# Other Cities below Sea Level? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 7, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459 "2005-09-07T02:19:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Future\_days](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cab0a1/32.png) [@Future\_days](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_days)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459/21 "2005-09-07T18:50:14Z")
I shall repeat, the original post DID NOT ASK what seas were below sea level, it was what CITIES!!! ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459/22 "2005-09-07T19:06:39Z")
> [@Future days](#): > > I shall repeat, the original post DID NOT ASK what seas were below sea level, it was what CITIES!!! It did say “For extra credit, what other places (besides Death Valley and the Dead Sea) are below sea level?” ---
**Author:** ![Future\_days](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cab0a1/32.png) [@Future\_days](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_days)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459/23 "2005-09-07T19:09:24Z")
So why are people going for the extra credit before answering the main question? ---
**Author:** ![squeekster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/779978/32.png) [@squeekster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeekster)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459/24 "2005-09-07T19:26:20Z")
> [@Future days](#): > > So why are people going for the extra credit before answering the main question? It has been. See posts #4 & 6 above. Also, thanks to **BobT** and **Colibri** for answering my question. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459/25 "2005-09-07T19:38:43Z")
> [@Future days](#): > > So why are people going for the extra credit before answering the main question? Because this Board is filled with overachievers? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459/26 "2005-09-07T19:47:33Z")
Risking further junior-mod wrath, a third of the land in Britain’s Broads national park is below sea level. ---
**Author:** ![Future\_days](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cab0a1/32.png) [@Future\_days](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_days)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459/27 "2005-09-07T20:05:59Z")
> [@squeekster](#): > > It has been. See posts #4 & 6 above. > > Also, thanks to **BobT** and **Colibri** for answering my question. 🙂 Yes but that’s only US places. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459/28 "2005-09-07T20:14:22Z")
So, how much of the _ocean_ is below sea level? Or, above? (Not such a stupid question as it may seem.) ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459/29 "2005-09-07T20:22:25Z")
Lake Assal, Djibouti, is 512 ft below sea level. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459/30 "2005-09-07T21:01:53Z")
> [@Future days](#): > > I shall repeat, the original post DID NOT ASK what seas were below sea level, it was what CITIES!!! ARRRGHHHH!!! OH NO!!! TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: You might as well get used to the fact that on the Straight Dope, you often get more than you asked for. Sometimes much, much more. 😛 Since you’re not the OP, why are you getting so perturbed about this? ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459/31 "2005-09-07T22:12:00Z")
I was curious how sea-level actually got defined…is it the median point of the tide levels? Is it a fixed reference? Is it ideally spherical, or is the earth’s slightly flattened nature taken into account? Apparantly there is a lot of hand-waving involved with determining sea level: [Sea Level on Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_level) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459/32 "2005-09-08T00:04:24Z")
Large chunks of the older parts of Venice Italy are below sea level now. What used to be ground floors of some buildings are now “extremely wet” basements. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459/33 "2005-09-08T00:53:36Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > I was curious how sea-level actually got defined…is it the median point of the tide levels? Is it a fixed reference? Is it ideally spherical, or is the earth’s slightly flattened nature taken into account? > > Apparantly there is a lot of hand-waving involved with determining sea level: > > [Sea Level on Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_level) There has to be a lot of hand-waving in sea level because it is not consistent. The Western Pacific/East Asian coast sea level is a few meters higher than the Eastern Pacific/Western North American coast sea level. In Panama, sea level on the Atlantic side is slightly higher than sea level on the Pacific side. This varies over time because in addition to the effects of the rotation of the Earth, wind patterns also play a role. Sea level in the United States has been determined by using the average of hourly measurements in different places around the country over a 19-year period (due to the cycles in the Moon’s orbit around the Earth). ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459/34 "2005-09-08T00:58:02Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > In Panama, sea level on the Atlantic side is slightly higher than sea level on the Pacific side. My bad… other way around. Sea level is slightly higher on the **Pacific** side due to wind patterns and ocean currents. My apologies, please carry on. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459/35 "2005-09-08T03:52:54Z")
Rotterdam is below sea level. Depending on the tide Venice is below sea level. ---
**Author:** ![Jojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecd19e/32.png) [@Jojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jojo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459/36 "2005-09-08T05:43:11Z")
[London](http://www.nbu.ac.uk/iccuk/indicators/10.htm) is below sea level, or at least, over 150 square kms of it is during high tide. And high tides are getting higher - according to historical records of high tide levels the whole south east of England is tilting downwards by 30 cm a century, whilst the north of the country is getting higher. This is occurring because of a phenomenon called [post-glacial rebound](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isostatic_rebound) whereby those areas that were weighed down by ice during the ice age are bouncing back. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cities-below-sea-level/320459.md?page=1)