DID YOU KNOW…
Did you know? Earth's 'highest' peak isn't Mount Everest from its core!
While Mount Everest is the highest point above sea level, Ecuador's Mount Chimborazo holds the record for being the furthest point from the Earth's center. This counter-intuitive fact is due to our planet's unique, non-spherical shape.
The Earth is an oblate spheroid, meaning it bulges significantly at the equator due to centrifugal force from its rotation, and is flattened at the poles. Mount Chimborazo is located only one degree south of the equator, placing it firmly within this bulge. This equatorial 'push' means that its summit is roughly 6,384.4 kilometers from the Earth's core, approximately 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) further than Mount Everest's peak, despite Everest being higher above sea level. Consequently, Chimborazo's summit is technically the closest point on Earth to outer space.
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