iliff.co.uk | Over half of US states lie wholly or partially north of Middle Island, the
southern extremity of Canada c/o Bur Davis, Adam Quinan & Robert Allison |
Middle Island: 41·7N Wholly north: Alaska, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, Wisonsin (Σ=13) Partially north: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Wyoming (Σ=14) |
| Only one country spans all four hemispheres: Republic of Kiribati | N: Teraina 4·7N E: Caroline Island 150·2W S: Flint Island 11·4S W: Banaba 169·5E |
| Travelling south from Detroit the first international border is with
Canada c/o Larry Finch & Adam Quinan (separately) |
Detroit MI, USA: 42·33N, 83·05W border: 42·32N, 83·05W |
| The countries bordering the most other countries are China and
Russia (14 each) (Maybe not so surprising) |
China: Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia,
Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Vietnam Russia: Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, North Korea, Norway, Poland, Ukraine |
| The countries with the most borders are Belgium (39) and
Netherlands (33) (Admit it: this one is surprising!) |
The Belgium/Netherlands border is only 450 km long, but is made up of 31 discrete borders because it includes the town of Baarle, which contains 30 distinct enclaves and counter-enclaves |
| Everest is south of Delhi | New Delhi, India: 28·5N Mount Everest, Nepal/China: 28·0N |
| You can travel half way round the world without leaving the Pacific | off Arica, Chile: 72W, 18S off Huế, Vietnam: 108E, 18N |
| Australia is wider than the Moon | Australia width: ≈4,000 km Moon diameter: 3,746 km |
| The Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal is west of the Pacific entrance | Atlantic entrance: 79·92W Pacific entrance: 79·56W |
| The tip of Antarctica is closer to the equator than Reykjavik is | North tip Antarctic Peninsula: 63·2S Reykjavik, Iceland: 64·1N |
| Bordeaux is north of Toronto | Bordeaux, France: 44·9N Toronto, Canada: 43·8N |
| Anchorage is closer to Reykjavik than to Atlanta, and closer to Tokyo than to Halifax | Anchorage AK, USA ⇌ : Reykjavik, Iceland: 5,442 km Atlanta GA, USA: 5,484 km Tokyo, Japan: 5,575 km Halifax NS, Canada: 5,617 km |
| Edinburgh is west of Cardiff | Edinburgh, Scotland: 3·19W Cardiff, Wales: 3·17W |
| Cape Town is closer to Perth than to Delhi | Cape Town, South Africa ⇌ : Perth, Australia: 8,723 km New Delhi, India: 9,287 km |
| Crete is south of Algiers | Heraklion, Crete, Greece: 35·3N Algiers, Algeria: 36·7N |
| Marseille is east of Bergen | Marseille, France: 5·37E Bergen, Norway: 5·33E |
| The nearest railway station to Shetland is in Norway | Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland ⇌ : Wick or Thurso (nearest stations in Scotland): 220 km Bergen, Norway: 200 km |
| South America is east of Tampa | Western extreme of continental South America: 81·2W Tampa, Florida, USA: 82·5W |
| Oslo is closer to Paris than to the northern tip of Norway | Oslo, Norway ⇌ : Paris, France: 1,344 km North Cape, Norway: 1,422 km |
| Hawaii is south of Cuba | Honolulu, Hawaii: 21·3N Havana, Cuba: 23·1N |
| The most northerly, easterly & westerly points in the USA are all in the same state | Point Barrow AK: 71·4N Tanaga Island AK: 177·9W Semisopochnoi Island AK: 179·6E |
| Greenland extends beyond Iceland in all four directions c/o Andy the Viking |
Limits N | E | S | W: Greenland: 83·7N|11·3W|60·1N|73·1W Iceland: 67·1N|13·6W|63·3N|24·5W |
