Westernmost Point by Country 2024

Grade schools in the US teach students the directions of a map compass with a simple memory trick. You put your finger on the top point and move clockwise saying the phrase, "Never eat soggy waffles." This is supposed to help young people remember the order of North, East, South, and West as they read maps. On the compass, west is on the left. But the world isn't flat, and so west is a relative term. For the purposes of exploring the westernmost points of countries around the world, we will use the official divider: the Prime Meridian.

For some countries, it's easy to determine the westernmost point. You simply look at a map. Some examples of countries in this category are Canada, Lebanon, Germany, and Vatican City. For Canada, this point is the border between Yukon and the US state of Alaska. The point furthest west in Lebanon is in the Tyre District along the Mediterranean coast, and Isenburch, North Rhine-Westphalia is the westernmost point in Germany. For the smallest country in the world, Vatican City, the point is even more specific than a border, town, or city. We know the very intersection that is furthest west in Vatican City: the intersection of Viale Vaticano and Via Aurelia.

More interesting, however, is that some countries have more than one westernmost point. For example, in Portugal the westernmost point is Monchique Islet, but if you only consider the mainland, then the westernmost point is Cabo da Roca. It is similar for Australia, where the westernmost point is McDonald Islands, but Steep Point if you only limit consideration to the mainland.

France, like the United Kingdom and United States, has three westernmost points: La Pointe-Noire, Guadeloupe, in their whole territory, the Isle of Ushant in metropolitan France, and Pointe de Corsen on the mainland. In the UK, Oeno Island in the Pitcairn Islands is the westernmost point, but Manger townland is the westernmost point in Nothern Ireland and Vetersay is the westernmost point in Scotland. In the US, Peaked Island in Alaska is the westernmost point, but that is only considering the 50 states. Orote Point, Guam is the most western point in all of the US territory and Cape Alava, Washington is the most western point in the contiguous US.