Geographical centre
Encyclopedia
In geography
, the centroid
of the two-dimensional shape of region of the Earth's surface is often known as its geographical centre. There has long been debate over the methods of calculation of the geographical centres of various countries and regions, such as whether to include offshore islands, and in that case, if the islands should be moved towards the mainland, making it possible to build a connected 2D model of the country and identify the geographical centre as the centre of gravity (equilibrium point) using a needle. An alternative to defining the geographical centre as the centroid is to define it as the point farthest from the boundary of the country (either the sea, or, in the case of constituent countries, a land border). These methods give quite different answers.
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
, the centroid
Centroid
In geometry, the centroid, geometric center, or barycenter of a plane figure or two-dimensional shape X is the intersection of all straight lines that divide X into two parts of equal moment about the line. Informally, it is the "average" of all points of X...
of the two-dimensional shape of region of the Earth's surface is often known as its geographical centre. There has long been debate over the methods of calculation of the geographical centres of various countries and regions, such as whether to include offshore islands, and in that case, if the islands should be moved towards the mainland, making it possible to build a connected 2D model of the country and identify the geographical centre as the centre of gravity (equilibrium point) using a needle. An alternative to defining the geographical centre as the centroid is to define it as the point farthest from the boundary of the country (either the sea, or, in the case of constituent countries, a land border). These methods give quite different answers.
- Geographical centre of EuropeGeographical centre of EuropeThe location of the geographical centre of Europe depends on the definition of the borders of Europe, mainly whether remote islands are included to define the extreme points of Europe, and on the method of calculating the final result...
- Geographical centre of Austria
- Geographical centre of Belgium
- Geographical centre of IrelandGeographical centre of IrelandThe geographical centre of Ireland is where the 8° Meridian West meets the 53°30' North Latitude in the townland of Carnagh East, County Roscommon on the western shore of Lough Ree, opposite the Cribby Islands and 8.85 kilometres NNW of Athlone Town....
- Geographical centre of Lithuania
- Centre of NorwayCentre of NorwayThe geographical centre of Norway has been identified as a spot in the Ogndalsfjella in the southeastern part of the municipality of Steinkjer in Nord-Trøndelag county, located at . A monument marking the significance of the spot was unveiled in a ceremony on 3 September 2006. It is hoped that...
- Centre of Poland
- Geographical centre of SloveniaGeometric Centre of the Republic of SloveniaGeometric Centre of the Republic of Slovenia is the geometric centre of Slovenia. Its geographic coordinates are . It lies in Spodnja Slivna near Vače in the municipality of Litija and is marked by a memorial stone since 4 July 1982. In 2003, Slovenia adopted an act about the GEOSS.- External...
- Geographical center of SwedenGeographical center of SwedenThe geographical center of Sweden is contested amongst at least two locations.The oldest and most famous geographical center of Sweden is Flataklocken, a spot next to Lake Munkby in Ånge, Medelpad at . The site was identified in 1947 after an initiative by the newspaperman Gustaf von Platen...
- Geographical centre of SwitzerlandGeographical centre of SwitzerlandThe geographical centre of Switzerland has the coordinates . It is located at Älggi-Alp in the municipality of Sachseln, Obwalden. The point is the centre of mass determined in 1988 by Swisstopo....
- Centre points of the United KingdomCentre points of the United KingdomThere has long been debate over the exact location of the geographical centre of the United Kingdom, and its constituent countries, due to the complexity and method of the calculation, such as whether to include offshore islands, and the fact that erosion will cause the position to change over time...
- Centre of ScotlandCentre of ScotlandThere is some debate as to the location of the geographical centre of Scotland. This is due to different methods of calculating the centre, and whether surrounding islands are included....
- Centre of Scotland
- Geographical centre of New Zealand
- Geographical centre of the Russian Federation
- Geographic centers of the United StatesGeographic centers of the United StatesThis is a list of geographic centers of each U.S. state. Note that the geographical center of the entire U.S. is northeast of Belle Fourche in Butte County, South Dakota , while that of the contiguous 48 is near Lebanon in Smith County, Kansas...
and its states- Geographic center of the contiguous United StatesGeographic Center of the Contiguous United StatesOne of the locations claimed to be the Geographic Center of the Contiguous United States is pinpointed by a historical marker that is located within a small park near the town of Lebanon, Kansas. It is located at the intersection of AA Road and K-191, accessible by a turn-off from U.S...
- Geographic center of the contiguous United States