Is Maine’s coastline 3 times longer than California’s? | Fact brief

Maine’s coastline is not three times longer than California’s under any official government measurement.

The Congressional Research Service lists Maine’s coastline at 228 miles and California’s at 840 miles, using a standardized “general coastline” method that excludes bays and inlets. By that measure, California’s coastline is more than three times the length of Maine’s, not the reverse.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration publishes more detailed measurements that include tidal inlets and other intricate coastal features. NOAA puts Maine’s coastline at 3,478 miles and California’s at 3,427 miles. Maine comes out ahead, but only slightly — nowhere near a 3-to-1 ratio.

According to NOAA, Alaska has by far the longest coastline in the United States at 33,904 miles, while the shortest belongs to New Hampshire, at just 13 miles. Altogether, NOAA estimates the total U.S. shoreline at about 95,471 miles.