The idea that Maine is the closest US state to Africa is a geographical fact that contradicts the intuition of many people who look at a flat map. The vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean makes this claim seem unlikely, yet the geometry of the Earth and the history of continental drift prove it true. Understanding this proximity requires examining the precise definition of “closest” and looking beneath the ocean surface to the underlying geology. This surprising geographic reality is a result of both the curvature of the Earth and the ancient breakup of a supercontinent millions of years ago.
Identifying the Geographic Link
The title of “closest US state to Africa” is determined by measuring the shortest distance between any point in the contiguous United States and the African continent. This measurement is calculated as the great circle distance, which represents the shortest path between two points on a sphere, following the Earth’s curvature. The commonly perceived straight-line distance on a flat map is misleading because it distorts true proportions. The closest US location is Quoddy Head in Lubec, Maine, the easternmost point of the contiguous United States. The great circle route from this peninsula leads to El Beddouza, a coastal area in Morocco, a distance of approximately 3,154 miles (5,076 kilometers), which is significantly shorter than the route from Florida.
The Measurement Over the Continental Shelf
The geometry of the North American continental shelf in the Gulf of Maine region contributes to this shorter distance. The angle of the coastline and the path of the great circle route minimize the overall oceanic separation. The great circle path from Maine shoots northeast across the Atlantic, where the ocean basin itself narrows considerably at this latitude. This contrasts with more southerly states like Florida, where the coastline angle and the shape of the continental shelf push the closest point further south and increase the total distance to Africa. The New England coastline juts out into the Atlantic at a specific point that aligns almost perfectly with the northwestern coast of Africa along the shortest possible route.
Plate Tectonics and the Ancient Connection
The ultimate explanation for Maine’s proximity lies in the ancient geological history of the supercontinent Pangea. Approximately 200 million years ago, North America and Africa were fused together, with what is now Maine directly adjacent to Northwest Africa. The area where the two continents touched became the initial rift zone of the Atlantic Ocean.
The initial separation occurred in the central Atlantic, and the region that now contains Maine and Morocco was one of the last areas to fully separate in the early stages of the Central Atlantic opening. This geological history means that the continental margins of the New England region and Morocco are conjugate margins, essentially puzzle pieces that fit together before the Atlantic formed. The specific line of the ancient continental break, which runs near Maine, is the reason the modern-day continents remain relatively close at this latitude.