What country has the higest lowest point ?

[yojimbo]

Obviously this would be a consistantly high(above sea level) country but which one has the highest ?

[Chas.E]

WAG: Nepal.

[UncleBeer]

According to the CIA World Factbook, Rwanda has the highest low point at 950 meters (3117 ft) above sea level. Other notables are Andorra at 840 meters (2100 ft) and Armenia at 400 meters (1000 ft).

http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/elevation_extremes.html

[UncleBeer]

And since Chas snuck in there whilst I was typing my first reply, Nepal's low point is a mere 70 meters (175 ft).

[yojimbo]

Thank you.

Good site. :)

[Chas.E]

Interesting page, but I noticed this:

Lesotho:
lowest point: junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m

[Chas.E]

And hey, now that I think about it, how the HELL can the lowest point in a country be a river junction? Water doesn't flow uphill!

[Johanna]

And hey, now that I think about it, how the HELL can the lowest point in a country be a river junction? Water doesn't flow uphill! That river confluence is at the border of Lesotho. Downriver from there is outside the country.

[Ringo]

Is that river junction at the border?

[Ringo]

<sigh>

[LateComer]

Originally posted by Chas.E
And hey, now that I think about it, how the HELL can the lowest point in a country be a river junction? Water doesn't flow uphill!

This map (http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/CIA_Maps/Lesotho_19851.gif) and this map (http://www.mbendi.co.za/cylemps2.gif) show that these rivers intersect at the border, thus it makes sense for this to be the low point in the country.

[Coldfire]

Now, if yojimbo had asked the question the other way 'round, I'm sure my fair country The Netherlands would have made the Top Ten with our mightily intimidating Vaalserberg, with a whopping 321 metres above sea level. :)

[UncleBeer]

Good catch, Chas. Thanks for correcting me.

Coldie, I'd be willing to be there's a bunch of tiny little island nations that have lower high-points than your country.

Nauru:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location along plateau rim 61 m

Navassa Island:
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on southwest side 77 m

[Coldfire]

Yeah, I noticed those little buggers too, Unc. I even found one that had a highpoint of 1.8 metres. Sheesh, talk about showing off.

A nice little tidbit, also from your linked site: the Netherlands is slightly smaller than two times New Jersey. Remember that the next time you read we have 16 million inhabitants.

[hibernicus]

I think I remember the Maldives being in the Guinness Book of Records for the lowest highest point. I would have known Lesotho as well, if I had seen the OP on time! Anyway, the Netherlands is not even the lowest country in Europe, as far as I know. I think Denmark is even lower.

[Floater]

Originally posted by hibernicus
Anyway, the Netherlands is not even the lowest country in Europe, as far as I know. I think Denmark is even lower.

The highest peak in the Danish Alps, Yding Skovhøj, measures a staggering 173 metres above sea level

[hibernicus]

Originally posted by Coldfire
I even found one that had a highpoint of 1.8 metres.

I'm not sure this is possible. At least in Ireland we measure altitude from an Ordnance Datum which refers to spring low water on a certain date. An island whose highest point was 1.8 m above low water would be maybe 2 to 5 m below sea level at high tide.

[Colibri]

Most countries use "mean sea level," which is the mean of mean high tide and mean low tide. This site (http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/database/Geography/9810/g00138d.html), says the UK does it differently from the way you describe it for Ireland.

Tides differ globally too, and are especially affected by coastal configurations. I think most oceanic islands have fairly small tides.

According to the Fact Book linked to above, the Maldive Islands in the Indian Ocean seems to be the country with the lowest high point, 2.4 m, although a few island possessions like Howland Island are as low as 1 m. This indicates the tides there must be minimal.

[flodnak]

Originally posted by Floater
The highest peak in the Danish Alps, Yding Skovhøj, measures a staggering 173 metres above sea level.
The highest point in Denmark is the top of one of the towers supporting the bridge across Storebælten :D

[UncleBeer]

And hey, now that I think about it, how the HELL can the lowest point in a country be a river junction? Water doesn't flow uphill!
And now that I think about it, this is still a good question. I mean, those rivers must be contained in something. Wouldn't the riverbank necessarily be higher than the river itself?

[Friday]

Originally posted by UncleBeer
And hey, now that I think about it, how the HELL can the lowest point in a country be a river junction? Water doesn't flow uphill!
And now that I think about it, this is still a good question. I mean, those rivers must be contained in something. Wouldn't the riverbank necessarily be higher than the river itself?

The river bank is higher than the river, but since we're looking for the highest lowest point, it's immaterial. Think about it.

[UncleBeer]

Whack! Of course. Color me stupid.

[The Rat]

...has anyone else driven through Everglades National Park to Flamingo? There's a point on the road that tops out somewhere about a metre above sea level. Someone, obviously with a wry sense of humour, has named it on the map as 'Rock Reef Pass'.

[wolfman]

According to the CIA World Factbook, Rwanda has the highest low point at 950 meters (3117 ft) above sea level

The lowest point in Colorado is 3350ft. Now I just need to convince everyone else that it's worth secceding for, and we will hold the record. :)

[Arnold Winkelried]

Good find UncleBeer! If the question had been asked in 1949, before the Chinese invasion of Tibet, I bet the answer would have been Tibet. I haven't found a site that mentions the lowest elevation in Tibet yet, but I'm still looking.

I was disappointed to see that Switzerland wasn't even in the top three! Or maybe I didn't read the site right. I will also report on Switzerland's ranking when I come back.

[hibernicus]

Originally posted by Colibri
Most countries use "mean sea level," which is the mean of mean high tide and mean low tide. This site (http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/database/Geography/9810/g00138d.html), says the UK does it differently from the way you describe it for Ireland.

I've been searching for a cite for my description, and so far it's inconclusive. All I can say is that it was correct in 1930, according to this fascinating document (http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Contrib/manx/iomnhas/v034p388.htm), which says:

"The Datum for the Isle of Man was established on the same principle as that of Liverpool (for Great Britain), i.e., both were established from Mean Sea Level.

The Ordnance Datum for Ireland differs from that for the Isle of Man and Liverpool, the Irish Datum being established from the Low Water of Spring Tides."

Things may well have changed since 1930, but even the maps of my childhood were based on a spring low water at Dublin Port from sometime in the 1830s. If they changed to mean sea level since then, all the mountains would have lost a couple of metres in height.

[hibernicus]

Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried
I haven't found a site that mentions the lowest elevation in Tibet yet, but I'm still looking.

From Hello Tibet (http://www.hellotibet.com/english/whattibet/whattibet-Geography.htm):
The lowest point in Tibet is near the great bend of the Yarlong Tsangpo as it turns southward towards India. Annoyingly, this site does not actually state the altitude of this location.
Other sites of varying credibility mention 11,000 feet, 11,500 or 12,000 feet as the lowest altitude, but this site (http://www.greenkiwi.co.nz/footprints/frames/vh.htm) claims that part of Tibet is below 3,000 m.
With an altitude less than 3,000m it is one of the lowest places in all Tibet, and a climate that is ‘almost-tropical’ in the minds of wind-swept Tibetans from their high plateau.
The beauty of the internet: you can find as many answers as you want, one of which may be correct.

[scratch1300]

Originally posted by UncleBeer

Coldie, I'd be willing to be there's a bunch of tiny little island nations that have lower high-points than your country.

Navassa Island:
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on southwest side 77 m



Nation? Navassa is an untenanted island owned by the United States.