Extreme points of the world - Definition and Overview

This is a list of lists of extreme points of the world, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other locations on the landmasses, continents or countries.

The world

Latitude and longitude

• The northernmost point of the world is the geographic North Pole, in the Arctic Ocean.
• The northernmost point on land is Kaffeklubben Island, east of Greenland (83°40'), which lies slightly north of Cape Morris Jesup, Greenland (83°39'). Various shifting gravel bars lie further north, the most famous being Oodaaq. The term Ultima Thule was given by medieval cartographers for the northernmost point of land.
• The southernmost point of the world and the southernmost point on land is the geographic South Pole, which is on the continent of Antarctica.
• The westernmost point on land, according to the path of the International Date Line, is Attu Island, Alaska.
• The easternmost point on land, according to the path of the International Date Line, is Caroline Island, Kiribati.

Altitude

• The highest point is the summit of Everest: 8,850 m (29,035 feet) above sea level.
• The lowest point is Challenger Deep, at the bottom of the Mariana Trench: 10,923 m (35,838 feet) below sea level [1] (http://www.rain.org/ocean/ocean-studies-challenger-deep-mariana-trench.html).
• The lowest point on land is the shore of the Dead Sea: 417 m below sea level.
• The point farthest from the Earth's center is the summit of Chimborazo.
• The point closest to the Earth's centre is probably also Challenger Deep. [2] (http://users.rcn.com/jeaniee/Ocean/Facts.html)

Remoteness

• The point on land farthest from any ocean is located approximately 200 miles from the city of Urumqi, in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China, at Lat. 46 degrees 16.8 minutes North, Long. 86 degrees 40.2 minutes East (in the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert). This position is at a straight-line distance of 1,645 miles (2648 km) from the nearest coastline.
• The point on Earth farthest from any land lies in the South Pacific Ocean equidistant from Pitcairn Island in the north, Marie Byrd Land (Antarctica) in the south, Chatham Island in the West, and Southern Chile in the east. Within this area lies more square mileage that the entire former USSR.
• The most insular island is Rapa Nui (Easter Island), which lies 2250 km (1400 mi) from the Pitcairn Islands to the north-west and 3766 km (2340 mi) off the west coast of Chile.

The Americas

• Extreme points of the Americas
  • Extreme points of North America
    • Extreme points of Canada
    • Extreme points of Greenland
    • Extreme points of Mexico
    • Extreme points of the United States
  • Extreme points of South America
    • Extreme points of Argentina
    • Extreme points of Brazil
    • Extreme points of Chile

Antarctica

• Extreme points of Antarctica

Australasia

• Extreme points of Australia
• Extreme points of New Zealand
• Extreme points of Papua New Guinea

Africa-Eurasia

• Extreme points of Africa-Eurasia
  • Extreme points of Africa
    • Extreme points of Madagascar
    • Extreme points of South Africa
  • Extreme points of Eurasia
    • Extreme points of Asia
      • Extreme points of China
      • Extreme points of India
      • Extreme points of Indonesia
      • Extreme points of Japan
      • Extreme points of Russia
    • Extreme points of Europe
      • Extreme points of the European Union
      • Extreme points of Belgium
      • Extreme points of France
      • Extreme points of Germany
      • Extreme points of Greece
      • Extreme points of Iceland
      • Extreme points of Ireland
      • Extreme points of Italy
      • Extreme points of the Netherlands
      • Extreme points of Norway
      • Extreme points of Poland
      • Extreme points of Portugal
      • Extreme points of Russia
      • Extreme points of Spain
      • Extreme points of the United Kingdom