Hawaii is a U.S. state located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the only state outside North America, the only island state, and the only state in the tropics. Hawaii is also one of a handful of U.S. states to have once been an independent nation. Hawaii encompasses nearly the entire Hawaiian archipelago, comprised of 137 volcanic islands spanning 1,500 miles (2,400 km).

Rhode Island, officially the State of Rhode Island is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh least populous (1,059,361 as of 2019), but it is also the second most densely populated behind New Jersey. The state has land borders with Connecticut to the west, Massachusetts to the north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound. It also shares a small maritime border with New York.