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geographic facts

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onelovedread:
What are some in geographic facts your neck of the woods or your country that you find odd, unexpected, or just plain interesting? Here are some crazy ones in the United States.

1. Cairo, IL is closer to Birmingham, AL than it is to Chicago, and equidistant from Little Rock, AR as it is from Indianapolis.

2. Amarillo, TX is closer to Denver than it is to Austin, and closer to Cheyenne, WY than it is to Houston.

3. El Paso, TX is closer to San Diego than it is to Houston.

4. Across the southern United States, everything from Pecos, TX to Dothan, AL is located in the Central Time Zone.

5. Though South Carolina barely has any mountains, its highest point is higher than the highest point in Pennsylvania.

6. From its westernmost point to its easternmost point, North Carolina is over 500 miles long.

7. The Las Vegas metropolitan area is only served by one Interstate, not counting local spur routes. The Austin metropolitan area is only served by one Interstate, period.

8. New York and Philadelphia have no direct Interstate connection (yet).

9. The distance between the summit of Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States, and Badwater Basin in Death Valley, the lowest point in North America, is only 86 miles.

10. The northern border of Missouri is located at roughly the same latitude as Pittsburgh, while the southern border of the Missouri bootheel is located at roughly the same latitude as Raleigh, NC.

11) Both Rome Italy and Istanbul Turkey sit due north latitudinally of Pittsburgh

12) London, England and Calgary, Canada are at similar latitudes.

13) There is a part of Kentucky that can not be reached by land except from another state (caused to ground sinking during a major earthquake.)

14)The western tip of Virginia is west of Detroit.

15) Reno, Nevada is further west than Los Angeles.

16) It's further from one end of Tennessee to the other than it is from Tennessee to Canada.

17) The Panama Canal is east of Miami.

18) If you go straight south from Buffalo, you'll eventually end up in the Pacific Ocean.

19) The southernmost tip of Canada lies south of a part of Ohio - and 25 other states.

20) There is a portion of Washington state that no one can drive to except by leaving the US, entering Canada, and re-entering the US.

21) Kalawao County, Hawaii, population 90, admits no new residents, and a special permit is required to visit. It is the second-least populous of any county in the US. (the least populous being Loving County, TX,) and was once used as a quarantine for people with Leprosy.

It would be nice if you geography fans could add some more facts to these from your side of the world.

Dave in Tenn:
Love these unexpected little facts.  I'm not sure I can add any, but I can attest to #16 as I've driven it many, many times.  Several in snow storms.   ;D

When I first took my job that required much travel, my first assignment was to Irving, Texas...between the two very close cities of Dallas and Ft. Worth.  I did not really know how far it was going to be.  I had simply used the atlas to map a route.  But in my mind, Texas was a looooong way away from west Tennessee, so I left at 4:00 in the morning to make sure I could get there at a reasonable hour.  The first road sign I saw on the expressway that mentioned Dallas, was just past Texarkana shortly after I had stopped for a little breakfast about 8:00.  I don't remember how many miles it was, but it was close enough that I passed through Dallas and hit Irving before noon.  I could have slept in, eaten a leisurely breakfast at home, and still gotten to Irving in time for supper. 

That was back when a GPS was a big, thick Rand McNalley Road Atlas and a finger.  "I'm right about...HERE."

OIK...here's an unofficial geographical fact:  If you leave the center of Chicago driving south on a road which is NOT an expressway, by the time you leave what is still the Chicago metropolitan area, you will wish you'd taken the expressway.   

cjwood:
interesting information there johnchris.  with regards to the second part of #7, if that is austin, tx that is being referred to, i can attest that we do indeed only have one interstate that serves the metro area, BUT, there are several other major texas highways, not to mention toll roads, loops, etc. that serve our increasingly growing metro area.  that's why i always enjoy driving on the country roads through the hills to visit my sister's living outside of town.

claudia

gregorydc:
Here's a little known argue point for a few. Kansas has more surface acers of water than Minnesota "the land of 10,000 lakes"  weird huh

onelovedread:
Another 3 tidbits:
Los Angeles is moving North at the same rate your fingernails grow.

Montreal, Canada is an island.

Denver International Airport is larger than the island of Manhattan

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