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The Center Seat
by Joe McCollum
Introduction
Kirk: "I'm taking the center seat." -- Star Trek, The Motion Picture.
Did you ever wonder where the center seat really was? That question has
perplexed your humble analyst in recent weeks in the particular form of where are the geographic
centers of the continents? This question appeared on the MAPS-L mailing list recently. Let us see what some of the experts say.
The Controversy
In Academia, Dr. Eva Elisabet (Lisa) Rutström of the University of South
Carolina has placed the geographic center of Europe in the Czech Republic:
Situated in the geographic center of Europe, the Czech Republic has faced
dramatic political and economic changes since its independence from Soviet
communist rule in 1989, and the peaceful dissolution of the Czech/Slovak
Federation in 1993.
Meanwhile, Syracuse University invites its students to study in Strasbourg,
France, because
Strasbourg is an ideal place to study international relations because it is
located in the geographic center of Europe and is home to the Council of
Europe.
However, Ocean County College of New Jersey suggests that its students
study in Heidelberg, Germany, because it is the
cradle of German Romanticism, site of the oldest German University, known
for its spectacular setting and incomparable beauty, situated in the
geographic center of Europe with easy access to several countries.
Ethnic interest groups weigh in on this topic as well. For instance, the
Lithuanian-American Community, Inc., maintains that
With the geographic center of Europe just 15 miles north of Lithuania's
capital Vilnius, Lithuania is often referred to as the "Crossroads of
Europe".
While Slovakia.org maintains that
The Slovak Republic is located at the precise geographic center of Europe.
Hence, this Central European country is referred to as the "Country at the
Heart of Europe."
The American Swiss Foundation says that
Throughout the Cold War years Switzerland was viewed by the United States
as being at the vital geographic center of Europe.
The Polish American Journal is polite enough to supply an algorithm:
The town of Suchowola in northeastern Bialystok voivodship (province) is
situated at the very geographic center of Europe. That is the place where a
line, drawn from a point in Finland in the north to Greece in the south,
transects a line from the Ural Mountains in the east and the Atlantic Ocean
to the west.
The intelligence community has its opinions as well. A position paper by
the North American Treaty Organization puts this strategic point in the
Ukraine:
Besides obvious negative consequences to the internal security,
environmental concerns have also important international implications,
especially if to consider country's location at the geographic center of
Europe, its boundaries with nine European states and direct access to the
Black Sea and Asov Sea areas, inhabited by 160 million of people.
The National Defense University offers a more general definition:
The proposal included a measure to ensure that under an adapted
treaty--even in the context of NATO's enlargement--no increase in ground
equipment would be permitted on the territory of states at the geographic
center of Europe (Belarus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia,
Ukraine outside the flank, and the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian
Federation).
However, 'Terminal Compromise', by Winn Schwartau points his fulcrum into
Austria:
Vienna is not only the geographic center of Europe - for 45 years
it has been the geopolitical center as well.
The tourism industry has its opinions too. The Grand Hotel Esplanade
Berlin claims to be in the center of the continent:
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and lies in the geographic center of
Europe on the north-south axis between Copenhagen and Vienna in the heart
of Europe.
However, the Best Western Aletti Palace Hotel in Vichy, France,
counterattacks with this claim:
The glamorous and charming Vichy offers the opportunity to live in the
geographic center of Europe, three hours from Paris and only, two hours
from Lyon.
On the other hand, hotels-europe.com puts the neutral ground in the Magyar
Republic:
Situated on a plain near the geographic center of Europe, Hungary has been
the meeting place and battleground of many peoples, and its heterogeneous
population was often the cause of social upheaval before 1919.
Meanwhile, Fred Plotkin of the New York Times, in a July 15, 1999 edition
of the New York Times, puts the critical point in Italy:
There is a place, at the very geographic center of Europe, that is home to
one of the most refined food and wine cultures in the world...
Friuli-Venezia Giulia is the tiny region on the far northeast fringe of
Italy where Europe's three principal cultures -- Latin, Slavic and Germanic
-- converge.
The business community has its opinions as well. PhoenixHecht.com says that
Belgium is a small country located in the geographic center of Europe.
While DEMKO, now owned by Underwriters Laboratories, says that
Denmark is located near the geographic center of Europe and is home to 5.2
million people.
Finally, everyday people have their opinions, too. On geocities.com, Olga
E.Vysotskaya claims that
This site is for everyone interested in numerous mysteries of the country
called Belarus. This unique and beautiful land is located in the
geographic center of Europe, connecting ancient lands of the East and the
West.
While Julia White agrees with the Slovakian assessment:
Slovakia is a Central European country approximately the size of West
Virginia. It is the geographic center of Europe, specifically at Krahule
hill, near Kremnica.
Methodology
With so many different opinions as to where the geographic center of Europe
is, one must conclude that the best way to answer the question is to find a
geographic center over which there is less controversy.
The U.S. Bureau of the Census puts the geographic center of the
conterminous United States near Lebanon, Kansas at longitude 98.583 West
and latitude 39.833 North. When Alaska and Hawaii are added, the
geographic center shifts to a point near Castle Rock, South Dakota - at
44.967 North and 103.767 West.
Documentation from the Bureau of the Census makes it clear that what is
meant by "geographic center" is not quite the algorithm of the Polish
American Journal. It is the centroid, which is defined as a point
where
x is the coordinate in the x-direction,
y is the coordinate in the y-direction, and
A is the area.
The centroid of a region of disjoint polygons (such as is formed by the
United States of America) is equal to a point
The next question was where to get a base map. The source used was from
the Global Resource Information Database of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP/GRID). The first goal was to see how close the centroids
of the conterminous United States and the entire United States were to
their published values.
The data were ingested into Arc/Info, a Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) program. The raw data were in latitude and longitude, so a suitable
projection had to be chosen. Although no projection is perfect, note that
the formula for calculating a composite centroid is a function of the areas
of individual polygons and distance from the centroid. The Lambert
Azimuthal projection is equal-area, and preserves distances from the
projection center. The disadvantage is that there is some shape
distortion, so the centroids of individual polygons may not be exactly
right even under the Lambert Azimuthal projection. The analyst does not
know the exact details of the CENTROIDLABELS function in Arc/Info - however
it was tried on some artificial geometries with known centroids and
determined to be correct.
The Lambert Azimuthal projection requires the choice of a projection
origin. An initial guess of the center of the mapextent was chosen
(somewhat similar to the Polish American Journal’s approach). It was hoped
that this choice would minimize shape distortion.
Another consideration is that the data is of low-resolution; not every
detail along every coastline is in the dataset. The humble analyst assumed
that digitizing errors and generalizations tend to balance out around a
continent.
One final consideration is that the boundaries of the continents are a
little fuzzy. That consideration shall be addressed throughout the rest of
the paper.
United States of America
(a) Conterminous USA (48 states plus DC) - 98.997 W, 39.948 N
(b) 50 states plus DC - 103.487 W, 44.858 N
These results are off by less than 20 miles.
North America
There is a monument near Rugby, North Dakota (latitude 48 deg 21 min 19 sec
N, 99 deg 59 min 57 sec W), marking the geographic center of North America.
Flags of the USA and Canada are flown, but apparently no rigorous
definition of North America is offered. Several possible definitions of
the continent were tried, and one that came reasonably close (less than 30
miles) included: the entire mainland continent to the border of Panama and
Colombia, plus the Canadian islands, plus Hawaii, plus the West Indies. It
does not include Greenland. If it did, the geographic center would be well
into Canada. Indeed, a handful of websites claim Winnipeg or some other
town in Manitoba as the geographic center of North America.
Many geographers consider Greenland as part of North America; others
consider it as part of Europe or even no continent at all.
Results:
(a) All of Canada, USA (including Hawaii), Mexico, Central America
to the Panama/Colombia border, and the West Indies - 99.389 W, 48.696 N
(b) (a) plus Greenland - 97.278 W, 51.280 N
Web search showed:
Geographic Center of North America: 194 hits
+"Rugby" +"Balta": 83
Other claimants include:
Minnesota (Minneapolis, Northwest Angle): 14
Manitoba (winnipeg, Selkirk): 11
Texas (Lubbock, Dallas, Texarkana): 7
Kansas (Stockton): 2
Nebraska: 2
Chicago: 2
Ontario (Breezy Point, Toronto): 2
South Dakota: 1
Indiana (Perry County): 1
Northern Great Plains: 1
South America
Web search:
Geographic Center of South America: 11 hits
Brazil: 3
Bolivia: 2
Paraguay: 1
Calculations put the centroid in Brazil:
Mainland South America (to Colombia/Panama border,
plus the islands of Marajo and Tierra del Fuego): 58.423 W, 13.540 S
Africa
Geographic Center of Africa: 3
Chad: 1
Central African Republic: 1
Sorry, Chad, but calculations showed the centroid to be in the
Central African Republic, with or without Madagascar:
Mainland Africa to the Suez Canal, plus Madagascar: 18.710 E, 6.149 N
Antarctica
There were no web hits on the geographic center of Antarctica,
but calculations showed it to be at: 79.810 E, 85.900 S
Australasia
There were no web hits on the geographic center of Australasia or Oceania.
Alice Springs, Australia (133 deg 53 min E, 23 deg 48 min S) matched on 30
of 36 hits for the geographic center of Australia. Calculations show that
to be about 150 miles off - (a) and (b) are fairly close.
Results:
(a) Large island of Australia: 134.422 E,25.764 S
(b) All Australia, including Tasmania: 134.520 E, 25.914S
(c) Australasia, being (b) plus New Zealand, New Caledonia, the entire island of
New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Fiji: 136.703 E, 24.530 S
Asia
Apparently, there is a monument in Kyzyl, Russia (latitude 51 deg 43 min N,
94 deg 23 min E) claiming to be the geographic center of Asia. To mark the
border between Europe and Asia, a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of Asia was
loaded, and the ridge of the Ural Mountains was digitized to the Ural River
and the Caspian Sea. The Caucasus Mountains is often thought to be the
southern border between Europe and Asia, although this line is nearly
coincident with the border of Russia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. The entire
island of New Guinea (the western half belongs to Indonesia) was put in
Australasia; the remainder of Indonesia was put in Asia. Whether these
details are included or not, Kyzyl is too far north to be the geographic
center. Strangely enough, the Heritage Foundation was the only one get it
right.
Results:
Asia (as described): 91.118 E, 42.814 N
Web search:
Geographic center of Asia: 28
Russia (Kyzyl, Tuva (18)): 20
Mongolia: 3
China: 1
Others: 1
Europe
We return to the continent with the controversial center. There is a small
part of Kazakhstan west of the Ural River; some geographers consider all of
Kazakhstan in Asia. Many geographers put all of Russia in either Europe or
Asia.
Without the European part of Russia, the centroid of Europe is southeastern
Germany, very near the border with the Czech Republic. If Iceland,
Svalbard, and other remote islands are left out, then the centroid is
arguably in the Czech Republic. Once the large polygons of European Russia
are added, the centroid shifts into Lithuania. Since other bodies of water
shared by more than one continent are considered to belong to no continent,
so it was with the Caspian Sea. The Ural River empties into the north end
of the Caspian Sea while the Caucasus Mountains rise out of its south end.
If Greenland is added in, then the centroid is in the Baltic Sea - in no
country at all. Perhaps that is the ideal compromise.
Results:
(a) Mainland Europe, plus Mediterranean islands, Baltic Islands of Denmark, Iceland, Svalbard,
Jan Mayen, Russia west of the Urals, Kazakhstan west of the Ural River: 25.277 E, 54.966 N
(b) (a) plus Greenland: 19.884 E, 59.553 N
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