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Writer's pictureNathan Augustine

Temples to Dot the Earth: Part 2

Updated: 3 days ago


An artist's rendering of the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple


The Church has multiple temples on every continent. President Nelson has announced more temples than any previous prophet, and the Church is dramatically increasing the number of temples under construction (At the October 2021 General Conference, the Prophet Says the Church Will Build 13 More Temples).


Laie Hawaii (1919) was the first temple dedicated away from Church headquarters and was the first operating temple the Church dedicated outside Utah and outside North America (Public invited to tour historic Laie Hawaii Temple ahead of rededication).


Cardston Alberta (1923) was the first temple the Church dedicated outside the US (though Hawaii was not a state when they dedicated Laie it was a US territory) (Cardston Alberta Temple).


Bern Switzerland (1955) was the first temple the Church dedicated in Europe and the Eastern Hemisphere (The Pivotal Swiss Temple).


Hamilton New Zealand (1958) was the first temple the Church dedicated in Australasia and the Southern Hemisphere (New Zealand Temple Closes for Renovations; See What It Will Look Like).


São Paulo Brazil (1978) was the first temple the Church dedicated in South America (The Sao Paulo Temple: Story of Sacrifice and Learning).


Tokyo Japan (1980) was the first temple the Church dedicated in Asia (Temple to Be Built in Tokyo).


Johannesburg South Africa (1985) was the first temple the Church dedicated in Africa (The Johannesburg South Africa Temple).


An artist's rendering of the Durban South Africa Temple


The temple furthest east of Salt Lake (111.89°W) is Durban South Africa (31.07°E) (Google Maps), until the dedication of Harare Zimbabwe (31.08°E) (Google Maps), Nairobi Kenya (36.7°E) (Google Maps), Beira Mozambique (site not yet chosen, about 34.9°E), and possibly the Russia Temple (city not yet chosen: There are stakes headquartered in Moscow, Saratov and St. Petersburg. Moscow would be about 37.6°E while Saratov would be about 45.9°E on the other hand St. Petersburg would be about 30.3 and therefore not as far east as Durban) and Dubai United Arab Emirates (site not yet chosen about 55.1°E).


Bangkok Thailand Temple


The temple furthest west of Salt Lake (111.89°W) is Bangkok Thailand (100.56°E) (Google Maps), until the dedication of Bengaluru India (77.70°E) (Google Maps).


Therefore there are currently no temples between 31.07°E and 100.56°E, a gap 69.49 degrees wide which equals approximately 19.3% or a little under a fifth of the earth’s circumference.


Anchorage Alaska Temple


The temple furthest north is Anchorage Alaska (61.10°N) (Google Maps) and the temple furthest south is Melbourne Australia (37.87°S) (Google Maps) until the dedication of Bahía Blanca Argentina (38.69°S).


The two temples closest to each other are Provo Utah Rock Canyon and Provo City Center (2.4 miles, 3.8 km) (Church of Jesus Christ Temples: Statistics) (until the dedication of the Teton River Idaho Temple).


Outside of Utah and the United States, the two temples closest to each other are Lima Peru and Lima Peru Los Olivos (11.99 miles, 19.3 km) (GoogleMaps) (until the dedication of the Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple).


Praia Cape Verde Temple


Currently the operating temple furthest from any other temple is the Praia Cape Verde Temple, which is 1,646.74 miles (2,650 km) from the Fortaleza Brazil Temple (Mapdevelopers.com) Praia will remain the furthest even after the dedication of the Abidjan Côte d'Ivoire Temple reduces the distance down to 1,481.93 mi (2,384.94 km) (expected completion in 2024) (Mapdevelopers.com). Eventually the Bengaluru India Temple at 1,533.91 miles (2,468.6 km) from the Bangkok Thailand Temple will be the operating temple furthest from any other temple (Church of Jesus Christ Temples: Statistics).


Hong Kong China is currently the only temple in a country with a communist government (until the dedication of Shanghi China). The Church dedicated the Hong Kong temple before the People’s Republic of China took back governance of the territory of Hong Kong and they govern it differently from the rest of the country (Wikipedia: Hong Kong).


Freiberg Germany is the only temple the Church dedicated in a country with a communist government at the time they dedicated it (until the dedication of Shanghi China) (The Freiberg Germany Temple: A Latter-day Miracle).


Kyiv Ukraine Temple


Most of the temples are in traditionally Protestant Christian or Catholic Christian countries. There is only one temple in a traditionally Orthodox Christian country (Kyiv Ukraine, until the dedication of the Russia Temple) (Wikipedia: Eastern Orthodoxy by Country). There are 7 temples in traditionally Buddhist countries (Tokyo, Fukuoka, Sapporo, and Okinawa Japan, Taipei Taiwan, Seoul Korea, Hong Kong China and Bangkok Thailand, until the dedication of Phnom Penh Cambodia, Singapore, and Kaohsiung Taiwan) (Wikipedia: Buddhism by Country). There are no temples in traditionally Hindu countries (until the dedication of Bengaluru India) (Wikipedia: Hinduism by Country). There are no temples in countries with an absolute Muslim majority (until the dedication of the Freetown Sierra Leone and Dubai United Arab Emirates temples) (Wikipedia: Islam by Country).


London England Temple


The Church built temples in the following countries or overseas territories before they organized the first stakes in them:


Since then they have only built temples in countries or overseas territories with at least one stake (until the dedication of Shanghi China) (First stake organized in countries of the world).


Every country and overseas territory with 4 or more stakes and all but one country with 3 stakes (Uganda) have a temple operating, under construction or announced  (Facts and Statistics).


The following countries and overseas territories have at least one stake but no operating temple (Facts and Statistics):

  • Ivory Coast (18) - Abidjan Temple under construction

  • Nicaragua (12) - Managua Temple under construction

  • Sierra Leone (9) - Freetown Temple under construction

  • Zimbabwe (8) - Harare Temple under construction

  • Liberia (6) - Monrovia Temple announced

  • American Samoa, US Territory of (5) - Pago Pago Temple under construction

  • Mozambique (5) - Beira Temple announced

  • Congo, Republic of (4) - Brazzaville Temple announced

  • India (4) - Bengaluru Temple under construction

  • Madagascar (3) - Antananarivo Temple announced

  • Russia (3) - Russia Temple announced

  • Uganda (3)

  • Austria (2) - Vienna Temple announced

  • Belgium (2) - Brussels Temple announced

  • Benin (2)

  • Cambodia (2) - Phnom Penh Temple under construction

  • Indonesia (2)

  • Kenya (2) - Nairobi Temple under construction

  • Kiribati (2) - Tarawa Temple under construction

  • Marshall Islands (2)

  • Mongolia (2)

  • Norway (2) - Oslo Temple announced

  • Papua New Guinea (2) - Port Moresby Temple under construction

  • Togo (2)

  • Albania (1)

  • Angola (1)

  • Bahrain (1)

  • Botswana (1)

  • Czech Republic (1)

  • Hungary (1) - Budapest Temple announced

  • Ireland (1)

  • Jamaica (1)

  • Micronesia (1)

  • New Caledonia, French Territory of (1)

  • Singapore (1) - Singapore Temple announced

  • Trinidad and Tobago (1)

  • United Arab Emirates (1) - Dubai Temple announced

  • Vanuatu (1) - Port Vila Temple under construction

  • Zambia (1)


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