If you are living in a coastal area and are looking for an alternative home in case global warming causes sea levels to rise, you should consider these 11 countries with highest average elevation. Even if both polar caps melt, people living in these areas will stay safe.
Aside from providing breathtaking landscape, living in countries with the highest elevation in the world has its more practical advantages. Currently, lowest average elevation country is Maldives, with an average elevation of just 6 feet. If the sea rises just 3 feet (1 meter), 80% of Maldives will be submerged in the Indian Ocean. People living in countries on our list don’t have to fear that scenario.
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When compiling the list of countries with highest average elevation, we ran into some interesting tidbits. For instance, if the Tibet was independent, it would easily be number one on our list, with the average elevation of 16,000 feet (4900 m). On that altitude, air contains just 56% of oxygen compared to sea level. That means you need to breathe almost twice as much to inhale the same amount of oxygen. It also means that, due to changes in air pressure, it takes more than twice as long to boil an egg.
Greenland is another region we left out, due to not being an independent country. Its average altitude of 1,792 m (5,879 feet) would assure it a place on the list. Antarctica would also be placed high, if it were a country, with the average elevation of 2,300 m (7,546 feet).
Contrary to popular belief that living on higher altitudes improves one health, neither of the countries on the list is among the world’s 15 healthiest countries. If you take a look at the elevation maps of the world, geographical locations of countries with highest average altitude are easily guessed. Out of 11 countries, 7 are located in Asia, 2 in Africa and 1 each in Europe and South America. All of them are high above the world average elevation of 840 m (2,756 feet). Let’s see which countries are high enough to earn a spot on among countries with highest average elevation.
