Although Mount Everest is the point with the highest elevation above sea level on the Earth, it is not the summit that is farthest from the Earth's center. Because of the equatorial bulge, the summit of Mount Chimborazo in the Andes is the point on the Earth that is farthest from the center, and is 2,168 m (7,113 ft) farther from the Earth's center than the summit of Everest. The second-farthest summit, Huascarán, also in the Andes, is only about 10 metres closer to the Earth's center.
Background
Planet Earth is not a perfect sphere, but has an oblate spheroid shape, because the planet's rotation gives the planet an equatorial bulge. As a result, mean sea level at the poles is from the center of the Earth, while mean sea level at the equator is from the center of the Earth. This means sea level at the equator is about further away from the centre of the Earth than sea level is at the poles is. Because Mount Chimborazo is quite close to the equator, its summit is about further from the centre of the earth than the summit of Mount Everest is. At least 26 other mountain summits are also further from the center of the Earth than Mount Everest due to Earth's equatorial bulge.
List of summits
PositionTypeSummitDistance from Earth's centerElevation above sea level mLatitudeCountry1Dormant VolcanoChimborazo1°28′09″SEcuador2MountainHuascarán (Sur Summit)9°07′17″SPeru3MountainYerupajá10°16′01″SPeru4Active VolcanoCotopaxi0°40′50″SEcuador5MountainHuandoy9°01′38″SPeru6Dormant VolcanoKilimanjaro (Kibo Summit)3°04′33″STanzania7Active VolcanoCayambe0°01′30″NEcuador8VolcanoAntisana0°28′53″NEcuador9MountainSiula Grande10°17′SPeru10MountainAlpamayo 8°52′47″SPeru11MountainPisco (Western summit) (Nevado Pisco) 9°00′43″SPeru12 Extinct VolcanoMount Kenya0°09′03″SKenya13MountainSalcantay13°20′01″SPeru14 MountainPico Simón Bolívar10°50′05″SColombia14MountainPico Cristóbal Colón10°50′18″S Colombia15VolcanoCoropuna15°33′00″S Peru16MountainAncohuma (Janq'u Uma)15°51′12″S Bolivia17MountainIllampu15°49′00″S Bolivia18MountainIllimani16°38′00″S Bolivia19VolcanoAmpato15°49′14″S Peru20VolcanoRumiñahui0°34′53″SEcuador21VolcanoNevado Sajama18°06′29″SBolivia22MountainChachacomani (Chachakumani) 15°59′14″S Bolivia23Extinct volcanoHualca Hualca (Wallqa Wallqa) 15°43′13″S Peru24MountainHuayna Potosí16°15′45″S Bolivia 25Dormant volcanoChachani16°11′00″S Peru26VolcanoParinacota (Parinaquta)18°09′58″S Bolivia Chile27VolcanoPomerape18°07′33″S Chile Bolivia28 VolcanoMisti (El Misti)16°17′47″S Peru29Additional summits omitted by sourceFor method see sourceOnly Summits over 5,500 mSee 30 MountainMount Everest27°59′17″NNepal China References
Further reading