No.

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.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
The Maine Trust for Local News partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
Sources
- EveryCRSReport.com (American Governance Institute): U.S. Coastline
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Shoreline Mileage of the United States
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: How long is the U.S. shoreline?
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