The question of which country is closest to space is more complex than simply identifying the tallest mountain. While space officially begins at the Kármán line, around 100 km above Earth’s surface, the Earth itself is not a perfect sphere.

It is an oblate spheroid, meaning it bulges at the equator and is slightly flattened at the poles. Because of this, the distance from Earth's centre to its surface is not uniform everywhere.

Most people assume Mount Everest is the closest point to space since it is the tallest peak above sea level. However, the actual point on Earth closest to space is Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador, despite being shorter than Everest. This is because Chimborazo lies very close to the equator, where Earth’s bulge makes the surface farther from the centre.

As a result, its summit is the farthest point from the centre of the Earth, making Ecuador the country closest to space. This phenomenon highlights how both geography and Earth’s shape influence our understanding of altitude and distance from space.