Geographic Center of North America

The geographic center of the North American continent is generally placed in north-central North Dakota. For decades the town of Rugby claimed the title and built a stone obelisk to mark it, making "Geographic Center of North America" a roadside landmark on the northern plains. The exact point depends on how the continent's ragged coastline and islands are measured, so the claim has always been more approximate than precise.

In 2017 a university mathematician, applying a new calculation, jokingly placed the center about 145 miles southeast near the aptly named small town of Center, North Dakota - which promptly embraced the honor. Whether at Rugby or Center, the result lands in the same broad stretch of North Dakota prairie, underlining that this windswept farm country really does sit close to the middle of the continent.

• North Dakota
  The Peace Garden State, northern plains and badlands related