Google Earth places town in wrong country

Author: Brett Thomas
Published: 1st May 2007
Comments (14) Stumble
Google Earth places town in wrong country

"Oops! Wrong country!" - Google Earth put this little Chilean village in Argentina.

And now for something completely different: a bit of News from the Weird...

Nothing is free of errors -- that absolute truth also includes satellite imagery. Apparently, a small village on the Chilean border got moved to Argentina, courtesy of Google Earth. That may confuse the residents...

The error actually has the government of Chile, a country in the southern half of South America (in case your own map skills are equally busted), in an uproar. Villa O'Higgins (An Irish name, just to get more confusing, after Bernardo O'Higgins) is a Chilean town of approximately 1,100 people, but Google Maps shows it as belonging to Chile's neighbour, Argentina.

Of course, the border conundrum isn't all Google's fault - apparently the governments themselves cannot determine who properly owns the land. This border has been under dispute for many years and the arguments have gone to bloodshed several times historically. Add to that the rather complex shape of the curve, and you had a recipe for disaster.

The Chilean government has formally petitioned Google to alter the border and represent the village as part of Chile. All we have to ask is, is there nothing better that this government has to do than scour Google Earth?

Tell us your thoughts on the border dispute in our forums.
Quote DougEdey 1st May 2007, 09:41
Doesn't beat the monster bug.
Quote identikit 1st May 2007, 11:07
Quote:
Originally Posted by DougEdey
Doesn't beat the monster bug.

Or the Escher buildings.
Quote Mr-IK 1st May 2007, 11:52
Poor city, nobody wants them :(
Quote jezmck 1st May 2007, 12:09
Quote:
Originally Posted by DougEdey
Doesn't beat the monster bug.
care to enlighten me?
Quote DougEdey 1st May 2007, 12:12
Loads of places have it: http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/006283.html
Quote bilbothebaggins 1st May 2007, 14:19
As far as I know about Chile/Argentina relationship this is probably worse then if GE would place ... let's say a Scottish town on England's soil ... :p

-btb-
Quote Lazarus Dark 1st May 2007, 14:33
This brings up an interesting question about disputed land in general. This could be dangerous for a company like google. There are those who may be crazy enough to suicidebomb google headquarters over something like this. I'm thinking something like the palistinians. They get pretty violent over disputed territory and you never know what some cultures or peoples may do just for placing borders on a map in a place they don't like.
Quote DougEdey 1st May 2007, 14:35
[bad joke alert] The term google bombing gets a while new meaning...
Quote sinizterguy 1st May 2007, 14:41
Government officials have obviously been spending their time wisely making sure that the satellite imagery and mapping of their country is upto date and correct.
Quote devdevil85 1st May 2007, 16:10
Google's just trying to f*** with the terrorists. It'll keep 'em on their toes and make em think twice..... hehee...
Quote sinizterguy 1st May 2007, 16:19
Wouldnt it be funny if terrorists and assorted types hit the wrong town after looking up the details in some of online mapping systems ?
Quote XeroNXS 1st May 2007, 16:46
Quote:
Originally Posted by sinizterguy
Wouldnt it be funny if terrorists and assorted types hit the wrong town after looking up the details in some of online mapping systems ?

Err.. no.
It would still be a terrorist attack right?
Quote leonardob80 1st May 2007, 17:01
hey... i'm from argentina. That town is clarely part of Chilean territory.

Some years ago open office has a similar problem because they put Malvinas (Farklands) as UK territory and some argentinian organizations reclaimed it as Argentinian terrotory. (I think is has to be marked as booth or under dispute)..

Personally prefer to think that Farklands is UK territory
Quote myriad 1st May 2007, 22:46
Can anyone imagine bloodshed because of Google? Holy crap people getting in an uproar because a computer program has them listed wrong. I could also complain because when I type my address in, its my neighbors house. People find THE smallest things to fight about.
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