Extreme points of the United States

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of the extreme points of the United States, the points that are farther north, south, east, or west than any other location in the country. Also included are extreme points in elevation.

It should be noted that there are different meanings for "easternmost" and "westernmost". See bottom of page for explanation.

Contents

50 states — Map of the U.S., with dots showing where the extreme points/towns are
50 states — Map of the U.S., with dots showing where the extreme points/towns are

The geographic center of the 50 states is located approximately (20 mi) north of Belle Fourche, South Dakota, at 44°58′N, 103°46′W.

Map of the contiguous 48 states (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) — dots show where the extreme points/towns are
Map of the contiguous 48 states (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) — dots show where the extreme points/towns are


The geographic center of the 48 contiguous states is located approximately 6 km (4 mi) west of Lebanon, Kansas, at 39°50′N, 98°35′W.

Map of the U.S., with dots showing where the extreme points/towns on the mainland of North America are
Map of the U.S., with dots showing where the extreme points/towns on the mainland of North America are







Including territories and insular areas — Map of the world, with red dots showing the extreme points, green squares showing the points that do not respect the IDL, and yellow line showing where the IDL is.
Including territories and insular areas — Map of the world, with red dots showing the extreme points, green squares showing the points that do not respect the IDL, and yellow line showing where the IDL is.

There are several methods for determining the location of the eastern and western extremes of the United States.

The common sense reckoning of the terms is by longitude, relative to the geographic center of the country.

But, by cartographical convention, the Prime Meridian running through Greenwich, England is the least eastern and least western place in the world. It is defined as 0 degrees longitude. The 180th meridian, on the opposite side of the globe represents the absolute limit of how far east or west one can travel, from a cartographical perspective. Anything exactly on the 180th meridian is neither east nor west; but take a single step to either side and one is at 179+ degrees east or 179+ degrees west, the highest achievable numbers. By this mode of reckoning, the most eastern and western spots in the US are both in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska.

However, if one takes the view that the easternmost place is where the day first begins, and the westernmost is where the day last ends, then the International Date Line is the defining limit for what is most eastern or western. In a new year, the earliest US sunrise takes place on Wake Island. Less than an hour earlier, the sun also rose over Attu Island, Alaska but for the day before.

On the other hand, if one defines what is most eastern and most western by which direction one must travel to reach a given point over the shortest distance, then Point Udall, Virgin Islands, and Udall Point, Guam, are the easternmost and westernmost points, respectively. While the world is round, and any point can be reached by traveling either east or west, it is always more direct to head east to reach Point Udall, VI, when traveling from any other spot in the U.S. Likewise, there is not a single point in the United States from which heading east is a shorter route to Udall Point, Guam, than heading west would be, even accounting for circumpolar routes. This holds true because all U.S. territory is spread across less than 180 degrees of longitude.

1 Location is a census-designated place.

2 Adak Station is the westernmost major town with a population of 316 (as of 2000). Attu Station, Alaska is farther west, but it only has a population of 20 (as of 2000).


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