Modern technology reveals many of the world's most famous geographical markers are in the WRONG place

  • Many famous sites claim to pin-point precise locations of geographical worth
  • But an improvement in science has helped us measure land more accurately
  • Indonesia's Equator Monument and London's Meridian line are both inaccurate

They've long been considered accurate land markers that map-out the world's most seminal sites.

But, despite their claims of precision, it seems that many of the globe's most lauded locations are actually off-the-mark. 

Experts believe the geographical gaffes surfaced after advances in technology allowed officials to measure the earth more meticulously.

Near, but so far: Experts say Ecuador's Middle of the World monument is nearly 800 feet south of where it should be in South America

Near, but so far: Experts say Ecuador's Middle of the World monument is nearly 800 feet south of where it should be in South America

As reported in Atlas Obscura, this development in IT - combined with the constant, slow movement of land - has rendered many of the sites, once revered, now lacking credibility.

These include Ecuador's Middle of the World, which was deemed the central meeting point of the four hemispheres by explorer Luis Tufiño in 1936.

Updated from its original monument in the 1970s, it was enhanced by a painted line on the pavement, which became a popular destination point for sightseers.

However, satellite images later revealed that it's nearly 800 feet (240 meters) south of the actual point that measures Latitude 0° 0’ 0”.   

Askew: The Equator Monument in Indonesia has long been faithfully regarded as accurate

Askew: The Equator Monument in Indonesia has long been faithfully regarded as accurate

Geographical Centre of South America in Brazil: This marker in little-known region of Cuiabá was hailed as the central point  in 1909, but this was later deemed 45 kilometres off the spot

Geographical Centre of South America in Brazil: This marker in little-known region of Cuiabá was hailed as the central point in 1909, but this was later deemed 45 kilometres off the spot

GEOGRAPHICAL MARKERS THAT ARE WRONG 

Europos Park - Joneikiškės, Lithuania  

Geographic Center of South America - Cuiabá, Brazil

Center of the Nation Monument - Belle Fourche, South Dakota 

The Geographical Center of North America - Rugby, North Dakota 

Geographic Center of the Contiguous United States - Lebanon, Kansas 

The Oldest 45th Parallel Marker in the U.S. - Perry, Maine 

The Real Greenwich Prime Meridian - London, England

The Equator Monument - North Pontianak, Indonesia

The Geographic Center of Scotland - Highland, Scotland

Middle of the World - San Antonio de Pichincha, Ecuador

45 x 90 Geographical Marker - Athens, Wisconsin

Source: Atlas Obscura 

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The famed Equator Monument in North Pontianak is also guilty of (innocently) misleading the public.

Officials erected a monument in 1991, which was based on the markings laid-out by by a Dutch geographer when he visited Borneo in 1928.

Unfortunately, the mobile nature of land has meant that the equator line has actually moved south in the passing years. 

A second line recorded the new recorded position in 2005, but - five years later in 2010 - it was said to have shifted again. This time, into a river. 

Meanwhile, the Geographical Centre of South America in Brazil is also regarded as wrongly-located.

The little-known region of Cuiabá was hailed as the central point of South America way back in 1909 after Brazilian military officer, Cândido Rondon, calculated it by dividing the country into equal quarters from all sides.

However, GPS later offered a more sophisticated approach in the 1990s, which identified the true centre as being 45 kilometres away, near the town of Chapada dos Guimaraes.

Oops: First opened in the 1990s to mark the dead-centre of Europe, the geographical experts who declared Europos Park the continent's nucleus later revised their calculations

Oops: First opened in the 1990s to mark the dead-centre of Europe, the geographical experts who declared Europos Park the continent's nucleus later revised their calculations

Measurements amiss? The monument to mark the geographical center of North America

Measurements amiss? The monument to mark the geographical center of North America

Lithuania's Europos Park is similarly unreliable. First opened in the 1990s to mark the dead-centre of Europe, the geographical experts who declared it the continent's nucleus later revised their calculations. 

In fact, they admitted they were nearly ten miles off the mark.

Adding insult to injury, Belarusian scientists Alexey Solomonov and Valery Anoshko published a report in 2000 that stated the geographic centre of Europe was located near Lake Sho in the Vitebsk Region, which borders Russia.

In addition, the Hungarians have claimed they own the centre of Europe, thanks to the village of Tallya. 

Equally humiliating is London's claims of accurately pinpointing the Greenwich Prime Meridian. Although a monument claims to mark the spot, which dates back to 1851, it was later considered 102 meters (334 feet) east of its actual position. 

Not quite: Although a monument claims to pinpoint the Greenwich Prime Meridian, it was later considered 102 meters (334 feet) east of its actual position

Not quite: Although a monument claims to pinpoint the Greenwich Prime Meridian, it was later considered 102 meters (334 feet) east of its actual position