economy, etc., of world regions it will be lumped with “North America.” Which is what I was trying to get at. 13 years later Most of the US is part of North America. Think of Russia, it’s part of Asia, and it’s part of Europe. the European parts of Russia are not part of Asia, however. Hawaii in not part of North America. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544/22 "2016-08-19T20:50:53Z")
> [@Tsubaki](#): > > So, if I was to send some mail to Hawaii from Japan, would the cost be the same as the US, or Oceania?? Yes. When sending a letter, you pay the usual 1st Class postage in the mailing location, and it gets delivered to the addressee’s location. International Postal Treaties control how the various postal services credit/debit each other to make this work out financially. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544/23 "2016-08-19T20:56:41Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > So you’re saying Iceland belongs to the European Union (EU). Is that so? > > Let me just take a moment for a bit of fact checking here… > > Dude, I’ve got some bad news for you. Iceland is _not_ politically part of Europe. > [http://europa.eu.int/abc/eu\_members/index\_en.htm](http://europa.eu.int/abc/eu_members/index_en.htm) > (If you’d said “culturally,” I’d have let it slide.) Do you think Switzerland is part of Europe? ---
**Author:** ![socoman9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5e9695/32.png) [@socoman9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/socoman9)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544/24 "2016-08-19T20:57:50Z")
All of these theories are hogwash. There is only one definitive answer. What color is it on a Risk game board? Iceland is Blue. Blue is Europe. Ergo Iceland is part of Europe. Same analysis for Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544/25 "2016-08-19T21:02:00Z")
Hawaii is part of Asia. We have that from [the most authoritative source.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9hPXHD4WH0) ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544/26 "2016-08-20T02:11:46Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > Do you think Switzerland is part of Europe? How about Norway? ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544/27 "2016-08-20T10:07:14Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Yes. > > When sending a letter, you pay the usual 1st Class postage in the mailing location, and it gets delivered to the addressee’s location. International Postal Treaties control how the various postal services credit/debit each other to make this work out financially. US post connects all 50 states and DC with the flat rates. There is another much higher rate for international post, so that just mailing it to a country near Hawaii will cost more than sending the same item to California. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544/28 "2016-08-20T10:21:34Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > US post connects all 50 states and DC with the flat rates. > > There is another much higher rate for international post, so that just mailing it to a **country near Hawaii** will cost more than sending the same item to California. Which country would that be then? Tahiti (2,600 miles), Kiribati (1250 miles) or Japan (4000 miles)? ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544/29 "2016-08-20T14:05:14Z")
Using a [Hawai’ian postage stamp](http://www.africastamps.org/images/Hawaii_Stamps/stamp_collecting_missionary.jpg) would be expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544/30 "2016-08-20T14:16:40Z")
If we’re using the transitive argument, then it’s equally valid to say that French Guiana is part of Europe, since it’s part of France, and France is part of Europe. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544/31 "2016-08-20T14:19:41Z")
Also, what about the English, French, and Dutch islands in the Caribbean? Are they in Europe or North America? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544/32 "2016-08-20T14:30:11Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Trinidad is geologically and biologically part of South America, but politically it is usually grouped with the Caribbean. > [@JillGat](#): > > Not only is Trinidad considered part of the Caribbean I’ve never heard the Caribbean referred to as a continent. I’ve only heard of the Caribbean Sea. Trinidad and Tobago are islands in the Caribbean Sea, and Belize is on the Caribbean Sea and does not touch the Pacific Ocean. So it makes sense that Belize is considered ‘part of the Caribbean’. Guyana and Suriname are on the Atlantic Ocean. If you consider the boundaries of the Caribbean Sea to extend from Cuba, clockwise along the leeward islands to Trinidad and Tobago, to the Venezuelan border, then Guyana and Suriname are not part of it. I’d consider them Atlantic countries. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544/33 "2016-08-20T15:39:54Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > The EU does not have exclusive rights to the word “Europe”. Iceland is part of the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) and the European Economic Area (EEA). It is also a signatory to a metric buttload of European treaties. That puts it with Europe, politically. I’m pretty sure Israel is a member of any number of European-politically delimited organizations, what with international politics and all. Israel is particularly malleable politically, what with international politics and all, and winds up on nominal South East Asian ones too, when they’re around. Anything but “Mideast.” (Which used to be near-East anyway, I think. Both of course a political thought of the West.) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544/34 "2016-08-20T18:42:34Z")
I thought that for mid - 19th century imperialists, the Near East was the Balkans? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544/35 "2016-08-21T02:30:48Z")
Yes, according to the Wiki, for a certain time and type of 19th century Imperialists (Ottomans were no slouch in the I business). The Wiki: In the last years of the 19th century the term “Near East” acquired considerable disrepute in eyes of the English-speaking public as did the Ottoman Empire itself. The cause of the onus was the Hamidian Massacres of Armenians because they were Christians, but it seemed to spill over into the protracted conflicts of the Balkans. For a time, “Near East” meant primarily the Balkans. Robert Hichens’ book The Near East (1913) is subtitled Dalmatia, Greece and Constantinople. But, according to the opening of same article, for reasons I’m too tired to disentangle, and it’s a little boring, but after all I did bring it up it up… Near East (French: Proche-Orient) is a geographical term that roughly encompasses Western Asia. Despite having varying definitions within different academic circles, the term was originally applied to the maximum extent of the Ottoman Empire. The term has fallen into disuse in English and has been replaced by the term Middle East. According to the National Geographic Society, the terms Near East and Middle East denote the same territories and are “generally accepted as comprising the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Syria, and Turkey”.[1] The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations defines the region similarly, but also includes Afghanistan while excluding the countries of North Africa and the Palestinian territories.[2] > **[Near East](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_East)** > > The Near East\[a\] is a transcontinental region around the East Mediterranean encompassing Western Asia, Southeastern Europe and North Africa, including the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, East Thrace and Egypt. The term was originally applied to the Ottoman Empire, but today has varying definitions within different academic circles. > According to National Geographic, the terms Near East and Middle East denote the same territories and are "generally accepted as comprising the cou... ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544/36 "2016-08-21T23:23:26Z")
> [@Nadnerb](#): > > Will culturally Hawaii is at the crossroads of Polynesia and North America. Geographically, Hawaii is in North America but not on the North American mainland. Just like Japan is in Asia, but not the Asian mainland. Politically Hawaii is definitely in North America since it is part of the United States. But ultimately Hawaii is a the crossroads of Polynesia and North America. Hawaii is not part of North America. It is the upper point in what’s called the Polynesian Triangle. Being part of the US does not make it part of North America any more than having Hawaii makes the US a Polynesian country. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hawaii-considered-part-of-north-america/178544.md?page=1)