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More, perhaps, than you ever needed to know about America's Amazing Geography

Some Who, What, Where in our USA

        Maricopa County reported the most building permits (43,056) of any county in the nation for new private housing units in 2000. Alcona County, Mich., (89.9 percent), had the highest percentage of owner-occupied housing units that year.
        More than one-third of the people in Charlotte County, Fla., were age 65 or older in 2000, the highest percentage in the nation; the lowest, 1.8 percent, was in Chattahoochee County, Ga.
        Wade Hampton census area, Alaska, had the nation's highest percentage of persons under age 18 in 2000, 46.6 percent. Kalawao County, Hawaii, had the lowest, 2.0 percent.

Among larger cities — those with 100,000 or more people:

• Gilbert, Ariz., grew faster than any other city between 1990 and 2000 at 266 percent, while St. Louis lost 12 percent, the most of any large city.
• New York City, with more than 26,000 people per square mile, was the most crowded city in 2000. Anchorage residents had considerably more elbow room, with 153 people per square mile, the fewest of any large city.
• Three cities in California had the highest unemployment rate in 2000: Fresno, Salinas and Stockton all were above 10 percent. Two cities in Michigan had the lowest: Ann Arbor and Livonia, with slightly more than 1 percent.
• More than 4-in-10 people in Washington, D.C., lived alone in 2000, the highest ratio of any city, followed closely by nearby Alexandria, Va. Three cities in California had the lowest ratio of one-person households: the ratio in Moreno Valley, El Monte and Fontana was 1-in-10.
• More than 75 percent of housing units in Newark, N.J., were occupied by renters in 2000, the highest proportion in the nation. Livonia, Mich., had the lowest rate at 11 percent.

Not just Trivial, but perhaps excessive news!
          Think you know what's what? Then try guessing this one: The World Almanac reports that the westernmost point in the U.S. and its easternmost point are both in our biggest state? WHAT?
          That's because Alaska's Aleutian Islands cross the international dateline, so they straddle the edges of the Eastern and Western hemispheres. Amatignak Island, which, technically, is on the western edge of the world, and Semisopochnoi Island, technically on the east, are also side by side! Alaska also contains the northernmost point in the 50 states — Point Barrow. ( The southernmost point in the 50 states is Hilo, Hawaii.)
          Within the 48 contiguous states, Northwest Angle, Minnesota, is the point farthest north. West Quoddy, Maine, is farthest east, and Cape Alava, Washington, is farthest west. Key West, Florida, is our southernmost spot.