Confluence Project

Posted on July 30, 2003 in Neighborhood Pointers

Carol found this interesting project, another web equivalent of amassing the world’s largest ball of string:

The goal of the project is to visit each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections in the world, and to take pictures at each location. The pictures and stories will then be posted here.


The project is an organized sampling of the world. There is a confluence within 49 miles (79 km) of you if you’re on the surface of Earth. We’ve discounted confluences in the oceans and some near the poles, but there are still 13,766 to be found.

It’s the kind of gainless activity that I’d enjoy pursuing if it weren’t for the fact that I don’t own a GPS. I took a look at some of the nearby confluences (oh Lord, I am sounding like a New Age vortex seeker when I say that!) and came to a conclusion that there’s an awful lot of middle of nowhere in the world.

These four quasi-mythical coordinates surround where I live:

• 34°N 118°W
  
• 34°N 117°W
  
• 33°N 117°W
  
• 33°N 118°W

I won’t insist that there’s anything profound: the lines on the map were laid out arbitrarily. What you see is a random sampling of the earth’s surface. Given the chance, any one of us could choose to be the point from which all else is measured.