TEMPLES — Distances
These questions come from an informative article by Scott Taylor who is employed by the Deseret News newspaper. He writes on LDS Church items for the newspaper. These questions come from his article about the dedication of the Meridian Idaho Temple in October of 2017. Hence, the answers to these questions are current as of October 2017. Distances may change in the coming months and years.
QUESTION: Outside of the state of Utah, can you name two temples that are in close proximity to each other?
ANSWER: Two temple outside of the state of Utah that are close proximity are the Boise Idaho Temple and the Meridian Idaho Temple. The distance between the Meridian and Boise temples is 8.8 geodesic miles — or the straight-line-on-a-map distance, similar to the phrase “as the crow flies.” If you’re walking from one temple to the other, it’s 11.4 miles; if driving between the two, it’s 11.8 miles. As temples continue to dot the earth, we will see more temples in very close proximity to each other. For example, the city of Rexburg in Idaho will soon have two temples. Click here or here or here to see more interesting facts about temple distances.
QUESTION: True or false — After building just 21 temples in its first 150 years, the LDS Church followed with 115 temples worldwide in the three decades from 1980 to 2010.
ANSWER: True. Click here for more information on dedication dates of our temples.
QUESTION: By the end of 1980, where were the 4 closest temples located?
ANSWER: By the end of 1980, the closest LDS temples were the four in Utah’s most populous areas — the 35.8 miles between the Logan Temple and the Ogden Temple (as they were known then, with the church revising its naming convention of temples in 1999), the 31.9 miles between the Ogden and Salt Lake temples, and the 37.4 miles between the Salt Lake and Provo temples. Since 1980, we have seen the building of many temples in close proximity to each other. For example in Utah County in the state of Utah, there are now eight temples either announced, under construction, or dedicated. Click here or here or here to see more interesting facts about temple distances.
QUESTION: By the end of 1980, where were the closest of the 19 temples located outside of the state of Utah?
ANSWER: At the end of 1980, the closest of the 19 temples outside of Utah was the 334.1 miles between the Los Angeles and Oakland temples, the 382.5 miles between the Los Angeles and Arizona (now Mesa) temples, and the 398.3 miles between the Idaho Falls and Alberta (now Cardston) temples, the latter in the Canadian province of Alberta. And that was not much closer than the 444.7 miles between the London and Swiss temples. As temples continue to proliferate around the globe, temples will become closer and closer to each other. Click here or here or here to see more interesting facts about temple distances.
QUESTION: In the April 2011 General Conference of the church, President Thomas S. Monson mentioned that a certain percentage of all LDS Church members lived within 200 miles of a temple. What was that percentage?
ANSWER: President Monson announced that 85% of the church membership lived within 200 miles of a temple!
QUESTION: True or false – The distance between the Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple and the Provo City Center temple is only 2.4 miles.
ANSWER: True — The distance between these two LDS temples is 2.4 miles. Click here to see more about distances between temples.
QUESTION: Can you name two temples that are quite far removed from each other?
ANSWER: The distance between the Asuncion Paraguay Temple and the Taipei Taiwan Temple is 12,379 miles. Click here to see more information about temple distances.
QUESTION: Can you name a temple that is quite far away from its closest neighboring temple?
ANSWER: The Papeete Tahiti Temple is quite remote. Its nearest neighboring temple is the Apia Samoa Temple, 1449.4 miles away. More about temple distances can be seen here.
QUESTION: Can you name some temples outside of the United States that are fairly close together?
ANSWER: The distance between the Campinas Brazil Temple and the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple is only about 50 miles. As more temples are built, we will see temples closer and closer together. More information about temple distances can be seen here.
QUESTION: How far apart are the Perth Australia Temple and the Adelaide Australia Temple?
ANSWER: These two temples are on the same continent, but are 1326.2 miles apart. More information about temple distances can be seen here.
QUESTION: Can you name some of the cities in the world that have two temples within the city limits?
ANSWER: Provo, Utah, South Jordan, Utah, and Lima, Peru are some cities that have two temples within the city limits. The two temples in Provo are the Provo Utah Temple and the Provo City Center Temple, and the two temples in South Jordan are the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and the South Jordan Temple. Lima, Peru has the Lima Peru Temple and the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple. Mexico City will join that group soon.
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