Posted by Name each US state that is the farthest East, West, North, and South.
Answers after the jump…
Most people get at least one of these wrong.
East: Alaska
West: Alaska
North: Alaska
South: Hawaii
Let’s check the map
Many people miss the state that is the farthest East (Maine is #2). See the jagged international date line – the line darts west to accommodate Alaska, but the 180th meridian still splits up Alaska into east and west hemispheres, making it both the farthest east and west. Sometimes people think Hawaii is farthest west. If you missed the answers for north and south, shame on you.
If you find these types of geography questions interesting, check out Tom Vanderbilt’s piece in Slate, which examines the causes of many of our geographic misconceptions.
- People will mentally lengthen short commutes and shorten long commutes
- The more frequently we traverse a route, the longer it seems