Hawaii became the 50th and final state admitted to the United States.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Hawaii Admission Act on March 18, 1959. Hawaii formally joined the Union on August 21, 1959, after voters approved statehood in a referendum.
Hawaii is an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean. Its statehood followed Alaska's admission as the 49th state on January 3, 1959, creating the 50-star American flag used today.
The path to statehood followed decades of political change. Hawaii had been an independent kingdom, later a republic, and then a U.S. territory after annexation in 1898. The state consists of eight main islands, though its broader island chain contains many more islets and atolls.