A point on the surface of the earth, designated as the center of a country or continent, has great potential in terms of tourism business. In the age of selfies, it is a matter of honor for any traveler to record his presence in the center of any part of the world.
The center of Europe today does not have a generally recognized location, several villages and cities in different countries claim its title.
Calculation methods
The ambiguity of the definition of the geographic center stems from the variety of ways to calculate it. They come down to several options:
- Calculate the position of the center of gravity of an area of a certain shape.
- Projection of the center of gravity onto the Earth's surface, taking into account the sphericity of the planet.
- Finding a point equidistant from the boundaries of the territory.
- Calculation of the location of the intersection point of the segments connecting in pairs the extreme northern and southern, western and eastern points - the median center.
The geographical center of Europe was determined by the last method in 1775 by the court astronomer and cartographer of the Polish King Augustus Shimon Anthony Sobekraysky. The point of intersection of the lines connecting Portugal and the Central Urals, Norway and Southern Greece was located inpoint with coordinates 53°34'39" N, 23°06'22" E. e. In this place, in the town of Sukhovolya, near Bialystok, on the territory of modern Poland, a memorial sign was erected.
Settlements in the 19th century
In 1815, the center of Europe was placed at 48°44'37" N, 18°55'50" E. d., which was located near the town of Kremnica, at the Baptist Church of St. John, on the territory of modern Slovakia. The calculation methods have not been preserved, but there is a version that this is the center of the smallest circle inscribed in the outlines of Europe. How its boundaries were determined is also unknown.
In 1887, the geographers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, when laying new railways in Transcarpathia, set a marker with coordinates 48°30'N. latitude, 23°23' E by defining it as the midpoint of the extreme values of the latitude and longitude of the Old World. The center of Europe in their version is located on the banks of the Tisza, near the Ukrainian village of Delovoye. In Soviet times, the truth of the calculations was confirmed, and a whole propaganda campaign was carried out to convince everyone of the truth of this version of the geographical center of Europe.
Another center of the European part of the world was identified at the end of the 19th century in the form of Mount Tillenberg near the city of Eger in Czech Bohemia, where a memorial sign was also installed, and this fact was actively used for advertising purposes by the authorities of neighboring villages.
The most "promoted" monument
In 1989, scientists from the National Geographic Institute of France specified the boundaries of the European part of the world andby calculating the center of gravity of a geometric figure, determined by the outlines of the oldest part of the world, it was determined that the geographical center of Europe is located at a point with coordinates 54 ° 54 's. latitude, 25°19' E e. It is located in Lithuania, 26 km from Vilnius, near the village of Purnushkiai.
The State Department of Tourism of this country appreciated the importance of this place as a means of attracting foreign visitors, and in 2004 the Europa Park was opened here. It includes a sculpture park with more than 90 works by contemporary artists from 27 countries. The geographical center of Europe is marked by a monument created by the outstanding Lithuanian sculptor Gedeminas Jokubonis. It is a snow-white granite column topped with a crown of golden stars. The Lithuanian version of the center of the Old World is the only one listed in the Guinness Book of Records.
Hungary, Estonia
In 1992, another measurement was carried out, as a result of which it was stated that the center of Europe is located in Hungary, in the village of Tallia, at the point 48 ° 14 'N. sh., 21°13' E e. A memorial sign has also been erected here.
Most measurements do not include small islands belonging to European states in the territory of Europe. If we take into account the Portuguese Azores in the Atlantic, Franz Josef Land in the Arctic Ocean, Crete and Iceland, it turns out that the center of Europe is located on the island of Saaremaa, in the western part of Estonia. The local municipality is trying to clarify these calculations and organize in the village of Mönnuste, closer than otherslocated to the point 58°18'14"N, 22°16'44"E. etc., a tourist area dedicated to this attraction.
Polotsk, Belarus
At the beginning of the 21st century, studies by Belarusian scientists A. Solomonov and V. Anoshko were published. They used a special computer program, in which finding the coordinates of the geographical center of Europe was subject to a special algorithm associated with the inclusion of the territory of our part of the world of the area of internal and external water areas and the Ural Range as its eastern border.
Scientists from the Russian Central Research Institute of Geodesy and Cartography confirmed the correctness of this approach and the correctness of the calculations. According to them, it turns out that the geographical center of the Old World is located in Belarus, in the city of Polotsk, and has coordinates 55 ° 30'0 "N, 28 ° 48'0" E. e. A small monument with a symbolic designation of this point was opened in May 2008.
Subject to political changes
There is a belief that it is necessary to calculate this significant point only for member countries of the European Union. Taking into account the fact that the number of countries included in this association is changing, the settlement point is moving accordingly, the villages and cities of the center of Europe are changing.
The National Geographic Institute of France (IGN) has been recording this shift since 1987 depending on the change in the number of countries that are members of the EU:
- 12 countries (1987) - the village of Saint-Andre-le-Coq in the central region of France, afterreunification of Germany (1990) moved 25 km to the northeast, to the town of Nuarete.
- 15 countries (2004) - Virouanval, Belgium.
- 25 States (2007) – Kleinmeischeid, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
- 27 countries (2007) - after the accession of Romania and Bulgaria - near the city of Geinhausen, Hesse, Germany.
- 28 countries (2013) - forty kilometers from Frankfurt, where the headquarters of the European Central Bank is located, which is even symbolic.
