View Semisopochnoi Island in a larger map. Most crucially for geography nerds, the easternmost point of Semisopochnoi Island sits less than ten miles west of the degree meridian that separates the Western Hemisphere from the Eastern Hemisphere.
Alaska is clearly not east relative to the rest of the continent. You might argue that we should use the International Date Line which zigzags to accommodate the Aleutians and not the th meridian to define the boundaries between east and west. Generally speaking though, people consider Maine to be the easternmost part of the United States for the sake of creating less confusion. Saying that the United States stretches from Alaska in the west to Alaska in the east might cause heads to turn.
On a map, Alaska is located at the coordinates of Alaska is both the northernmost and westernmost state in all of the U. As a result, not only does Alaska have its own northernmost and westernmost points, but it also comprises the most northern and western tips of the entire United States. Where is Alaska?
Location of Alaska in the United States. Elevation of Alaska On average, Alaska is approximately 1, feet above sea level. Census Region. In human geography the examples include centuries of dispersal of Inupiat and Athabaskan peoples. At that same time an oil pipeline was completed to Alaska; however, it linked only the Northwest Territories Norman Wells , the Yukon Territory, and Alaska.
The line did not link to the main distribution lines of North America. Yet, today, discussions for future linkages of Alaska with the rest of North America include a railroad and a natural gas pipeline. United States. Since , of course, Alaska has been part of the United States, and since , it has been a state within the United States.
Alaska accounts for 17 percent of the total U. Along with Canada, the U. We have looked at Alaska relative to other places and regions. But within Alaska we can see how a relative location perspective can be very helpful. Imagine you are a high school student from California attending a meeting or a sporting event with students from other areas of the western states. You happen to sit at a table for dinner with students from Barrow, Fairbanks, and Ketchikan.
You might be inclined to ask if the three students were, in fact, from the same state. The shear size and distances between places account for the great differences between places. Additionally, there are great environmental differences between these areas that are separated by mountain ranges and 15 degrees of latitude.
Air travel. While large, the distances are reduced if one thinks of air miles by plane. Anchorage is just over an hour and a half from Juneau. Nome is just over an hour from Anchorage by air. Adak is over 4 hours from Anchorage by air. However, when one considers weather delays, the times could be greatly extended. Travel between Anchorage and Unalaska is sometimes delayed for days because of weather. Since Alaska has few roads, the sense of remoteness is often amplified. This is especially true in much of the rural portion of the state where there are no roads connecting to the main Alaska Highway grid Figure L.
The capital, Juneau, is inaccessible by road, unless, of course, one includes the Alaska Marine Highway. Even then, one has to travel to Canada in order to enter the Southeastern Panhandle region of the state. Center points Figure L. If we were to cut out a map of Alaska from a piece of paper and balance the map on the point of a pencil, we would have found the center point of the physical structure of the state.
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