Almost everyone knows about the fifty states that make up the United States of America. But did you know some are landlocked?
Better yet, do you know which states are landlocked? If you’re like most Americans, you probably don’t.
In fact, I didn’t know until I did some research for this post. So today, we’re going to take a closer look at the landlocked states of the United States.
What is the meaning of contiguous landlock states?
It means these states are inland and have no direct access to an ocean, gulf, or bay. That is, the territorial boundary does not touch an ocean or whose coastline lies on an enclosed water body with no connection to the world’s oceans.
How many states are in the United States an
The United States is a unique country...the mainland consists of 27 landlocked states…
What’s more, a single landlocked state is one whose access to the Ocean is blocked by one other state. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia are categorized as single landlocked states.
The US Landlocked States…
In the Southwestern region, Arizona is bordered by
- Utah,
- Colorado,
- New Mexico,
- Nevada,
- California,
- the Mexican states of Baja, California, and Sonora.
- You can access the Pacific coast from Arizona by crossing California or the Gulf of California through Sonora.
Arkansas is located in the South Central region. It is bordered by six other US states and can only access the Gulf of Mexico (part of the Atlantic Ocean) through…
- Texas,
- Louisiana, or Mississippi.
- Other states bordering Arkansas are Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.
Idaho is bounded…
- north by Montana,
- east by Wyoming, and
- northwest by British Columbia (Canada).
- There are several alternatives to accessing the Pacific;
- It can access the Ocean…
- to the west through either Oregon or Washington
- or to the north through British Columbia.
- Oregon and Washington offer the easiest access to the Pacific as they do not involve crossing international borders.
Kentucky, bordering
Tennessee is landlocked to the north, with residents accessing the Atlantic Ocean through Virginia.
Michigan, located above Ohio, is also a landlocked state, with access to the Arctic Ocean (James Bay) through Ontario.
However, it is located on the shores of four Great Lakes; Huron, Erie, Superior, and Michigan.
Minnesota borders one of the Great Lakes (Lake Superior), a landlocked state with access to either James Bay through Ontario or Hudson Bay through Manitoba.
Montana, which shares a land border with Idaho, is also a landlocked state, with access to the Pacific Ocean via British Columbia.
Nevada borders Arizona to the northwest and can also access the Pacific Ocean through California on the west or Oregon on the northwest.
New Mexico is a landlocked state and Arizona’s immediate neighbor to the east. However, it is connected to either the Pacific Ocean (Gulf of California) through Texas or the Atlantic Ocean (Gulf of Mexico) through Sonora (Sonora).
North Dakota is sandwiched between Montana to the west and Minnesota to the east.
Below it is South Dakota, and above is Manitoba (Canada), meaning that it has no direct access to the Ocean.
However, it can access the Arctic Ocean’s Hudson Bay through Manitoba.
Although Ohio has access to the Atlantic Ocean via Lake Erie and St. Lawrence Seaway, it is still a d landlocked state, separated from James Bay by Ontario.
Oklahoma is also a landlocked state in the region and can only access the Gulf of Mexico through Texas.
Pennsylvania can access the Atlantic Ocean through
- New Jersey,
- New York,
- Delaware,
- or Maryland.
- Alternatively, its access route to James Bay passes through the Canadian province of Ontario.
Tennessee is one of the states with the most neighbors in the US. It is surrounded by up to eight other states and accesses the Atlantic Ocean through…
- Georgia,
- Virginia,
- North Caroline,
- or the Gulf of Mexico through Mississippi or Alabama.
Vermont, a landlocked state in the New England Region, is enclosed by…
- New York
- New Hampshire,
- Massachusetts, and Quebec (Canada). It can access the Atlantic Ocean through the three states or the Canadian Province. It can also access James Bay(Arctic Ocean) through Quebec.
- West Virginia is a landlocked state bordered by other landlocked states…on the north (Pennsylvania),
- west (Ohio),
- and southwest (Kentucky).
- It can access the Atlantic Ocean either
- through Virginia
- on the east or
- Maryland on the northeast.
Conclusion
I’m sure there are many other interesting facts about the United States that I could share, but I’ll leave you with this one.
Out of all 50 states, 27 are landlocked and have to go through at least one other state to get to an ocean.
It’s pretty fascinating when you think about it. If you’re curious about any other 27 states or want to know more about landlocking, be sure to subscribe, so you don’t miss future posts, Part 2!