An Ecuadorian volcano of only 6,268 metres stands further from the planet's centre than any other summit
Chimborazo, one degree south of the Equator, where the bulge is greatest
Geography · Records & extremes
Furthest point from Earth's centre
Ecuador — the Andes, one degree south of the Equator
Everest is the highest mountain above sea level, but sea level is not a sphere. Because the Earth bulges at the Equator, the summit that stands furthest from the planet's centre is Chimborazo, an inactive volcano in Ecuador only 6,268 metres above sea level — some 2,072 metres further out than Everest's summit. It is the closest solid ground on Earth to space, and a third mountain, Mauna Kea, is the tallest measured from its own base.
How to spot them
- ▸The answer to 'what is the highest point on Earth?' when you measure from the centre rather than from the sea
- ▸Quiz clue: 'equatorial bulge', 'oblate spheroid', 'Humboldt 1802', 'Ecuador', 'closest point to the stars'
- ▸A mountain barely 6,268 m high that beats one of 8,849 m
- ▸Humboldt tried and failed to climb it in 1802, setting an altitude record that stood for decades
Key facts
It wins by about 2,072 metres over the world's highest mountain
NOAA's figure; the equatorial radius exceeds the polar radius by roughly 21 km
The reason is that the planet is an oblate spheroid, flattened by its own rotation
Centrifugal effect leaves the Equator about 21 km further from the centre than the poles
Alexander von Humboldt attempted it in 1802 and reached about 5,875 m before turning back (1802)
He believed it was the highest mountain in the world; his altitude record stood for some thirty years
Measured from its own base on the sea floor, a third mountain beats them both at over 10,000 m
Mauna Kea in Hawaii, more than 10,210 m from base to summit but only 4,207 m above sea level
Its rival for the title within its own country is the nearby volcano Cayambe, which sits on the Equator itself
Cayambe is lower, so it loses; it is the only snow-capped point on the Equator
Quick-fire facts
- •Chimborazo's summit is about 6,384 km from Earth's centre; Everest's is about 6,382 km
- •NOAA puts Chimborazo at 6,268 m above sea level and 2,072 m further from the centre than Everest
- •The Earth's equatorial radius is about 6,378 km and its polar radius about 6,357 km — a difference of some 21 km
- •Everest, at 8,849 m, remains the highest point above mean sea level
- •Mauna Kea, rising over 10,210 m from the Pacific floor, is the tallest mountain measured base to summit
- •Chimborazo is an inactive stratovolcano in Ecuador, last erupting around AD 550
- •Humboldt's 1802 attempt reached roughly 5,875 m and held the human altitude record for about three decades
- •Common misconception: this does not make Chimborazo 'the world's highest mountain' — three different measures give three different winners, depending on the datum
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Sources
- NOAA National Ocean Service — What is the highest point on Earth as measured from Earth's center?
- Alexander von Humboldt — Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America Humboldt's account of the 1802 ascent