After reading a comment in the Grand Forks North Dakota road meet thread, it occurred to me that some of you might be interested in knowing that Rugby ND, which has long proclaimed itself to be the geographic center of North America, is actually... not. In 2016 it was determined that the true center is about 100 miles away, in the town of -- I kid you not -- Center ND. But the town has christened the site with a slightly different name, allowing Rugby to keep its historic claim to fame. Full article (https://www.usends.com/north-america.html)
It always blows my mind that the center is that far north. ND is one of the US's northernmost states, Mexico is not small, and then there's all the Central American nations south of there. Canada and Alaska are massive.
Quote from: thspfc on November 30, 2022, 08:40:00 PM
It always blows my mind that the center is that far north. ND is one of the US's northernmost states, Mexico is not small, and then there's all the Central American nations south of there. Canada and Alaska are massive.
Is Mexico (et al) considered to be 'North America' for this purpose?
Mike
Quote from: mgk920 on November 30, 2022, 09:50:57 PM
Quote from: thspfc on November 30, 2022, 08:40:00 PM
It always blows my mind that the center is that far north. ND is one of the US's northernmost states, Mexico is not small, and then there's all the Central American nations south of there. Canada and Alaska are massive.
Is Mexico (et al) considered to be 'North America' for this purpose?
Mike
Yes.
Yes, I think geographically North America begins at the Isthmus of Panama. But Central America is a thin triangle of land compared to massive northern Canada and Alaska.
How do they figure this? Cut out a map of North America in plywood and see where it balances on a shaft of some sort?
Quote from: Road Hog on December 14, 2022, 04:25:01 AM
How do they figure this? Cut out a map of North America in plywood and see where it balances on a shaft of some sort?
Trigonometry.
How are the islands of Northern Canada counted where it's often ambiguous whether it's ice or land, and it changes depending on time of year?
Also, football is the geographic center of North America.
Quote from: Road Hog on December 14, 2022, 04:25:01 AM
How do they figure this? Cut out a map of North America in plywood and see where it balances on a shaft of some sort?
Although I suspect that in reality it is computationally determined, your method would be valid. Hang your plywood map from on of its corners. The geographic center should be on the plumb line. This should be true for all hang points - all the plumb lines would intersect at the geographic center.
You could even expand on this by gluing weights onto the map at population centers - the weight amount being proportional to the city population. As long as the weight of the plywood doesn't overwhelm the city weights, you could - in theory - use the same method as above to approximate the population center.