| Owing to its early founding, Boston is very compact. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 89.6 square miles (232.1 km²)— 48.4 square miles (125.4 km²) of it is land and 41.2 square miles (106.7 km²) (46.0%) of it is water. This compares with cities of comparable population such as Denver at 154.9 square miles (401 km²) and Charlotte, North Carolina at 280.5 square miles (726 km²). Of United States cities over 500,000, only San Francisco and Washington, D.C. were smaller in size. Boston's official elevation, as measured at Logan International Airport, is 19 feet (5.8 m) above sea level.[23] The highest point in Boston is Bellevue Hill at 330 feet (101 m) above sea level, while the lowest point is at sea level.[24] Boston is bordered by the cities and towns of Winthrop, Revere, Chelsea, Everett, Somerville, Cambridge, Watertown, Newton, Brookline, Needham, Dedham, Canton, Milton, and Quincy—often known as, and considered a part of, Greater Boston.Much of the Back Bay and South End are built on reclaimed land—all of the earth from two of Boston's three original hills, the "trimount", were used as a source of material for landfill. Only Beacon... |
