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3. What is the highest point on Earth as measured from Earth's center?

**What is the highest point on Earth as measured from Earth's center?**  The top of **Mount Chimborazo** is farther from the Earth's center than Mount Everest. illustration of tallest mountains*The highest point above Earth’s center is the peak of Ecuador’s Mount Chimborazo, located just one degree south of the Equator where Earth’s bulge is greatest.*| Infographic Text **What does this have to do with the OCEAN service?** *The National Geodetic Survey (part of the National Ocean Service) measures and monitors our ever-changing planet by mapping its gravity field and determining the precise location of points on Earth’s surface. Measurements of the Earth contribute to a wide range of important activities, including mapping and charting, navigation, flood risk determination, transportation, land use, and ecosystem management.*
 Mount  Everest, located in Nepal and Tibet, is usually said to be the highest mountain  on Earth. Reaching **8,848  meters**	at its summit, Everest is indeed the highest point above global mean  sea level—the average level for the ocean surface from which elevations are  measured. But the summit of Mt. Everest is not the  farthest point from Earth’s*center*. Earth  is not a perfect sphere,  but is a bit thicker at the Equator due to the centrifugal force created by the  planet’s constant rotation. Because of this, the highest point above Earth’s  center is the peak of Ecuador’s Mount Chimborazo, located just one degree south  of the Equator where Earth’s bulge is greatest. The summit of Chimborazo is  **6,268 meters** 		above sea  level. However, due to the Earth’s bulge, the summit of Chimborazo is over **2,072 meters**  
				farther from the  center of the Earth than Everest’s peak. That makes Chimborazo the closest  point on Earth to the stars. You  may be surprised to learn that Everest is not the tallest mountain on Earth,  either. That honor belongs to Mauna Kea, a volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii.  Mauna Kea originates deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, and rises more than **10,210 meters**  from base to peak.    Infographic Transcript: Highest mountain on Earth? The answer is debatable. Mount Everest's peak is the highest altitude above mean sea level at 29,029 feet [8,848  meters].
					Mount Chimborazo's peak is the furthest point on Earth from Earth's center. The summit is over 6,800 feet [2,072 meters] farther from Earth's center than Mount Everest's summit.
					Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain from base to peak at more than 33,500 feet [10,210 meters].
 More **Information** Download Infographic National Geodetic Survey Is the Earth Round? What is the geoid?   Get **Social** Social
  **Last updated:** 01/18/24 **Author:** NOAA How to cite this article Contact Us


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