Distance

It would make sense to suggest that the point of the United States geographically closest to Africa would be on our southern end, closest to the equator. But it turns out not to be so.

In fact, the shortest distance between a point in the United States and any point on the continent of African turns out to be the 3,554 miles between El Bedouzza in Morocco and...Quoddy Head, Maine. Turns out that Maine is far enough east that it makes up for being so much more northerly than the other states.

It's also kind of interesting that the closest point in the U.S. to Africa is named "Quoddy Head." I'm glad I read the story, because otherwise I might have mistakenly used the phrase as an insult.