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| Montreal and Lac Fromentec |
What is 744 Miles Further North Than New York City?
If you were in New York City (40°43'N -- latitude 40 degrees, 43 minutes north of the equator) and headed about 337 miles due north, you would be in the vicinity of Montreal, Canada (45°31'N). If you continued for an additional 407 miles, you would be in the middle of nothing, right? Actually, you would be in the vast tundra surrounding Lac Fromentec in Quebec. If you like frozen lakes, trees, rocks, and the occasional sasquatch, you will be happy there. So what's my point? A bit to the east, at that same latitude, you will find a city called London, England (51°30'N). Yes, even though you feel that London is approximately at the same latitude as New York, it is actually about 744 miles further north than New York.
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| Red dot is southernmost point of Canada |
Over Half the United States is North of Canadian Territory
Speaking of Canada.... Middle Island, located in Lake Erie, Ontario, is the southernmost point of Canadian land, at latitude 41°41'N. In the United States, 13 states are completely north of this latitude, and another 14 states are partly north of it. Therefore, 27 out of 50 states (54%) have areas that are more northern than parts of Canada. In fact, the northernmost part of mainland USA, the Northwest Angle, Minnesota (49°23'N) is approximately 500 miles north of Middle Island, Canada. (And another 146 miles north of the Angle is London.) So, if anyone says that there is no country north of Canada, you can correct them by saying that the United States is, sorta.
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| Blue pins mark terminus points of the Panama Canal |
24 Miles West of the Pacific Ocean: The Atlantic Ocean
The Pacific terminus of the Panama Canal is Panama City (-79°34'W), on the western coast of Panama. The Atlantic (actually the Caribbean) terminus is Colon (-79°55'), on the eastern coast of Panama. Colon lies about 30 miles north, and 24 miles to the west, of Panama City. Therefore, even though ships travel from the west coast to the east coast through the Panama Canal, they actually have to travel west to do so.
Bonus tidbit: Speaking of Panama, here is one of the best palindromes (reads the same forwards and backwards) ever concocted. It's about the person who envisioned the idea of creating the Panama Canal:
A man, a plan, a canal -- Panama!
Panama has only 2 coasts : one is in the north, the other in the south. Panama ity is on the SOUTHERN coast of Panama... and Colon is on the NORTHERN one ! And more, you have to travel mostly to the NORTH to cross the Canal (30mi N, and 24mi W).
ReplyDeleteTherefore your discussion is meaningless...
1. A Google search of "west coast of Panama" gets 264k hits, while the "south coast of Panama" gets only 61k. Similarly, "east coast..." gets 205k hits compared to only 70k for "north coast....". Therefore, it is clear that referring to the east/west coasts of Panama is significantly more acceptable usage than north/south.
Delete2. The subtitle of the Panama section is "24 Miles West of the Pacific Ocean: The Atlantic Ocean." You don't dispute this. Even if the distance were also hundreds of miles to the north, that would have no effect on the fact that it is 24 miles to the west, which is the point of the discussion. Therefore, your objection is, well, meaningless. Yes, yes.
In your blog you speak in terms of geographical coordinates with minutes precision figures, and I would have been expecting a more accurate answer from you.
ReplyDeleteA quick look at GOOGLE EARTH (to use the same references as yours) let clearly SEE that Panama hasn't any west nor east coast
So where is that you learn your geography, please be serious. What's " Google search" stats, your new geographical Atlas ?
Or are you trying to lose us in the " far-west/ western /conquest of West or us terminology vs english word world" debate ?
Anyway, thanks for your (honest answer) and to have let us know that to go eastern you'll have to travel western in Panama. Thanks a lot. Really, really...
I provided the Google search examples just to show that I was using the terminology that is most commonly and broadly accepted -- the results are the same in Spanish, so there was no linguistic imperialism at play. You make a strong argument about the coasts, but my main disagreement with your comment regards your describing the discussion as "meaningless," when the terminology of the coasts is irrelevant to the main point. Of interest: I had lived in Panama for years, and the Panamanians themselves avoid the issue altogether by referring to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. So, I'll probably employ that tactic in my next post regarding this area of the world.
ReplyDelete