Where Are The Real Geographical Centers Of All The Continents?

The ancient Greeks believed that the city of Delphi was the Omphalos, the navel of the planet, the very middle of the world. In general, humans do like to find the center of things; it confuses us when there is none. The surface of our planet, being close to the surface of a sphere, doesn’t have a middle, but it has many interesting points and lines, some physical, others arbitrary. Our planet’s continents definitely have a center point, but finding each is not always easy.

There is complexity in measuring what a middle is; there are changing international borders, there are semantics to be discussed (is Europe truly a different continent from Asia?), and there is local interest, too. All together, that makes a wonderful, very human, mess. Back in the 1960s, the United States Geological Survey stated: “There is no generally accepted definition of geographic center, and no completely satisfactory method for determining it.” So come with us as we explore the Omphalos of our seven continents (even that number is not totally set in stone), in their more commonly accepted versions, with lots of caveats.

Antarctica

Well, it is not exactly clear. There are a few claims that it is near the South Pole (very convenient), but we couldn’t find any backed claims. Maybe if the penguins were to care about geography as we do, we’d know by now.

Asia

Let’s get immediately into international politics. There are two competing sites for this primacy: One is in Russia, near a town called Kyzyl, where a monument was erected in 1968 to mark it as the center of Asia. But not so fast! In 1992, a different estimate placed the center of Asia in China, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southwest of the town of Ürümqi. A village that existed there was relocated, and a new village now exists at the site of the monument called the Heart of Asia.

Australia

It is easier to find your geographical middle if you only need to deal with one nation. Still, there are plenty of methods to find the geographical center. Do you look from the furthest point from the map or the median between the extremes? The more broadly accepted place, Lambert Centre, used 24,500 coastline points at high tide to create an accurate map of Australia before using the center of gravity of that figure to work out where the middle is. It is located at these coordinates: 25°36′36.4″S 134°21′17.3″E.

Africa

As far as we can tell online, there is not much fighting between countries when it comes to where the geographical center is. Several places, including World Atlas, place it near the city of Epena in Cameroon. It is not clear which method was used to estimate this location, but at least there are no two competing monuments… or many more, like in Europe.  

Europe

Just like a monorail in Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook, being the geographical center of a continent puts you on the map! Two places are claiming to be the European center in Germany, including the city of Dresden, two in Poland, and one each in Sweden, Slovakia, Belarus, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Estonia, and Ukraine… there are enough places claiming to be the center of Europe that you’d need weeks to see them all. It is funny to see how many times scientists from a specific country found that the center of Europe was in their own country after all. What a marvellous coincidence!

The one considered the official one, however, is located in Lithuania, near the village of Girija, using the center of gravity of a geometrical figure of Europe. The scientists working on this were French.

North America

For a long time, the center of the continent was considered to be the town of Rugby, in North Dakota. It has a monument that says so and everything. Then, almost a decade ago, a bar in the city of Robinson (158 kilometers/98 miles south of Rugby) claimed primacy with the bar owner, Bill Bender, stating: “We have as much claim to it as anybody does,” – which indeed wraps the arbitrariness of it all in a wonderful bow.

Unfortunately for both of them, a new method by geography professor Peter Rogerson suggested that neither claim is right. The center is still in North Dakota, but in a town called Center (named for being the center of the county, not for anything grander), 230 kilometers (143 miles) south of Rugby. I’m afraid it’s over for the Rugby and Robinson. The center of the continent being in a town called Center is too wonderful a fact for people to remember anything else.

South America

The exact center of South America was calculated in 1909 and is located in the center of the city of Cuiaba in Brazil. Very convenient to be in the city center already. More accurate measurements in the 1990s placed it 45 kilometers (28 miles) northeast of the city. Still, not much drama, so it is good enough for us.