The location of the geographical centre of Asia (russian: Центр Азии; tyv, Азияның Төвү; ) depends on the definition of the borders of Asia, mainly whether remote islands are included to define the extreme points of Asia, and on the method of calculating the final result. Also on the projection used (radial projection on the plane vs. projection on a geoid), there is no objectively correct way of finding "the centre of Asia". Thus, several places claim to host this hypothetical centre. The first official declaration of the Centre of Asia was made in the 1890s by the British traveller, and calculated to be near the Manor house of Estate of Safyanov in Saldam (modern Tuva, Russia) at . There is a monument commemorating that fact in the estate garden.

Current measurements

China

The Geographical Centre of the Asian Continent () is the name of a monument indicating the supposed geographical centre of the

Asian continent Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. It is located about 20 km south-west of

Ürümqi Ürümqi ( ; also spelled Ürümchi or without Umlaut (diacritic), umlauts), formerly known as Dihua (also spelled Tihwa), is the capital of the Xinjiang, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far Northwest China, northwest of the Peopl ...

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...

. The measurement on which it is based dates to 1992. It was based on calculating the geographical centre of 49 Asian countries, including island states such as

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

and Japan (and, reflecting the People's Republic of China's political perspective, counting Palestine and

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligu ...

as separate countries), placing the geographical centre of all these countries at . Before the completion of the monument, the site was marked by a wooden pole stating "Geographic Centre of Asia" (亚洲地理中心). A village that happened to be located at the site where the monument was to be built was relocated, and the new village is now known as the "Heart of Asia" (亚心). The site has a tower labelled "Centre of Asia" which represents 48 countries of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

. The monument was completed in the late 1990s.

Russia

Obelisk "Center of Asia" (russian: Центр Азии; tyv, Азияның Төвү) is the name of a monument indicating the supposed geographical centre of the

. It is located in

Kyzyl Kyzyl (; Tuvan and russian: Кызыл; , ) is the capital city of the republic of Tuva, Russia. The name of the city means "red" or "crimson" in Tuvan (and in many other Turkic languages). Its population was History The city was founded in ...

Tyva Republic Tuva (; russian: Тува́) or Tyva ( tyv, Тыва), officially the Republic of Tuva (russian: Респу́блика Тыва́, r=Respublika Tyva, p=rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva; tyv, Тыва Республика, translit=Tyva Respublika ...

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia North Asia or Northern Asia, also referred to as Siberia, is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographic ...

. It is located in the Tos-Bulak area south of the city, located about 700 km to the north-to-northeast of the Ürümqi monument at . The monument was completed in 1968.

References

{{GeographicalCenters

Monuments and memorials in Russia Monuments and memorials in China Geography of Asia Kyzyl