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, which two temples are closest in proximity? (Current as of January 2024)
ANSWER: The two temple outside of the state of Utah that are closest in 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.
QUESTION: True of 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.
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.
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: What is the shortest distance between two LDS temples?
ANSWER: The shortest distance between two LDS temples is 2.4 miles, the distance between the Provo Utah Temple and the Provo City Center Temple.
QUESTION: What is the greatest distance between any two LDS temples?
ANSWER: The greatest distance between any two LDS temples is 12,379 miles, the distance between the Asuncion Paraguay Temple and the Taipei Taiwan Temple.
QUESTION: What LDS temple is farthest away from its nearest neighboring temple (the most remote temple) ?
ANSWER: The most remote LDS temple is the Papeete Tahiti Temple. Its nearest neighboring temple is the Apia Samoa Temple, 1449.4 miles away.
QUESTION: Outside of the United States, what is the shortest distance between two LDS temples?
ANSWER: Outside of the United States, the shortest distance between two temples is 50.8 miles, the distance between the Campinas Brazil Temple and the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple.
QUESTION: What are the two most remote temples located on the same continent?
ANSWER: The two most remote temple that are located on the same continent are the Perth Australia Temple and the Adelaide Australia Temple, a distance of 1326.2 miles
QUESTION: Name some of the cities in the world that have two temples within the city limits
ANSWER: Provo, Utah and South Jordan, Utah are the only two 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 two temples within its city limits, and Mexico City will join that group soon.
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