# "geographical center of the US" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-center-of-the-us/283384 "2005-01-06T14:09:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![galt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-center-of-the-us/283384/21 "2005-01-07T03:18:22Z")
As long as we’re modeling things in threespace, mapped onto a sphere, we might as well throw elevation data in there. Even if we still assume a uniform thickness, there’s more material of that uniform thickness needed in order to construct a square mile of mountainous terrain versus a square mile of prairie. And of course we’d get yet another answer if we **didn’t** assume uniform thickness, but rather weighed in all the material down to the center of the earth. Take the solid formed by cutting at the borders all the way to the center of the earth (down to a point) and find the center of gravity of that object. The spot directly above this CG is the answer. Wait, do we assume uniform density too? There’s gold in some of them thar hills, you know. 🙂 There are dozens of different ways you could reasonably define “center” that would come up with different answers. How about, “the spot that is the furthest from any border” for a potentially wildly different one? ---
**Author:** ![galt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-center-of-the-us/283384/22 "2005-01-07T03:28:35Z")
> [@Weeks](#): > > Somalia is a toughie. The western border of the country is a north-south line. > Picking a “westernmost” point is impossible. > Also it’s northernmost point and it’s eastermost point, being about 3 feet from each other, would seem to skew the results toward the NE corner of the country. Well, you also get different results from **caveman’s** method #5 and the method where you’d draw a vertical line halfway between the eastern and western boundaries, and a horizontal line halfway between the northern and southern boundaries and find their intersection. But I favor methods which would give the same results no matter which way you oriented the coordinate system, which neither of those methods would do. BTW, it’s easy to come up with a trapezoid where, using **caveman’s** method #5, the “center” is at one of the corners. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-center-of-the-us/283384/23 "2005-01-07T11:31:36Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > According to that article, the geographic center of the EU is in the village of Kleinmaischeid, Germany, using recently expanded membership (25 countries). Hmm. Looks like my eyeballing was a bit off. That seems surprisingly far west, to me. [Map here](http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=1000000&Y=7000000.93192249&width=500&height=300&gride=846804&gridn=6502526.93192249&srec=0&coordsys=mercator&db=DE&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=kleinmaischeid&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&zm=1&scale=20000000). ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-center-of-the-us/283384/24 "2005-01-07T15:21:14Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I’ve [been](http://www.sunspace.org/hub2.gif) to the site in North Dakota, during a road trip. It’s across the road from the Hub Motel. 🙂 Been there too. I like the fact that the monument is in a Conoco Gas station Parking lot. At least it was in 1989. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-center-of-the-us/283384/25 "2005-01-07T15:47:08Z")
In the book **Tuva or Bust!** (highlighting the late Richard Feynmann’s quest to visit that storied land in Central Asia), he and Ralph Leighton calculated the “center of Asia” by the balancing method. There is a monument in Tuva marking the spot, though it is not the same place Feymann and Leighton calculated. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-center-of-the-us/283384/26 "2005-01-07T16:04:10Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > In the book **Tuva or Bust!** (highlighting the late Richard Feynmann’s quest to visit that storied land in Central Asia), he and Ralph Leighton calculated the “center of Asia” by the balancing method. There is a monument in Tuva marking the spot, though it is not the same place Feymann and Leighton calculated. [aside] You might want to rent the documentary [Genghis Blues](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187859/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD1vbnxwbj0wfHE9Z2VuZ2hpcyBibHVlc3xodG1sPTF8bm09b24_;fc=1;ft=1). Feynman’s Friends of Tuva funded the adventure. He apparently appears in archive footage. Great Movie. [/aside] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-center-of-the-us/283384.md?page=1)