Extreme points of the United States

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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.

[edit] 50 states

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

• Northernmost point — Point Barrow, Alaska (71°23'N)
• Northernmost town — Barrow, Alaska
• Southernmost point — Ka Lae, Hawaii (18°55'N)
• Southernmost town — Naalehu, Hawaii¹
• Easternmost point — Sail Rock, just offshore of West Quoddy Head, Maine (66°57'W)
• Easternmost town — Lubec, Maine
• Westernmost point — Peaked Island, offshore from Cape Wrangell, Attu Island, Alaska (172°26'E)
• Westernmost town — Adak Station, Alaska²
• Highest elevation point — Mount McKinley, Alaska (20,320 feet)
• Highest elevation town — Winter Park, Colorado (12,060 feet)
• Highest elevation city — Leadville, Colorado (10,152 ft)
• Lowest elevation point — Badwater Basin (Death Valley), California (-282 feet)
• Lowest elevation city — Calipatria, California (-184 feet)
• Most remote point — Ipnavik River, National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska, (68°45'N, 156°41'W) -- 120 miles from nearest habitation

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.

[edit] 48 contiguous states

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

• Northernmost point — Northwest Angle, Minnesota (49°23' 4.1"N)
• Northernmost town — Angle Township, Minnesota
• Southernmost point — Ballast Key, Florida ( 24°31′15″N, 81°57′49″W) - Several reefs and sandbars up to 7 km farther south are occasionally above water at low tide.
• Southernmost town — Key West, Florida
• Easternmost point — Sail Rock, just offshore of West Quoddy Head, Maine (66°57'W)
• Easternmost town — Lubec, Maine
• Westernmost point — Bodelteh Islands offshore from Cape Alava, Washington (124°46'W)
• Westernmost town — Ozette, Washington
• Highest elevation point — Mount Whitney, California (14,505 feet)
• Highest elevation town — Winter Park, Colorado (12,060 feet)
• Highest elevation city — Leadville, Colorado (10,152 ft)
• Lowest elevation point — Badwater Basin (Death Valley), California (-282 feet)
• Lowest elevation city — Calipatria, California (-184 feet)

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.

[edit] United States points on the North American continent

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

• Northernmost point — Point Barrow, Alaska (71°23'N)
• Southernmost point — Cape Sable, Florida (25°7'N)
• Easternmost point — West Quoddy Head, Maine (66°57'W)
• Westernmost point — Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska (168°7'W)

[edit] United States including territories and insular areas

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.

• Northernmost point — Point Barrow, Alaska (71°23'N)
• Southernmost point — Rose Atoll, American Samoa (14°34'S)
• Easternmost point — Point Udall, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands (64°34'W)
• Westernmost point — Udall Point, Guam ( 13°26′51″N, 144°37′5.5″E)

[edit] United States including territories and insular areas by longitude

• Easternmost point — Pochnoi Point, Semisopochnoi Island, Alaska(179°46'E)
• Westernmost point — Amatignak Island, Alaska (179°6'W)

[edit] United States including territories and insular areas by International Date Line

• Easternmost Point — Wilkes Island, in the Wake Island atoll (166°36'E)
• Westernmost Point — Peaked Island, offshore from Cape Wrangell, Attu Island, Alaska (172°26'E)

[edit] Interpretation of "easternmost" and "westernmost"

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.

[edit] Footnotes

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).

[edit] See also

• Geography of the United States
• Extreme points of the world
• Extreme points of North America
• Extreme points of the Americas
• Extreme points of New England
• Extreme points of U.S. states (each state's extreme points)
• Geographic centers of the United States

[edit] External links

• Text of congressional resolution designating Udall Point, Guam
• Map of Orote Point, Guam, now Point Udall
• Map of Ballast Key, FL
• Detailed US coastline maps