iBet uBet web content aggregator. Adding the entire web to your favor.

The Centre of Europe

The geographical centre of Europe (from the Atlantic to the Urals) lies at 54�54'N 25�19'E, about 25 km north of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania according to 1989 calculations made by the French National Geographic Institute (Institut Geographique National) the centre of Europe is at . On this picture my father Helge is standing at the original stone put there by the French expedition. A map-cum-sundial marks the spot today. In September 2001 I measured the point where the marker is standing to 54� 54' 23,6"N 25� 19' 12,8"E (+/- 5 m). Elevation: 164 m. This is 762.4 metres (+/- 5 m) northeast from the actual calculated position. (Pictures of this location as it looks today will be published on this page in not long.) Some results (non-official) of computations for centers (on the spheroid) by Jean-Georges AFFHOLDER � IGN - Service de la Recherche: CENTRE OF EUROPE (geographical, from the Atlantic to the Urals and Caucasus) Latitude : 54� 54' N - Longitude : 25� 19' E. At the village of PURNU�KES [Lithuania] (About 20km north of Vilnius & 180km below the surface.) The institute has made all computations in three dimensions, on an ellipsoidic cap. The center of the European area (on this surface) is between the center of the earth (6200 km) and PURNU�KES (180 km) . Centre of Emerging Countries (May read concerning depth.) Longitude : 29� 00' E - Latitude : 44� 30' N. In the Black Sea, off(shore from) the city of Histria (Istria), Romania [In fact the centre of gravity is situated 4200km below the surface]. CENTRE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Latitude : 50� 00' 33" N - Longitude : 4� 39' 59" E. Viroinval commune, Belgium. near the town of Oignies-en-Thi�rache, 1.3km to the north of the French border. Links: Borderland - Viroinval: http://leden.tref.nl/~veenhh/borderland/europa/viroinval.htm The Confluence Project: http://www.confluence.org/eurcenter/index.html Acknowledgements: Mr. Jean-Georges Affholder and Mr. Michel Bacchus Service de la Documentation, Institut Geographique National
Afsluitdijk

In the year my father was born, 1932, the Afsluitdijk dike was finished, making this Dutch masterpiece of construction engineering the second biggest human made construction. Only the Chinese Great Wall is bigger. The Afsluitdijk is almost 30 km long, but the Netherlands has stretched dikes over 3000 km more! In July 2001 I had the pleasure to visit the World's biggest dike. (To left Wadden zee, and to right IJsselmeer.)