"Middle Of The World, Ma ! "

 

Staring intensely at this slide, I could make out the word "Ecuador", and that was all the confirmation that I needed to conclude that this monument is actually Ciudad Mitad del Mundo. It highlights the exact location of the Equator (from which the country takes its name) and commemorates the eighteenth century Franco-Spanish Geodesic Mission which fixed its approximate location; they also contain the Museo Etnográfico Mitad del Mundo, Ethnographic Museum Middle of the Earth, a museum about the indigenous people ethnography of Ecuador.

The 30-metre-tall (98 ft) monument was constructed between 1979 and 1982 by Pichincha's Province Council to replace an older, smaller monument built by the Government of Ecuador under the direction of the geographer Luis Tufiño in 1936. It is made of iron and concrete and covered with cut and polished andesite stone. The monument was built to commemorate the first Geodesic Mission of the French Academy of Sciences.

And I'm sure it comes as no surprise, that the monument is mis-placed, and actually 240metres south of the equator.

Bonus - Denmark to cull entire 13 million mink herd as new mutation of Covid-19 discovered in mink farms. Mink export is roughly 1% of Denmark's entire GDP.

Bonus 2 -