The massive country that’s both the furthest east and west in the world | World | News
Strictly speaking there is no westernmost or easternmost country on the planet because the world is a sphere.
But Quora expert Wolfgang Maleck took the zero meridian running through the Royal Observatory Greenwich to determine which country crosses the 180 degree meridian.
Mr Maleck determined that Russia is therefore the westernmost, and easternmost, country, with its mainland Siberia territory crossing the 180 degree meridian.
He offered Quora users an alternative method, which considers the places furthest from Greenwich by time zone.
Fourteen hours east of London lies Kiribati, an island in Micronesia, while there are two uninhabited islands which are US territory and westernmost, at 12 hours behind GMT, according to Mr Maleck.
John o’ Groats and Land’s End are well known as marking the extent of Great Britain, but the picture is complicated if you consider the United Kingdom, excluding Crown Dependencies.
Westernmost points of the UK can include Rockall, Soay and Belleek in Northern Ireland, depending on whether you want the point to be inhabited. Easternmost points are Lowestoft Ness and Lowestoft in Suffolk.
Ness Point itself is the first place in the UK where you can see the sunrise.
Out Stack, Shetland, is the northernmost point but Skaw, which is also on the Shetland Islands, is the northernmost spot which is inhabited.
On mainland Europe, Cabo da Roca near Lisbon in Portugal is the westernmost point while the easternmost point is in the Ural Mountains.
