Chimborazo: The Highest Summit on the Planet!

Chimborazo: The Highest Peak on Earth

A summit farther from the center of the Earth than Everest

Chimborazo is considered the highest summit in the world based on its distance to the center of the Earth.

Although Everest is the highest summit above sea level, the ellipsoidal shape of the Earth, with a larger radius at the equator than at the poles, places the summit of Chimborazo farther from the Earth's center than that of Everest.

A difference of about 2 kilometers

Chimborazo lies 6,384.416 kilometers from the center of the Earth (measurement obtained in 2016 with a precision of ± 3 cm), while Everest is at 6,382.605 kilometers, about 2 kilometers less.

Why is Chimborazo considered the "highest" summit?

Contrary to a common misconception, the title of "highest point on Earth" can be attributed to Chimborazo (6,263 m) rather than Everest (8,849 m) according to a certain geophysical definition. This peculiarity is explained by three scientific factors:

The ellipsoidal shape of the Earth

The Earth is not a perfect sphere but an ellipsoid flattened at the poles. Its equatorial diameter (12,756 km) is larger than its polar diameter (12,714 km), creating an equatorial bulge of 42 kilometers. Chimborazo, located only 1° south of the equator, fully benefits from this protuberance.

Measurement from the center of the Earth

Measurement of altitude not from sea level but from the center of the Earth:

• Chimborazo: 6,384.416 km from the center
• Everest: 6,382.605 km from the center

This difference of 2.1 km makes Chimborazo the summit closest to the sky.

Gravimetric altitude

Due to the centrifugal force, gravity is weaker at the equator. Chimborazo therefore has a higher "gravitational altitude", meaning that an object would weigh less there than the same object on Everest, although the latter is higher relative to sea level.

Technical comparison between Chimborazo and Everest

The table below summarizes the main geodetic data that distinguish the two summits: while Everest dominates by far in altitude above sea level, Chimborazo prevails in terms of distance to the center of the Earth, owing to its near-equatorial latitude.

This peculiarity makes Chimborazo a fascinating case study in geodesy. In 2016, a French expedition confirmed these measurements using high-precision GPS technology, validating that its summit is indeed the farthest land point from the center of our planet.

History of a discovery: how did we learn that Chimborazo was the "highest"?

An old intuition, a late proof

As early as the 18th century, French scientists of the La Condamine geodesic mission (1735-1744) had noticed that the degree of latitude measured near the equator was shorter than in Europe, a sign that the Earth was flattened at the poles and bulging at the equator. Chimborazo, already known as the highest summit of the Ecuadorian Andes, then became a natural candidate for the title of farthest point from the Earth's center — but precise measurement of its position and altitude was still lacking.

Confirmation by GPS in 2016

It took the space age to settle the matter definitively. In 2016, a Franco-Ecuadorian expedition led by Jean-Mathieu Nocquet (GéoAzur / IRD) and his colleagues installed high-precision GPS receivers at the summit of Chimborazo to measure its position and altitude with centimeter precision. The result, published and confirmed by independent geodetic models, is unequivocal: the summit rises 6,384,415.98 meters from the center of the Earth, i.e. 2.1 km more than Everest. The measurement, accurate to ± 3 cm, definitively validated the geodetic supremacy of Chimborazo.

The other "highest summits" according to the chosen criterion

A question of reference

The case of Chimborazo illustrates a fundamental truth in geodesy: there is no single "highest summit", but as many records as there are measurement criteria. Depending on the chosen reference, the winner changes.

Three competing records

Mauna Kea, a Hawaiian shield volcano, rises only to 4,207 m above sea level, but its base lies about 6,000 m beneath the Pacific Ocean: its total height therefore exceeds 10,000 m, making it the tallest volcanic edifice on the planet. Thus, depending on whether one measures from sea level, from the center of the Earth or from the base of the relief, three different summits legitimately claim the title.

Key takeaways

The notion of the "highest summit" depends on the chosen reference. If one measures altitude relative to mean sea level, Everest is the highest (8,849 m versus 6,263 m). If one measures distance to the center of the Earth, Chimborazo is the highest (6,384.416 km versus 6,382.605 km), because the ellipsoidal shape of our planet — flattened at the poles and bulging at the equator — favors summits near the equator. Both statements are therefore correct, but they do not answer the same question: one compares heights above sea level, the other distances to the center of the globe.