Which ocean contains the Hawaiian Islands?

The Hawaiian Islands are in the Pacific Ocean, specifically the North Pacific.

This archipelago includes eight major volcanic islands, numerous smaller islands, atolls, reefs, and islets. It stretches roughly 1,500 miles from Hawaiʻi Island in the southeast to Kure Atoll in the northwest, making it part of Polynesia and Oceania.

The islands formed as the Pacific Plate moved northwest over a relatively fixed volcanic hotspot. Hawaiʻi Island is the youngest major island and remains volcanically active, while the northwestern islands are older and more deeply eroded. The chain is therefore also the exposed portion of the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain.

A common mix-up is confusing the Pacific Ocean with the surrounding region of Oceania. Hawaii is politically part of the United States, but geographically it lies far from the North American mainland. The islands were once called the Sandwich Islands, a name given by Captain James Cook in honor of the Earl of Sandwich.