Extreme and mean altitudes in the United States-Continued

Below sea level.

MOUNT EVEREST, HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS
The highest point on earth; altitude, 29,141 feet. View from a pass 40 miles distant. (Photograph copyrighted by the New York Times Co.)

In order to compare the altitudes in the United States with those in other continents the following list is given, but many of the figures are only approximate:

Extremes of altitude in principal continents

For a dis

• This altitude is based on a recent computation of the old observations and of six new ones. cussion of this altitude see Howard-Bury, C. K., Mount Everest reconnaissance, 1921, pp. 10-12, New York and London, Longmans, Green & Co., 1922.

• Approximate latitude 29° 22′ N., longitude 26° 41′ E.

The greatest ocean depth thus far discovered is about 100 miles east of the north end of the island of Mindanao, in the Philippine Islands, where a depth of 35,400 feet was found by echo soundings.

THE UNITED STATES AND ITS POSSESSIONS

The limiting latitudes and longitudes of the mainland of the United States, exclusive of Alaska, are as follows:

Cape Sable, Fla., is in latitude 25° 07', longitude 81° 05'. The extreme south point of Texas is in latitude 25° 50′, longitude 97° 24′. The Lake of the Woods projection extends to latitude 49° 23′ 04.5", at longitude 95° 09′ 11.6". The easternmost land is West Quoddy Head, near Eastport, Me., in longitude 66° 57', latitude 44° 49'. Cape Alava, Wash., extends into the Pacific Ocean to longitude 124° 44', latitude 48° 10′.

From the south point of Texas due north to the 49th parallel the distance is 1,598 miles. From West Quoddy Head west along the parallel to the Pacific Ocean the distance is 2,807 miles. These distances are computed to mean sea level.

The length of the Mexican boundary from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean is approximately 2,013 miles. The length of the northern boundary, excluding Alaska but including the water boundary through the Great Lakes, is 3,987 miles.

The lengths of the tidal coast lines of the mainland of continental United States (measured in steps of 1 mile) are: Atlantic Ocean,

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5,565 miles; Gulf of Mexico, 3,641 miles; Pacific Ocean, 2,730 miles; total, 11,936 miles, which, added to the Canadian and Mexican boundary lines, gives a grand total of 17,936 miles for the entire boundary.

The shore line of the international waters, the St. Lawrence to Lake Superior, is approximately 3,041 miles.

The total area within these limits (exclusive of the water area of the Great Lakes) is 3,026,789 square miles. The average area of the 48 States is 63,057 miles, or nearly the same as the combined areas of New York, Masachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

The highest point of land within the States is Mount Whitney14,496 feet above sea level. The lowest point of dry land is in Death Valley-276 feet below sea level. These two points, both in California, are but 86 miles apart. (See pl. 7.)

The mean altitude of the 48 States is approximately 2,500 feet above sea level.

The geographic center of continental United States is in the eastern part of Smith County, Kans.

The two points farthest apart in the United States are Cape Flattery, Wash., and a point on the Florida coast south of Miami, 2,835 miles apart.

The United States covers an area of about four and one-quarter times the combined area of all its outlying possessions, Alaska, Hawaii, etc. (See fig. 6.)

It is estimated that the total length of coast line of the United States and of all its island possessions is nearly 50,000 miles.

The United States land farthest south is Rose Islet of the Samoan group-almost exactly 1,000 miles south of the Equator.10 Point Barrow (latitude 71° 24′), the extreme north point of Alaska, is nearly 5,000 miles north of the Equator. (See pl. 8.) Alaska with its islands extends from 130° west past the 180° line to 1722° east, or 572° of longitude. The difference in time (3 hours 50 minutes) between these two extremes is greater than that between New York and San Francisco.

The highest point in North America is Mount McKinley, in Alaska, 20,300 feet above sea level. (See pl. 1.)

The geographic center of North America is in North Dakota, a few miles west of Devils Lake.

10 Claims that may be based upon the Byrd explorations and discoveries of 1929-30 in the Antarctic region may alter this statement.