Cape Wrangell

Last updated
USA Alaska location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Cape Wrangell
Cape Wrangell (Alaska)

Cape Wrangell is considered to be the westernmost point of Alaska and all of the United States by direction of travel, named after the Russian explorer and seaman Ferdinand von Wrangel. It is located on Attu Island, which is situated in the Near Islands. Following this definition of westernmost, an alternative westernmost point would be located on the tiny Peaked Island, only about 200 metres (656 ft) in diameter, just off the coast of Attu to the west, but because both sit west of the 180th meridian, these two are at times viewed as the easternmost points of the United States. [1]

Related Research Articles

Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska Census area in Alaska, United States

Aleutians West Census Area is a census area located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,232, down from 5,561 in 2010. It is part of the Unorganized Borough and therefore has no borough seat. Its largest city is Unalaska, home to about 80% of the population. It contains most of the Aleutian Islands, from Attu Island in the west to Unalaska Island in the east, as well as the Pribilof Islands, which lie north of the Aleutians in the Bering Sea.

Attu Station, Alaska CDP in Alaska, United States

Attu Station is a census-designated place (CDP) located on Attu Island in the Aleutians West Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. The population was 21 at the 2010 census, consisting entirely of coast guard personnel who resided and worked at Casco Cove Coast Guard Station, but left the island when the station was closed in August 2010, leaving it uninhabited. LORAN Station Attu had provided a navigational signal for mariners of the North Pacific since the 1970s.

Wrangell, Alaska Consolidated city-borough in Alaska, United States

The City and Borough of Wrangell is a borough in Alaska, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 2,127, down from 2,369 in 2010.

Attu Island Uninhabited island in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, United States

Attu is an island in the Near Islands. It is the westernmost point of the U.S. state of Alaska. The island became uninhabited in 2010, making it the largest uninhabited island in the United States.

Aleksei Chirikov 18th-century Russian navigator and explorer of North America

Aleksei Ilyich Chirikov was a Russian navigator and captain who, along with Bering, was the first Russian to reach the northwest coast of North America. He discovered and charted some of the Aleutian Islands while he was deputy to Vitus Bering during the Great Northern Expedition.

Ferdinand von Wrangel Baltic German explorer and Russian admiral

Baron Ferdinand Friedrich Georg Ludwig von Wrangel was a Baltic German explorer and seaman in the Imperial Russian Navy, Honorable Member of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences, a founder of the Russian Geographic Society. He is best known as chief manager of the Russian-American Company, in fact governor of the Russian settlements in present-day Alaska.

This is a list of the extreme points of Asia, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location on the continent.

Extreme points of North America Most prominent locations of the continents physical boundaries

This is a list of the extreme points of North America: the points that are highest and lowest, and farther north, south, east or west than any other location on the continent. Some of these points are debatable, given the varying definitions of North America.

Atka Island Island in Alaska, United States

Atka Island is the largest island in the Andreanof Islands of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. The island is 50 miles (80 km) east of Adak Island. It is 65 miles (105 km) long and 2–20 miles (3–30 km) wide with a land area of 404.6 square miles (1,048 km2), making it the 22nd largest island in the United States. The northeast of Atka Island contains the Korovin volcano which reaches a peak of 5,030 feet (1,533 m). Oglodak Island is located 3.4 miles off Cape Kigun, Atka's westernmost point.

Andreanof Islands Group of islands in Alaska, United States

The Andreanof Islands are a group of islands in the Aleutian Islands in southwestern Alaska. They are located at about 52° North and 172°57' to 179°09' West.

This is a list of the extreme points of The Americas, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location on the continent. The continent's southernmost point is often said to be Cape Horn, which is the southernmost point of the Chilean islands. The Americas cross 134° of longitude east to west and 124° of latitude north to south.

Woronkofski Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska, United States. It is separated from Wrangell Island to the east by Zimovia Strait, just west of the city of Wrangell; to the west it is separated from Zarembo Island by Stikine Strait, and to the south from Etolin Island by Chichagof Pass. Woronkofski Island has a land area of 59.382 km2 and was unpopulated at the 2000 census. The city of Wrangell is exploring the possibility of utilizing Sunrise Lake on the island for hydroelectrical power and drinking water.

Geography of Alaska Geographical features of Alaska

Alaska occupies the northwestern portion of the North American continent and is bordered only by Canada on the east. It is one of two U.S. states not bordered by another state; Hawaii is the other. Alaska has more ocean coastline than all of the other U.S. states combined. About 500 miles (800 km) of Canadian territory separate Alaska from Washington state. Alaska is thus an exclave of the United States that is part of the continental U.S. and the U.S. West Coast, but is not part of the contiguous U.S. Alaska is also the only state, other than Hawaii, whose capital city is accessible only via ship or air, because no roads connect Juneau to the rest of the continent.

Battle of Attu 1943 battle in the Pacific Theatre of World War II

The Battle of Attu, which took place on 11–30 May 1943, was a battle fought between forces of the United States, aided by Canadian reconnaissance and fighter-bomber support, and Japan on Attu Island off the coast of the Territory of Alaska as part of the Aleutian Islands Campaign during the American Theater and the Pacific Theater. In contrast with the tropical climate in the Pacific, Attu is the only land battle in which Japanese and American forces fought in snowy conditions.

This is a list of the extreme points of the Commonwealth of Nations — the points that are farther north, south, east or west, or higher or lower in elevation than any other location.

Aleutian Islands Chain of islands in the northern Pacific Ocean

The Aleutian Islands, also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large volcanic islands and 55 smaller islands. Most of the Aleutian Islands belong to the U.S. state of Alaska, but some belong to the Russian federal subject of Kamchatka Krai. They form part of the Aleutian Arc in the Northern Pacific Ocean, occupying a land area of 6,821 sq mi (17,666 km2) and extending about 1,200 mi (1,900 km) westward from the Alaska Peninsula toward the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, and act as a border between the Bering Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. Crossing longitude 180°, at which point east and west longitude end, the archipelago contains both the westernmost part of the United States by longitude and the easternmost by longitude. The westernmost U.S. island in real terms, however, is Attu Island, west of which runs the International Date Line. While nearly all the archipelago is part of Alaska and is usually considered as being in the "Alaskan Bush", at the extreme western end, the small, geologically related Commander Islands belong to Russia.

Navy Town is a formerly populated place in the Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska, United States. It is located on the southeast coast of Attu Island, on the western shore of Massacre Bay, and was named during the military occupation of the area in World War II. The name was first published by the United States Army Map Service and entered into the Geographic Names Information System on March 31, 1981. Attu Station was decommissioned in 2010, leaving Navy Town and the island with no permanent population.

References

  1. "Extreme Points".

Coordinates: 52°55′28″N172°28′22″E / 52.92444°N 172.47278°E / 52.92444; 172.47278