Remoteness

Origin

Middle English, from Latin remotus, from past participle of removēre to remove

• 15th Century

Definitions

• 1: separated by an interval or space greater than usual <an involucre remote from the flower>
• 2:far removed in space, time, or relation : divergent <the remote past> <comments remote from the truth>
• 3: out-of-the-way, secluded <a remote cabin in the hills>
• 4: acting, acted on, or controlled indirectly or from a distance <remote computer operation>; also : relating to the acquisition of information about a distant object (as by radar or photography) without coming into physical contact with it <remote sensing>
• 5: not arising from a primary or proximate action
• 6: small in degree : slight <a remote possibility> <hadn't the remotest idea of what was going on>
• 7: distant in manner : aloof

Description

The degree of remoteness can be known as each continent has its own Continental Pole of Inaccessibility, defined as the place on the continent that is farthest from any ocean. Of these continental points, the most remote is the Eurasian Pole of Inaccessibility (or "EPIA") 46°17′N 86°40′E, in north-western China near the Kazakhstan border. Calculations have commonly suggested that it is 2,645 km (1,645 mi) from the nearest coastline, located in the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert. The nearest settlement to the EPIA is Suluk at 46°15′N 86°50′E about 7 miles (11 km) to the east.

A recent study suggests that the historical calculation of the EPIA has failed to recognize the point where the Gulf of Ob joins the Arctic Ocean, and proposes instead that varying definitions of coastline could result in other Eurasian Pole of Inaccessibility results: EPIA1 somewhere between 44°17′N 82°11′E and 44°29′N 82°19′E, about 2510±10 km from the nearest ocean, or EPIA2 somewhere between 45°17′N 88°08′E and 45°28′N 88°14′E, about 2514±7 km from the nearest ocean.[13] If adopted, this would place the final EPIA roughly 130 km closer to ocean than currently agreed upon.

Coincidentally, EPIA1 (or EPIA2) and the most remote of the Oceanic Poles of Inaccessibility (specifically, the point in the South Pacific Ocean that is farthest from land) are similarly remote; EPIA1 is less than 200 km closer to the ocean than the Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility is to land.

Other continents' poles of inaccessibility are as follows:

• North America: 43.36°N 101.97°W, between Kyle and Allen, South Dakota;
• South America: in Brazil at 14.05°S 56.85°W, near Arenápolis;
• Australia: either 23°2′S 132°10′E, or 23.17°S 132.27°E.,[13] near Alice Springs;
• Africa: 5.65°N 26.17°E, close to the tripoint of Central African Republic, South Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo, also close to the town of Obo.