Unique project combines a sense of exploration with GPS
and Internet technology
Northampton, Mass. – July 7, 2004 – Today the Degree Confluence Project reached 20% completion, with 3,233 unique successful visits out of the total of 16,164 primary degree confluences worldwide.
The Degree Confluence Project is an organized sampling of the world. 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 visitors to these degree confluences then post their pictures and stories on the project’s website (www.confluence.org).
The project was started in 1996, in New Hampshire, USA, by Alex Jarrett. Since then, there have been confluence visits in 150 countries, by over 5,000 visitors. There are over 32,000 photographs on the project’s website. The project provides a unique perspective of the world, and mankind’s place on it.
Visits so far have included both the North and South poles, confluences "in the middle of the ocean", all continents, the top of mountains, deserts, jungles, cornfields, people’s back yards, and many other places. The visits have ranged from very easy access where the visitors drove to the confluence, to individuals and groups that undertake multi-day expeditions.
All of the project’s participants are volunteers – from the thousands of people who have visited degree confluences to the handful of people who manage the project’s website and administrative tasks. The project’s website provides a wealth of information from around the world. Some people use it as a virtual travel resource, and educators use the project to teach concepts of geography and navigation.
The project has received press coverage ranging from small publications such as The Zeballos Privateer to larger magazines and newspapers such as USA Today, The Toronto Star, The Saudi Gazette, Wired News and The Los Angeles Times. There have been radio and television broadcasts on Public Radio International, Voice of America News, BBC Radio, BBC World TV, The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, CNN, and other media outlets.