# Where is the lowest part of the earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 27, 2008, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-lowest-part-of-the-earth/461408 "2008-08-27T12:08:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-lowest-part-of-the-earth/461408/1 "2008-08-27T12:08:11Z")
Common sense says that it’s the bottom of the Marianas Trench, but is that actually correct? The Earth isn’t a sphere, so are parts of the Arctic or Antarctic closer to the centre of the Earth? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-lowest-part-of-the-earth/461408/2 "2008-08-27T12:34:04Z")
So you’re actually asking, “What point on the surface of the lithosphere is closest to the centre of the Earth\>”? I think it needs to be phrased that way since by implication it makes no whit of difference whether the point in question is exposed to air or underwater. It’s the reverse of the question about the world’s highest mountain, as opposed to tallest or greatest altitude above sea level, to which the answer is a volcano in Ecuador. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-lowest-part-of-the-earth/461408/3 "2008-08-27T15:48:28Z")
[google](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_points_of_the_world) ---
**Author:** ![T\_SQUARE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@T\_SQUARE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T_SQUARE)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-lowest-part-of-the-earth/461408/4 "2008-08-27T16:55:00Z")
[QUOTE=TokyoPlayer] [google](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_points_of_the_world) [/QUOTE] Your link doesn’t really answer the question. ---
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-lowest-part-of-the-earth/461408/5 "2008-08-27T17:10:22Z")
[QUOTE=T\_SQUARE] Your link doesn’t really answer the question. [/QUOTE] This is from the link: The point closest to the Earth’s centre (~6,353 km (3,948 mi)) is probably somewhere at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean (depth ~4 km (2 mi)) near the Geographic North Pole (the bottom of the Mariana Trench is 6,366.4 km (3,956 mi) from the centre of the Earth). ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-lowest-part-of-the-earth/461408/6 "2008-08-27T18:26:37Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] So you’re actually asking, “What point on the surface of the lithosphere is closest to the centre of the Earth\>”? [/QUOTE] Ah yes. Thank you. And **iggins** highlights the answer which I didn’t spot when I read that page. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-lowest-part-of-the-earth/461408/7 "2008-08-27T18:50:26Z")
As I recall, some years ago the Guinness book of world records had a listing for the lowest bar in the world - in Death Valley or some such. They then listed an alternate “lowest bar”, citing a dive that had been raided some ungodly number of times… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-lowest-part-of-the-earth/461408/8 "2008-08-27T20:57:05Z")
Nah, air pressure is lower the higher you get. So the lowest bar would be on the top of a mountain, not in a deep valley. ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-lowest-part-of-the-earth/461408/9 "2008-08-27T21:06:18Z")
Though not exactly what you were asking, the lowest _unsubmerged_ point on earth is somewhere in Israel iirc. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-lowest-part-of-the-earth/461408/10 "2008-08-27T22:46:07Z")
[QUOTE=5-HT] Though not exactly what you were asking, the lowest _unsubmerged_ point on earth is somewhere in Israel iirc. [/QUOTE] The Dead Sea, right? ---
**Author:** ![T\_SQUARE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@T\_SQUARE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T_SQUARE)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-lowest-part-of-the-earth/461408/11 "2008-08-27T23:27:22Z")
I read that, I just meant that ‘probably somewhere in the Arctic Ocean’ isn’t all that satisfactory. Tokyo Player’s sugestion to google it makes it sound like the OP’s question was of the nature of “What is the country between Spain and France” [QUOTE=Iggins] This is from the link: The point closest to the Earth’s centre (~6,353 km (3,948 mi)) is probably somewhere at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean (depth ~4 km (2 mi)) near the Geographic North Pole (the bottom of the Mariana Trench is 6,366.4 km (3,956 mi) from the centre of the Earth). [/QUOTE]