What States Border The Pacific Ocean?
The Pacific Ocean is one of three oceans that borders the United States (we bet you forgot about the Arctic Ocean, huh?).
In today’s article, we’re looking at what states border the Pacific Ocean and answer several related questions that you should know.
Contents
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What States Border the Pacific Ocean?
There are five US states that border the Pacific Ocean:
- California
- Oregon
- Washington
- Alaska
- Hawaii
In addition to the above 5 states, the United States administers 11 territories that border the Pacific Ocean. Only three of those territories are inhabited: Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.
The US’s Pacific Coastline
The west coast of the United States consists of the 5 Pacific Coast states, which include Alaska, Washington, California, Oregon, and Hawaii. All five of these states border the Pacific Ocean.
How Long are the Coastlines of the States Bordering the Pacific Ocean?
The following guide shows the total calculated distance for the states that are part of the west coast using the CRS (Congressional Research Service) method and the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) method:
- CRS
- Rank 1: Alaska — 6,640 miles/10,690 kilometers
- Rank 3: California — 840 miles/1,350 kilometers
- Rank 4: Hawaii — 750 miles/1,210 kilometers
- Rank 8: Oregon — 296 miles/476 kilometers
- Rank 12: Washington — 157 miles/253 kilometers
- NOAA
- Rank 1: Alaska — 33,904 miles/54,563 kilometers
- Rank 5: California — 3,427 miles/5,515 kilometers
- Rank 11: Washington — 3,026 miles/4,870 kilometers
- Rank 17: Oregon — 1,410 miles/2,270 kilometers
- Rank 18: Hawaii — 1,052 miles/1,693 kilometers
❓ Trivia Time: Which states do the Great Lakes border?
Other US Coastlines
There are 4 major bodies of water, including 3 oceans, with coastlines along the United States:
- On the west coast: the Pacific Ocean
- On the east coast: the Atlantic Ocean
- To the South: the Gulf of Mexico
- To the North: the Arctic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean
There are 14 states bordering the Atlantic Ocean, forming the East Coast of the United States.
Ordered from south to north, the states that border the Atlantic ocean include Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.
You can consider Pennsylvania the 15th state of the east coast as it has a shoreline covering 57 miles/92 kilometers across the Delaware River estuary.
How Long are the Coastlines of the States Bordering the Atlantic Ocean?
The following guide shows the total calculated distance for the states that are part of the east coast using the CRS method and the NOAA method:
- CRS
- Rank 2: Florida — 1,350 miles/2,170 kilometers
- Rank 7: North Carolina — 301 miles/484 kilometers
- Rank 9: Maine — 228 miles/367 kilometers
- Rank 10: Massachusetts — 192 miles/309 kilometers
- Rank 11: South Carolina — 187 miles/301 kilometers
- Rank 13: New Jersey — 130 miles/210 kilometers
- Rank 14: New York — 127 miles/204 kilometers
- Rank 15: Virginia — 112 miles/180 kilometers
- Rank 16: Georgia — 100 miles/160 kilometers
- Rank 17: Connecticut — 96 miles/154 kilometers
- Rank 20: Rhode Island — 40 miles/64 kilometers
- Rank 21: Maryland — 31 miles/50 kilometers
- Rank 22: Delaware — 28 miles/45 kilometers
- Rank 23: New Hampshire — 13 miles/21 kilometers
- NOAA
- Rank 2: Florida — 8,436 mi miles/13,576 kilometers
- Rank 4: Maine — 3,478 miles/5,597 kilometers
- Rank 6: North Carolina — 3,375 miles/5,432 kilometers
- Rank 8: Virginia — 3,315 miles/5,335 kilometers
- Rank 10: Maryland — 3,190 miles/5,130 kilometers
- Rank 12: South Carolina — 2,876 miles/4,628 kilometers
- Rank 13: New York — 2,625 miles/4,225 kilometers
- Rank 14: Georgia — 2,344 miles/3,772 kilometers
- Rank 15: New Jersey — 1,792 miles/2,884 kilometers
- Rank 16: Massachusetts — 1,519 miles/2,445 kilometers
- Rank 21: Connecticut — 618 miles/995 kilometers
- Rank 23: Rhode Island — 384 miles/618 kilometers
- Rank 24: Delaware — 381 miles/45 kilometers
- Rank 31: New Hampshire — 613 miles/211 kilometers
👉 Read Next: What is Alaska Known for?
What States Border the Gulf of Mexico?
The Gulf of Mexico extends around 800 miles long from west to east, with bordering states consisting of Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Countries that border this body of water also include Cuba and Mexico.
❓ Trivia Time: What states are considered part of New England?
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Now you know what states border the Pacific Ocean! Next, it’s time to learn what state borders the most other states (hint: it’s actually two states!).
