Table of Explanations Obviously it is essential that the latitudes alleged for the locations above be reasonably accurate. It is equally obvious that the farther away two points are, the less need there is for precision just to establish whether one is different from the other. Still, I have tried to get all this right. In the table below are explanations whence each of those nine latitude figures came.

Nebraska The straight part of Nebraska's northern border is defined to be exactly 43 degrees north latitude. This is according to Boundaries of the United States and the Several States, Geological Survey Professional Paper 909, by Franklin K. Van Zandt, published in 1976 by the U.S. Government Printing Office (hereafter referred to as USGS Paper 909). You can try getting a free PDF of it from HERE. The rest of the northern border, at the east side, drops altogether south to follow the Missouri River and is clearly everywhere south of 43 degrees. 43 degrees minus 41.68 degrees is over 90 miles, so there's no doubt Nebraska is one of the 27 states.

California, Nevada, Utah The entirety of the northern borders of these three states is defined to be exactly 42 degrees north latitude, according to USGS Paper 909. 42 degrees minus 41.68 degrees is nearly 22 miles; again it's not close. Also, feel free to look up information about the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819. On May 13, 2016, an observant reader wrote to say, "I declare that California is simultaneously both north of Canada and south of Mexico." He's right.

Ohio I used two sources to locate Ohio's northernmost point. One is Google Maps, and the other is Flashearth. The two latitudes agree to within a few dozen feet. Google Maps' point is shown HERE, showing a latitude of 41.97728. To check Ohio's northernmost point yourself using Google Maps, copy either of the /below, go to Google MAPS, and paste it into the Search Maps text box at the top. 41.977281,-80.519419

41 58 38.21, -80 31 9.91 According to Flashearth, HERE is the northernmost point of Ohio's land. The coordinates are 41 58 37.9,-80 31 9.9, which I translate to 41.977194,-80.519416. The difference between 41.977281 and 41.977194, which is 0.000087 degrees, is a matter of less than 32 feet. If you have reason to believe Ohio's northernmost point is different from where I say, or if you can confirm it, please . Either way, Ohio is north enough by over 20 miles.

Rome I estimated Rome's center point using Mapquest at 41 90. If you have reason to think I chose a point too far north, or better yet if you know where Rome's northernmost point is, please . Note that I should have used the northernmost point, but, unlike with Canada and the U.S. states, I wasn't able to establish any of Rome's official borders. No matter what, though, the latitude that I did choose, 41.90 degrees, is south of Vatican City, which is entirely within Rome, so at least some part of Rome is north of Canada's southernmost point by at least 14 statute miles. Also, paste 41.90, 12.4573 into Google Maps, which is meant to be directly south of the center of the circular part at the east end of St. Peter's Plaza, i.e., just west of St. Peter's Basilica.

Indiana Indiana A figure of 41.75929199 degrees north latitude (which translates to 41d 45m 33.451164s) for Indiana comes from Everett Root, an employee of the state of Michigan. Why Michigan? Because Michigan's south border is Indiana's north border. His e-mail of January 29, 2003: Apparently the Michigan/Indiana boundary is not on an exact Latitude. Our best determination based on USGS Topo maps is the boundary is at 41.75929199 degrees latitude. I did find historical evidence as to how the boundary was determined which explains why it is not at an exact latitude. The original southern boundary of Michigan was at the southern tip of Lake Michigan. When Indiana became a State they wanted access to Lake Michigan so the southern boundary of Michigan was moved North by a certain number of miles (my source doesn't know exactly how many) to it's present position. --Everett Root, Manager Geo-Data Services, State of Michigan, Department of Information Technology, Michigan Center for Geographic Information (CGI); PH 517-373-7910, FAX 517-373-293 I received the e-mail below on February 3, 2003, but since the figure given is north of the one Mr. Root gives, I would have chosen Root's to be conservative. However, it does answer Mr. Root's question. In reply to your inquiry, the northern boundary of Indiana was defined in the enabling act under which it became a state as a line ten miles north of an east and west line through the southern extreme of Lake Michigan. No latitude was specified. We telephoned the Geology Library at Indiana University and were given the location of 41 degrees, 45 minutes and 35 seconds north. Martha Wright, Reference Librarian, Indiana Division (41d 45m 35s translates to 41.75972 degrees decimal.) The source I ended up using is Google Maps. The point shown by Google maps is at 41.760175, -84.805892. Go HERE to see it. Although I use the Google coordinates in the table above, note that even the Root figure, which is the southernmost of the three, is only 41.760175 minus 41.75929199, or .00088301 degrees, which is less than 322 feet. Either way, Indiana's northernmost point is well over 5 miles too far north to be eliminated from the list of 27 states at least partly north of Canada's southernmost point. To check Indiana's northernmost point yourself using Google Maps, copy either of the below, go to Google MAPS, and paste it into the Search Maps text box at the top. 41.760175,-84.805892

41 45 36.63, -84 48 21.21 As with some of the other southernmost and northernmost points I posit, if you have reason to believe Indiana's northernmost point is different from where I say, or if you can confirm it, please .

CANADA CANADA CANADA Obviously this is a crucial factor affecting whether there are exactly 27 U.S. states north of Canada, and I have not been able to find any really truly indisputably official confirmation for the exact point I chose and the latitude I derived from it. However, as you'll see below, I'm willing to bet real, big money it's close enough. Update of May 21, 2003 Here's a direct scan of part of a large poster and map titled "Canada: A Land of Superlatives" published by an organization called National Atlas Information Service--Canada and kindly snailed to me by a Canadian government agency called Natural Resources Canada. In case you can't read it the caption says, Middle Island, in Lake Erie, Ont., is the MOST

SOUTHERLY POINT in Canada, at 41° 40' 57" S. The stated latitude is too far south by a whopping 5,756 miles. Indeed, this latitude is more than 472 miles south of the southern tip of AFRICA. But let's assume they meant 41° 40' 57" North. Even so, this statement is clearly unclear, at least for our purposes. It is different from saying, The most southerly point in Canada is on Middle Island

in Lake Erie, Ont., at 41° 40' 57" N. Specifically, it is unclear whether 41° 40' 57" north latitude is supposed to be the latitude of the southernmost point of Middle Island or, as stated, merely the latitude of Middle Island, whatever that means. If it's the latter, then the given latitude may be the middlemost point of Middle Island, or even the northernmost! In any case, 41° 40' 57" N is only (and, for that matter, exactly) three seconds north of the point I did choose, which is less than 102 yards, so Indiana would still be too far north. Depending on how far off my estimate of Canada's southernmost point is, it might be that Indiana isn't or that New Jersey is on the list, but I really will pay you a thousand dollars if you can prove the number of U.S. states is not 27. As you know from reading about the four sources of information cited above,

I declare as follows: The southernmost point of Canadian land, which is on Middle Island, Ontario, is extremely close to the latitude of 41d 40m 53s. This is the same as 41.68138 degrees N.

New Jersey New Jersey New

Jersey New Jersey is the state that is closest to being partly north of Canada's southernmost point without being so. The point I use is derived from Google. If you think New Jersey is north of where I think it, please . And as with the southernmost point of Canada, if you find yourself near New Jersey's northernmost point and you have a way of recording the coordinates, please do so and let me know. Before I tell you more specifically what source I did use, let me tell you about one I didn't use. Here's a funny e-mail I received on January 23, 2003, from an official spokeshuman for New Jersey: Hello. In response to your email, the northernmost point of New Jersey is High Point. For more information regarding latitude, try the U.S. Geological Survey within the Department of Interior. Thank you. -- Just so you'll know, it turns out High Point is not the northernmost point of New Jersey. High Point is nearly 2.5 statute MILES south of "the northernmost point of New Jersey." Ms. Hudnett thought I meant the highest point, which High Point is, at 1,772 feet, but in later e-mails she refused, despite my urging, to admit her original mistake. People like this -- people who refuse to admit their mistakes when repeatedly slapped in the face with them -- should be identified with some sort of brand on their foreheads and some sort of special string in their e-mails so the rest of us can spot 'em right off the bat. (Update of April 26, 2017: One thinks of Donald Trump.) Anyway, because New Jersey is closest to being north of Canada without being so, we'll max this out so there's no doubt. It can be argued we have two points to consider with respect to New Jersey's northernmost point. One is the waters of New Jersey and the other is land alone. As it turns out, it doesn't matter, but let's proceed. See the table below for the exact lat-lon locations I chose for those two points. I used Google Maps.

Decimal Rounded to DDMMSS Rounded to Northernmost point of New Jersey WATERS Latitude 41.357428 41.36 41 21 26.7408 41d 21m 27s Longitude -74.694919 -74.69 -74 41 41.0784 -74d 41m 41s Northernmost point of New Jersey LAND Latitude 41.356927 41.36 41 21 24.9400 41d 21m 25s Longitude -74.693800 -74.69 -74 41 37.6800 -74d 41m 38s To take my word for it, go HERE. To confirm the New Jersey waters map, copy the below, go to Google MAPS, and paste it into the Search Maps text box at the top. 41.357428, -74.694919 To confirm the New Jersey land map, copy the below, go to Google MAPS, and paste it into the Search Maps text box at the top. This is the spot I chose for the Table of Distances above. 41.356927, -74.6938 It so happens New Jersey's northernmost point at all is where it meets two other states. That spot is where Sussex County, New Jersey, meets Orange County, New York, and Pike County, Pennsylvania. The spot where they meet is in the middle of the Delaware River, just west of where the Neversink River conflues with it. Worst-case scenario: Even if we choose to use the northernmost point of New Jersey's waters and the southernmost point of Canada's waters, which I already argued is not what the bet is about, the correct answer is still 27 states. New Jersey still isn't far enough north by a distance of 41.676 degrees minus 41.357428 degrees, which is 0.3192386 degrees, which is over 22.04 statute miles, whereas all I need to keep my thousand dollars is an inch. So re-whew.

Colorado Colorado Colorado's northern border in its entirety is defined as exactly 41 degrees north latitude, according to USGS Paper 909. Colorado has the most boring shape of any U.S. state, and possibly of any major political jurisdiction in the world (except Wyoming). The four straight-line borders of Colorado meet at 90-degree angles, i.e., it is a true rectangle (pretending the Earth is flat). Those borders are originally defined everywhere merely by four simple latitude and longitude coordinates. The south border is defined as 37 degrees, the east border is defined as -102° 03', the north border, as we already know, is defined as 41 degrees, and the west border is defined as -109° 03'. -102° 03' is the same as -102.05 decimal. -109° 03' is, of course, the same as -109.05 decimal. You can see Google Maps' depiction of the northwest corner of Colorado, where it meets Utah and Wyoming, as well as the northeast corner, where Colorado meets a corner of Nebraska (and which defines Kansas's western border) HERE. Try zooming in all the way. Yet another view of where Colorado bumps into Nebraska is HERE. No matter how you look at it, Colorado's northernmost point at 41 degrees minus Canada's southernmost point, 41d 40m 53s, is a good 47 miles south, so there's little doubt Colorado is not among the 27 states.

Missouri Missouri Missouri's northern border is not a straight line of latitude but rather what appears to be an arc the center of the circle of which is to the north, except at the extreme east end, where it drops south to follow the Des Moines River, a tributary of the Mississippi. Here are excerpts from two e-mails dated March 11 and March 27, 2003, from , PLS, Program Director, Land Survey Program [of Missouri]: The north line is not on a parallel of latitude. It was ran [sic] with compasses and a chain with few observations of latitude. Therefore it somewhat follows a line with numerous bends. It is well-monumented and can be retraced with modern surveying methods, but it would not be ran as a geodetic (curved) line. This office has recovered a number of the original cast iron monuments that were set during the second and third surveys of the line. Listed below are the coordinates for a few of them. The monument at the northeast corner of the state of Missouri is the northernmost point of the entire northern boundary of Missouri [emphasis mine]. -- Northwest corner (near the Missouri River) 40° 34' 48"

-- Old northwest corner (NE corner of the Platte Purchase) 40° 34' 16"

-- Northeast corner (on the Des Moines River) 40° 36' 48" So, this is about as official as it gets. Even if 40º 36' 48" has been rounded down from 40º 36' 48.9", still no part of Missouri is north of any part of Canada by a distance of over 73 miles, so it's nowhere close. 40º 36' 48", the place I chose, is the same latitude as 40.613. To see Missouri's northernmost point according to Google Maps, copy either of the below, go to Google MAPS, and paste it into the Search Maps text box at the top. 40.61358, -91.7305 40 36 48.89, -91 43 49.8 Google's more northerly latitude of 40 36 48.89 minus the Flowers' latitude of 40 36 48 is less than 91 feet, which gives us confidence that each is pretty darned close.

