Which state in the United States is the furthest east and which is the furthest west?

Logically, the easternmost state is Maine and the westernmost is Alaska (Aleutian Islands). But the Aleutian Islands stretch so far west that they cross the International Date Line and are situated in the 'Eastern Hemisphere' so should be classed as the easternmost part of the USA.

http://www.solarnavigator.net/geography/alaska.htm

Alaska has the honour of being the most western, most eastern and most northern state of the USA.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/646486/amazon-renewed-page-tech?utm_content=infinitescroll1

Alaska (somewhere in the Aleutian islands), assuming that 'furthest west' means as far west as you can go from Greenwich without crossing the 180-degree meridian.

More info:
Alaska
Alaska, the most northern, western and eastern U.S. State, http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/nsewusa.htm

Agreed the most westernmpoint is Cape Wrangell, Atteu Island, Aleutions, Alaska

Alaska is the furthest state west, but it IS NOT BY ANY MEANS OR CIRCUMSTANCES THEREOF, the easternmost state. Attu Island fails to answer this correctly on two very valid points. First of all, ALL of Attu Island is located west of the International Date Line. Secondly, you could not stand on Attu Island anyway, as it is currently protected by law by the Coast Guard. Furthermore, although Cape Wrangell DOES cross the International Date line, it is a CAPE, not a piece of LAND.

The International Date Line doesn't determine East or West - it determines dates. You can be east of the date line and still be at 179 degrees east. Therefore, the most easterly point of the USA is in Alaska and not Maine.

Contiguous or non-contiguous, Maine is still the eastern extreme of the U.S.A.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_points_of_the_United_States

Easternmost point — Semisopochnoi Island, Alaska

Easternmost town — Amchitka U.S. Navy Base, Alaska.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_points_of_the_United_States

This is makes for a good "trick" question because not only is Alaska the Eastern most state it is also the Western most state.

To be entirely fair, the international dateline runs west of Alaska, in the Bering Straits. All of Alaska and the Aleutian islands are on the Alaska timezone, which is 6 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time. Very technically speaking, Maine is still the eastern extreme of the US. The Aleutian Islands the western extreme.

Alaska technically is outside the IDL, courtesy of the Aleutians. But as the IDL avoids it, I guess the bigger question is what, exactly, defines where east meets west, the IDL or the 180th meridian.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/International_Date_Line.png

The easternmost/westernmost points of the U.S. throughout the world are disputed. What is most eastern or western depends on one's point of view about what east and west really mean.

By cartographical convention, the Prime Meridian running through Greenwich, England is the least eastern and least western place in the world. It is defined as 0 degrees longitude. The 180th Meridian, on the opposite side of the globe represents the absolute limit of how far east or west one can travel, from a cartographical perspective. Anything exactly on the 180th meridian is neither east nor west; but take a single step to either side and one is at 179+ degrees east or 179+ degrees west, the highest achievable numbers. By this mode of reckoning, the most eastern and western spots in the US are both in the Aluetian Islands, Alaska.

If one takes the view that the easternmost place is where the day first begins, and the westernmost is where the day last ends, then the International Date Line is the defining limit for what is most eastern or western. In a new year, the earliest US sunrise takes place on Wake Island. Less than an hour earlier, the sun also rose over Attu Island, Alaska but for December 31.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_points_of_the_United_States

There is debate on this question but as the above Wikipedia quote shows Alaska would be more appropriately considered more eastern than Maine.

That's not entirely true. It will be January 1st in Maine some four hours before it is in Anchorage or the Aleutians, and five hours before Hawaii. (The reason Alaska takes up one time zone is because it is so far north that the length of the day cannot be effectively measured by the amount of sunlight it gets.)

For the purpose of avoiding problems with the 180th longitude, I will define the point from which we measure east and west in the US at the center of the US longitude, the nearest city to which is Billings, Montana. Which puts the eastern most edge of the US at Sail Rock, Maine. The western most spot is an unnamed, unmarked island in the Aleutians. The latter will be only slightly farther west than the former is east if one is standing in Billings, Montana.

Alaska is the northernmost, westernmost, and easternmost state in the U.S. It is easternmost because the Aluetian Islands extend past the 180 degree line of longtitude, putting them in the Eastern hemisphere.

But the International Date Line extends beyond the Aleutians. Hence, Maine is still easternmost.

Well, Attu Island is either the westernmost or easternmost or both! It's the furtherst you can go in a westerly direction, but because it's across the 180 degree line, it's technically in the other hemisphere and so the easternmost part of the USA. Cape Wrangel is the furthest end of the island. As to northernmost, Cape Barrow just north of Barrow wins.

Northernmost point — Point Barrow, Alaska (71°23'N)
Southernmost point — Ka Lae, Hawaii (18°55'N)
Easternmost point — Sail Rock, just offshore of West Quoddy Head, Maine (66°57'W)[or Aleutian Islands, Alaska](179°40'E)
Westernmost point — Peaked Island, offshore from Cape Wrangell, Attu Island, Alaska (172°26'E)
Highest elevation point — Mount McKinley, Alaska (20,320 feet)
Most remote point — Ipnavik River, National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska, (68°45'N, 156°41'W) -- 120 miles from nearest habitation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_Points_of_the_United_States

ALL POINTS LOCATED IN ALASKA --

Northernmost point — Point Barrow, Alaska (71°23'N)

Westernmost point — Peaked Island, offshore from Cape Wrangell, Attu Island, Alaska (172°26'E)

Easternmost point — Sail Rock, just offshore of West Quoddy Head, Maine (66°57'W)[or Aleutian Islands, Alaska](179°40'E)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_Points_of_the_United_States

OK, this is the kind of nit-picking trivia we joined this site for! Yay!

Any map of the USA will show Quoddy Head furthest to the RIGHT. But, by measure of longitude relative to the international dateline, Navy Town, AK, on Attu Island, is at 173.1756 EAST, beating out Quoddy Head by a walloping 106 (approx.) degrees.

http://www.fallingrain.com/world/US/2/Navy_Town.html

Oh, yes...I live in Alaska. :-)

"If measured from the prime meridian in Greenwich, England, Cape Wrangell, Attu Island, Alaska, would be the easternmost point."


http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001790.html

Start here: Western Hemisphere

that half of the earth traversed in passing westward from the prime meridian to 180° longitude.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/western%20hemisphere

Next: International Date Line

The line of longitude located at 180 degrees East or West (with a few local deviations) where the date changes by a day. West of the line it is one day later than east of the line.

http://www.weather.gov/glossary/index.php?letter=i

The 180th meridian divides "East" from "West" on the globe. It's entirely geographical/mathematical. The international dateline is a sensible contrivance to take into account political boundaries that are astride that meridian. It's convenient that it largely runs through the bounding main. The fact that Attu's longitude is 173.237500� East proves it's "east," as far as being in the eastern hemisphere is concerned. Naturally it lies west of the rest of the USA. So does Asia.
http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/dca/commdb/CIS.cfm?Comm_Boro_Name=Attu+Station

Just for the record, Alaska has two time zones: Alaskan and Hawaiian-Aleutian.
http://www.timegenie.com/state.time/usak/

Yes the most eastern point of the United States is called Pochnoi Point on Semisopochnoi Island in Alaska.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_points_of_the_United_States

At 179°37' East, Semisopochnoi Island in Alaska is arguably the easternmost location in the United States and North America, as it sits only 23 minutes west of the 180th meridian, and therefore in the Eastern Hemisphere.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semisopochnoi_Island