Why is alaska the most eastern and western state of the us?
825509
Up until relatively recently, one of the island chains belonging to the state of Alaska was technically on the other side of the International Date Line from the rest of the country. This meant that the islands were the furthest "east" someone could go (without crossing the date line), yet the state itself, generally speaking, was the furthest west land area of the political entity known as the United States of America. \n\nThe same thing happened with another small island group inthe south-central Pacific ... basically, one half of the country was on one side of the date line and the other half was on the other.\n\nThe date line was subsequently "jiggled", to keep those countries whose territories are in the vicinity of the date line to remain "on the same side".\n\nTherefore, (from the US perspective) Alaska is - at present - the WESTERNMOST state, and Maine is the EASTERNMOST (neglecting the off-shore protectorates of Puerto Rico and Guam).\n\nHowever, we ALSO need to look at how longitude is measured. "Eastward" occurs from the line of 0 longitude (approximately Greenwich England) and moves toward Europe and Asia. "Westward" occurs from the same starting point and moves west over the Atlantic and across North America. The line of longitude that is directly opposite from 0 would be 180 ... which happens to pass through Alaska. Thus Alaska could be both "eastern- and western-most"
831034
Because Texas is so geographically spread out, at any given time in the winter, you could have summerlike conditions in one part of the state and Arctic like conditions in another.  It really does depend on where in the state are you referring to.
247791
While New York City is the most populous city in the United States, Sitka, Alaska is the largest city in area.
56760
Georgia is the largest state east of the Mississippi River.
457490
Alaska is approximately 1,480 miles long and 810 miles wide. Alaska covers 656,425 square miles, making it the largest of the 50 states and more than twice the size of Texas, the second largest state. Land Area 570,374 square miles of Alaska are land areas Water Area 86,051 square miles of Alaska are covered by water.
9714
New York, though my brother would say ALASKA..
156255
Western and Southern would be Hawaii, and Northern would be Alaska.
749024
It may have something to do with the fact that most major events in the United States' history took place on the East Coast.
882564
It's the air flow from west to east in the U.S.
8122
Alaska...despite popular belif its not Wyoming
812262
Are you in alaska or something?
319943
Alaska is the biggest state in terms of size of land.
622068
psychgrad in not a geographer.  West Virginia is a state but I can't find any with "East" in the name.  There are regions of states using east or eastern but not in the state's name.
1043887
I have flown from Anchorage Alaska to Boston Mass a couple of times, and the flight time from one direction to the next does not change.  The earth is spinning, but so is the air that surrounds it.  If you are flying across the northern half of the country its faster to fly east because of the jet stream
412402
Alaska\n    Alaska is called “The Last Frontier”, because of its opportunities and many lightly settled regions, and the “Land of the Midnight Sun”, because the sun shines nearly around the clock during Alaskan summers.\n    source: Encarta
694692
Nothing, really. What is west is also east. San Francisco is west of New York because you can go west across the US from New York to San Francisco. But also San Francisco is east of New York, because you can cross the Atlantic, go across Europe and Asia, then cross the Pacific Ocean to get to San Francisco. If you go east far enough, you get back to where you started. So every place is east of itself, and also west of itself.\n\nNorth and South are not like that. You can't go any farther north than the North Pole, or any farther south than the South Pole.There are no East or West Poles.\n\nPerhaps one could define x as being east of y if going east from x to y is shorter than going west from x to y. A similar definition could define west.
879936
USA, because of oil in alaska and warfare.\nCanada, low population and high level of education.\nDenmark, (territorically) because it has the jurisdiction over the world's largest natural park - which is Greenland!