The Closest Point on Earth to the Stars!
When we think about the highest mountain on Earth, Mount Everest in the Himalayas, on the border of Nepal and China, usually comes to mind. At 8,849 meters (29,032 feet) above sea level, Everest is indeed the highest mountain in the world when measured from sea level.
But there is another fascinating question:
Which point on Earth’s surface is farthest from the center of Earth?
The answer is Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador, South America, located near the equator.
And surprisingly, its summit is farther from Earth’s center than the summit of Mount Everest.
Why Is Mount Chimborazo Farther from Earth's Center?
The reason comes down to Earth’s shape and rotation.
Earth is not a perfect sphere. Its rotation creates a centrifugal effect that causes the planet to bulge slightly around the equator and become somewhat flattened at the poles.
Think of Earth as a slightly squashed ball rather than a perfectly round ball.
Mount Chimborazo is located in Ecuador, only about one degree south of the equator. Because of its location near the equatorial bulge, the mountain’s summit starts out farther from Earth’s center than mountains located farther from the equator.
This gives Chimborazo a surprising advantage when measuring distance from the center of Earth.(See above image)
Chimborazo vs. Mount Everest
Mount Everest is much higher above sea level than Mount Chimborazo.
- Mount Everest: 8,849 m (29,032 ft) above sea level
- Mount Chimborazo: about 6,268 m (20,564 ft) above sea level
Yet Chimborazo’s summit is approximately 2.1 km (1.3 miles) farther from Earth’s center than Everest’s summit.
So although Everest is the highest mountain above sea level, Chimborazo’s summit is the farthest point on Earth’s surface from Earth’s center.
That is why Mount Chimborazo is often described as the closest point on Earth to the stars. (See above image)
Is Mount Chimborazo the Highest Mountain?
That depends on how you measure “highest.”
If you measure from sea level, Mount Everest wins.
If you measure the distance from Earth’s center, Mount Chimborazo wins.
And there is another interesting way to measure a mountain: from its true base to its summit.
That brings us to Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
Mauna Kea: Taller from Base to Summit
Mauna Kea is a volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island, but much of the mountain is hidden beneath the Pacific Ocean.
If you measure Mauna Kea from its underwater base on the ocean floor all the way to its summit, it rises approximately 10,210 meters (33,500 feet).
That makes Mauna Kea taller than Everest when measured from base to peak. (See above image)
So we have three different records:
Mount Everest
Highest above sea level
8,849 m (29,032 ft)
Mount Chimborazo
Farthest point from Earth’s center
About 2.1 km (1.3 miles) farther from Earth’s center than Everest
Mauna Kea
Tallest from base to summit
About 10,210 m (33,500 ft)
Want to learn more through visual storytelling? Check out our detailed 3D explanation blog on Why Do We Always See the Same Side of the Moon? Tidal Locking Explained with 3D visuals
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