The Elevation Span of Every Country in the World

September 22, 2018 9:35 AM

Distance between the highest and lowest point in each country. [SLVC]
posted by chavenet (20 comments total)

Well, at least there are a few places, that are not islands, that are even flatter than Denmark.
posted by bouvin at 9:40 AM on September 22, 2018 [5 favorites]

I had no idea that Nepal and Bhutan had any elevations that low.
posted by doubtfulpalace at 9:56 AM on September 22, 2018 [5 favorites]

Oh, the VERTICAL distance. I mean, not to get too nitpicky, but generally distance and elevation aren't the same.

So now I'm compiling the table for distance because why not. Here's a preview:

China 10030km
US 6573km

Updates as events warrant.
posted by ptfe at 10:01 AM on September 22, 2018 [4 favorites]

Neat! I'd like to see a visualization also of the...slope I guess from maximum to minimum for each country? Like it's no wonder that China has greater gap in elevation than Luxembourg; it has a lot more landmass to work from. But what's the angle of descent from the highest point in China to the lowest point in China, and from the highest to the lowest in Luxembourg?
posted by cortex at 10:01 AM on September 22, 2018 [3 favorites]

You can hike from the lowest to the highest point in the continental US.

(Though Mount Whitney in California, at 4421m, is far shorter than Mt. McKinley in Alaska, 6190 m)
posted by eye of newt at 10:07 AM on September 22, 2018 [6 favorites]

From the same website: http://www.visualcapitalist.com/2400-years-of-european-history

Countries I've never heard of, even where I live!
posted by rustipi at 10:56 AM on September 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

(Source link should really be: fascinatingmaps.com)

But this is really cool.
posted by gwint at 11:30 AM on September 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

Interesting that they include Mt. Scenery, 7000 km away from the mainland in the Caribbean, as the highest point in the Netherlands. Technically true, it seems.
posted by JackFlash at 11:53 AM on September 22, 2018 [4 favorites]

This is neat. But, if you ever need evidence that countries are a silly way to divide up the planet, this is high on the list.
posted by eotvos at 12:02 PM on September 22, 2018 [3 favorites]

I want to see this information over total area and then that ranked. My bet is that Andorra would come out on top.
posted by Navelgazer at 1:05 PM on September 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'd like to see elevation span corrected for country size since it's easy to be flat over a small distance.
posted by Obscure Reference at 1:06 PM on September 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

If Mount Scenery counts for The Netherlands why doesn't the UK get Mount Paget?
posted by ambrosen at 1:09 PM on September 22, 2018

If Mount Scenery counts for The Netherlands why doesn't the UK get Mount Paget?

It seems that Mount Scenery and the rest of the Caribbean Netherlands is legally a country within the Kingdom of Netherlands, much like Scotland is a country of the UK. But Mount Page on South Georgia is a territory, not a country in the UK.
posted by JackFlash at 1:25 PM on September 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

I want to see this information over total area and then that ranked. My bet is that Andorra would come out on top.

Liechtenstein is a third the size of Andorra and has a larger span, so it wins easily and I can't see much beating it.

(Liechtenstein is one side of a valley, with the river Rhine forming its west border and an impassable ridge of Alps forming its east border, so it's both low and very high. Andorra is entirely up in the mountains)
posted by grahamparks at 1:56 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]

(Though Mount Whitney in California, at 4421m, is far shorter than Mt. McKinley in Alaska, 6190 m)

Excuse me, but I think you mean Denali.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:35 PM on September 22, 2018 [3 favorites]

The surprise for me was how low the Dead Sea is. I knew it was below sea level; I didn't realize it was more than 1400 feet below sea level.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:38 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]

The surprise for me was how low the Dead Sea is.

Plate tectonics in action. The Dead Sea Transform is a fault system extending in almost a straight line up through the Gulf of Aqaba, the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee, and on north into Lebanon. As the faults pull apart two pieces of the earth's crust, they form deep basins in between, sort of like pulling apart two slices of pizza. The dry climate means that erosional infill from the surrounding mountains is slow compared to the rate of separation, so the hole remains.
posted by JackFlash at 3:04 PM on September 22, 2018 [3 favorites]

I had no idea that so much of Africa was so high in elevation. That was fascinating.
posted by kitten magic at 6:04 PM on September 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

Australia would likely win the prize for least elevation difference for its size.
posted by nnethercote at 6:51 PM on September 22, 2018

This is really neat.
posted by mixedmetaphors at 11:18 AM on September 23, 2018