This is a list of geographic centers of each U.S. state and inhabited territory. The geographic center of the United States is northeast of Belle Fourche in Butte County, South Dakota ( 44°58′N103°46′W / 44.967°N 103.767°W ), [1] while that of the contiguous 48 states is near Lebanon in Smith County, Kansas ( 39°50′N98°35′W / 39.833°N 98.583°W ). [1] The geographic center of North America lies near Rugby, North Dakota ( 48°10′N100°10′W / 48.167°N 100.167°W ), though this designation has no official status. [1] In 2017, a new calculation of the geographic center of North America placed it near the town of Center, North Dakota. [2]
The list given below has been only slightly modified since it was first produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in the early 1920s. [3] At that time, the center for a state was found by suspending a cardboard cutout of the state by a string, and then drawing a vertical line from the suspension point. After rotating the cutout 90 degrees and drawing another vertical line from the new suspension point, the intersection of the two vertical lines was used as the geographic center. [4] The result is dependent upon the type of projection used.
Although there have been different definitions offered for the geographic center, an intuitive one, and one used by the USGS, is "the center of gravity of the surface, or that point on which the surface of the area would balance if it were a plane of uniform thickness." [7] An updated list of geographic centers using this definition (which is equivalent to the state's centroid) is given below. It was derived by minimizing the sum of squared great circle distances from all points of land in a state (including islands, but not coastal waters, following the earlier practice of the USGS). It represents a slight improvement over the list originally published. [8]
The geographic center of the contiguous United States, determined in this way, is at 39°50.13′N99°5.45′W / 39.83550°N 99.09083°W ; this is 5.4 miles (8.7 km) from Agra, Kansas, 5.7 miles (9.2 km) from Kensington, Kansas, and 26.9 great circle miles (43.3 km) west of the longstanding designated site near Lebanon, Kansas.
Very little information exists about the geographic centers of the U.S. territories. In a geological survey of all geographic centers in the U.S., the U.S. Department of the Interior did not measure the geographic centers of the U.S. territories. [9] Similarly, the USGS does not include the territories in its list of geographic centers. [1] In terms of each territory’s land area, only one territory, Puerto Rico, has a confirmed geographic center. [10] There are also official geographic centers of territorial exclusive economic zones, though those geographic centers are based on a territory's territorial waters (not land area).
Territory | County- equivalent | Location | Coordinates |
---|---|---|---|
American Samoa | North of Manu’a District (EEZ) Eastern District (Tutuila center) | The geographic center of American Samoa’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is located in the Pacific Ocean, about 35.08 miles (56.45 km) northeast of the island of Ta‘ū. [11] The geographic center of Tutuila (the main island) is about 1.03 miles (1.65 km) southwest of Fagatogo. [12] | 13°51′06″S169°03′27″W / 13.8517°S 169.0576°W (EEZ center) 14°17′24″S170°42′10″W / 14.2901°S 170.7028°W (Tutuila center) |
Guam | Guam [note 2] | The geographic center of Guam’s exclusive economic zone is in the Pacific Ocean, about 73.65 miles (118.53 km) west-southwest of Cocos Island and 76.08 miles (122.45 km) west-southwest of the main island of Guam. [13] The exact geographic center of the main island of Guam is unknown [14] — it is probably somewhere within the village of Chalan Pago-Ordot, because that is the default center starting point of Guam on Google Maps. [15] | 12°58′37″N143°34′53″E / 12.9770°N 143.5814°E (Center of EEZ) 13°26′38″N144°46′02″E / 13.4440°N 144.7671°E (Chalan Pago-Ordot) |
Northern Mariana Islands | Northern Islands Municipality | The geographic center of the Northern Mariana Islands’ exclusive economic zone is in the Pacific Ocean, about 18.33 miles (29.50 km) northeast of the island of Pagan. [16] | 18°19′06″N146°01′42″E / 18.3183°N 146.0284°E (EEZ center) |
Puerto Rico | Orocovis Municipality | The geographic center of Puerto Rico is in the Orocovis Municipality, about 2.58 miles (4.15 km) west of the main town of Orocovis. [10] | 18°13′20″N66°25′49″W / 18.2223°N 66.4303°W |
U.S. Virgin Islands | Between Saint Thomas and Saint Croix | The exact geographic center of the U.S. Virgin Islands is unknown — the default center starting point for the U.S. Virgin Islands on Google Maps is located in the Caribbean Sea, [15] 18.21 miles (29.30 km) south-southeast of Saint Thomas and 18.31 miles (29.47 km) north of Saint Croix — note that this point is the approximate center of the 3 main islands, not the center of the exclusive economic zone | 18°20′N64°54′W / 18.34°N 64.90°W |
U.S. Minor Outlying Islands | [note 3] | There is no information about the geographic centers of the islands in the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands (or the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands as a whole). |
The term "United States," when used in the geographical sense, refers to the contiguous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, the five insular territories of Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and minor outlying possessions. The United States shares land borders with Canada and Mexico and maritime borders with Russia, Cuba, The Bahamas, and many other countries, mainly in the Caribbeanin addition to Canada and Mexico. The northern border of the United States with Canada is the world's longest bi-national land border.
The contiguous United States consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States of America in central North America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, which are Alaska and Hawaii, and all other offshore insular areas, such as the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The colloquial term "Lower 48" is also used, especially in relation to Alaska.
HMS Challenger was a survey ship of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy associated with the discovery of Challenger Deep, the deepest point in the oceans. She was laid down in 1930 at Chatham Dockyard and built in a dry dock, before being moved to Portsmouth for completion and commissioning on 15 March 1932.
The Great Divide Basin or Great Divide Closed Basin is an area of land in the Red Desert of Wyoming where none of the water falling as rain to the ground drains into any ocean, directly or indirectly. It is thus an endorheic basin, one of several in North America that adjoin the Continental Divide. To the south and west of the basin is the Green River watershed, draining to the Gulf of California/Pacific Ocean; to the north and east is the North Platte watershed, draining to the Gulf of Mexico. The basin is very roughly rectangular in shape; the northwest corner is at Oregon Buttes near South Pass, about 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Lander, and the southeast corner is in the Sierra Madre Range near Bridger Pass, about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Rawlins.
The One Hundred and Two River is a tributary of the Platte River of Missouri in northwestern Missouri in the United States. It flows from source tributaries in southwestern Iowa about 80 miles (130 km) to the Platte. Via the Platte, it is part of the watershed of the Missouri River. Much of the river's course has been straightened and channelized.
The Mineral River is an 18.7-mile-long (30.1 km) tributary of Lake Superior on the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States. It flows for its entire length in western Ontonagon County, rising in the Ottawa National Forest and flowing generally northward to meet Lake Superior about 11 miles (18 km) west-southwest of Ontonagon. The United States Board on Geographic Names settled on "Mineral River" as the stream's name in 1976; according to the Geographic Names Information System it has also been known historically as "Beaver Creek".
The Licking River is a tributary of the Muskingum River, about 40 mi (65 km) long, in central Ohio in the United States. Via the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.
Grays Harbor is an estuarine bay located 45 miles (72 km) north of the mouth of the Columbia River, on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington state, in the United States. It is a ria, which formed at the end of the last ice age, when sea levels flooded the Chehalis River. The bay is 17 miles (27 km) long and 12 miles (19 km) wide. The Chehalis River flows into its eastern end, where the city of Aberdeen stands at that river's mouth, on its north bank, with the somewhat smaller city of Hoquiam immediately to its northwest, along the bayshore. Besides the Chehalis, many lesser rivers and streams flow into Grays Harbor, such as the Hoquiam River and Humptulips River. A pair of low peninsulas separate it from the Pacific Ocean, except for an opening about two miles (3 km) in width. The northern peninsula, which is largely covered by the community of Ocean Shores, ends in Point Brown. Facing that across the bay-mouth is Point Chehalis, at the end of the southern peninsula upon which stands the town of Westport.
Fena Lake (Reservoir) is the largest lake in the United States territory of Guam and it is a man made reservoir. It is located in the south of the island on the Ordnance Annex military installation, and is overlooked by the nearby peaks of Mounts Lamlam, Alifan and Jumullong Manglo. The lake's outflow is to the north-west, its waters eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean at Talofofo Bay.
The Barren River is a 135-mile-long (217 km) river in Southcentral Kentucky, United States, and a tributary of the Green River. The watershed of the Green River is the largest of the twelve major river watersheds in Kentucky. The Barren River rises near the Tennessee border in Monroe County and flows into the Green in northeast Warren County. The drainage basin consists of Southcentral Kentucky and north-central Tennessee.
Reserve Township is one of thirteen townships in Parke County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,297 and it contained 596 housing units.
Old Forge is an unincorporated community in Quincy Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, United States, within the Michaux State Forest, at 39°47′40″N77°29′3″W, at altitude of 892 feet (272 m).
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the United States government whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on March 3, 1879, to study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The agency also makes maps of extraterrestrial planets and moons based on data from U.S. space probes.
The geographic center of the United States is a point approximately 20 mi (32 km) north of Belle Fourche, South Dakota at 44°58′2.07622″N103°46′17.60283″W. It has been regarded as such by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and the U.S. National Geodetic Survey (NGS) since the additions of Alaska and Hawaii to the United States in 1959.
Dru Rock is a rocky island 0.28 kilometres (0.15 nmi) long between Retour Island and Claquebue Island in the Curzon Islands. The island is home to many craggy rock faces, which make climbing difficult.
Evans Glacier is a gently-sloping glacier 15 nautical miles (28 km) long and 4 nautical miles (7 km) wide, draining the southeast slopes of Travnik Buttress eastwards between Rugate Ridge and Poibrene Heights to flow into Vaughan Inlet on the east coast of Graham Land, Antarctica. It was discovered by Sir Hubert Wilkins in an aerial flight, December 20, 1928, and named "Evans Inlet" by him for E.S. Evans of Detroit. A further survey by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1955 reported that this low-lying area is not an inlet, but is formed by the lower reaches of Hektoria Glacier and the feature now described.
Talmage City was an unincorporated community in northeast Newton County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. The community was adjacent to Missouri Route 37 approximately 1.5 miles northwest of Wentworth.