What country outside North America is closest to the U.S.?
When thinking of the closest countries to the United States, our minds go straight north to Canada or south to Mexico. This travel trivia question, however, goes further than that. Which country OUTSIDE North America is closest to the U.S.? Russia! You might be surprised to learn that Russia is only 58 miles away from the U.S. Read on to learn more about America’s closest neighbors beyond N. America.
This website sometimes receives compensation, hosted travel, or products related to blog posts. This article may include affiliate links at no extra cost to consumers. As an Amazon Associate, we earn money from qualifying purchases.
Russia is the closest country to the U.S. outside North America.
Maybe you got this travel trivia question right, thanks to Tina Fey’s impersonation of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live. Fey’s character claimed she could see Russia from her house in Alaska.
That’s probably too far away to see with the naked eye. There is, however, a tiny Alaskan island in the Bering Strait called Little Diomede, whose 150 residents or so can see the Russian island of Big Diomede just two miles away.
Russia takes the title of the largest country in the world by landmass, comprising over 6.6 million square miles. That beats the runner-up nation, Canada, by about 3.8 million square miles!
What’s more, Russia includes nine different time zones, and shares land borders with 14 neighboring countries.
Cuba is 90 miles from Florida.
Cuba is just 90 miles from the southernmost point of the U.S., a concrete buoy aptly named the Southernmost Point Buoy in Key West, Florida. That’s awfully close, but Cuba is considered part of North America.
In 2015, President Barack Obama eased travel restrictions to the country, making it legal for American citizens to travel to Cuba for the first time since 1960.
French Polynesia is 2,700 miles from Hawaii.
French Polynesia’s closest U.S. neighbor is Hawaii. Still, these island groupings are a whopping 2,700 miles apart.
French Polynesia is an overseas country belonging to France. It’s made up of 118 islands including Bora Bora and Tahiti. French Polynesia is best known for its gorgeous beaches and incredible surfing waves.
Columbia is 1,400 nautical miles from the U.S.
Located in northern South America, Colombia is about 1,400 nautical miles from Key West, Florida.
Colombia has coastlines on both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The country is renowned for its beautiful landscapes including mountains, jungles, and beaches. Colombia is also home to one of the largest varieties of animal species on Earth.
Greenland is 2,300 miles from Maine.
From Maine in the Northeastern U.S. to Greenland’s most southern town, Nanortalik, the distance is about 2,300 miles.
Since it is a territory of Denmark, Greenland is sometimes considered part of Europe, but geographically it is considered part of North America.
Greenland is the world’s largest island. Unfortunately, it is shrinking, as Greenland’s ice sheet is melting due to climate change.
Test your travel trivia knowledge!
Do you love learning facts about the world? Then, you’ll love our travel trivia questions! Test your global knowledge with the questions below.
What is the largest country in Europe?
Which country has the most islands?
How long did it take to build the Golden Gate Bridge?
What was the first state in the USA?
Save this travel trivia question!
Want to stump your friends with this travel trivia question? Be sure to save this information about the country closest to the United States outside of North America. Simply pin the image above to Pinterest. We hope you’ll follow Travel Mamas on Pinterest while you’re at it!
Did you know Russia is the closest country to the U.S. outside North America? Which country did you think was closest to the USA? Tell us in the comments below!
Sorry the Bahamas is its own country. Duh.
The Bahamas is part of North America.
I disagree that 58 miles is too far to see Russia from Alaska. From Auckland, New Zealand it is quite easy to see Great Barrier Island some 50 miles to the north east. Auckland has hills of 600 feet and further west 1400 feet. Great Barrier rises to 2000 feet. So if Russia and Alaska have suitably high hills near the coast it should be possible.
You may be right, Leyland. Good point!
Siberia is visible from several points in Alaska, numerous web sites confirm this. Siberia is quite mountainous in its easternmost areas.
It’s either France (St. Pierre and Miquelon, just off the coast of Newfoundland, is an overseas collective of France – it uses the Euro), or Denmark, (who owns Greenland and is currently in a border dispute over Hans Island, up in the Arctic).
Isn’t Bimini (the Bahamas) much closer than Russia?
The Bahamas are part of North America.
All the answers are wrong. It’s the Bahamas.
The Bahamas is considered part of North America.
British Virgin Islands are how far from US Virgin Islands?
Less than a mile. This is the best answer to the question. The Virgin Islands are in a boundary zone between the North American continental plate and the Caribbean plate, which is to say, that are not actually part of either tectonic zone. So, outside of North America, even given the condition that Cuba is part of North America, the closest point of contact between US territory and foreign territory is the 1,125-yard-wide strait between St. John (part of the US Virgin Islands) and Great Thatch Island (part of the British Virgin Islands).
You got it, Peter. The UK is the closest to the United States. You can swim it.
Here’s a wild, crazy thought: LOOK AT A MAP!
That is a wild, crazy thought, Clark!
Well this is pretty easy considering the question says “outside North America” and only one of the countries is outside North America
Good point, Gavin! I updated the options.
Technically Guantamo on Cuba is US soil so basically I would say Cuba also although Russia is most correct. Did you know that you can travel from North Korea to Finland and only cross two countries. Russia and China.
You don’t need to cross TWO countries in order to travel from North Korea to Finland.
Just one 🙂
Same works for Norway, btw.
I was totally wrong. I had really thought that Cuba was the correct answer. I have been to Key West Florida and remember seeing the 90 miles to Cuba sign. I had no idea that Russia was even closer at 58 miles. That does sound strange when you say it out loud. Thanks for the brain teaser. Looking forward to more.
The answer is not Russia and Sarah Palin didn’t utter the nonsense. That was Tina Fey, playing Mrs. Palin. The answer is Bahamas. The town of West End, Grand Bahama Island is 55 miles from the West Palm Beach coastline.
In re-read the final explaination, I stand in error. My comment was not based on island to island distances. My statement was based on contagious land mass to another sovereign county. My apologies.