Since the days of Joseph Smith most Saints believed that Book of Mormon events took place across the entire expanse of North and South America. This theory—referred to as the Hemispheric Geography Theory (HGT)—posits North America as the “land northward,” South America as the “land southward,” and present-day Panama as the “narrow neck” of land in between. This is a natural interpretation based on a cursory reading and superficial understanding of the Book of Mormon text. Most likely Joseph Smith, as well as the majority of Saints and leaders, unquestioningly accepted this model of Book of Mormon geography.

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Currently, most Latter-day Saints who have examined the issue at more than a superficial level reject the HGT in favor of some version of a Limited Geography Theory (LGT). The decisive factor in opting for a limited geography is travel distance between extreme ends of Book of Mormon cities. Travel distances, where noted, are always mentioned in terms of how long the trip took. All travel distances that we can decipher from Book of Mormon events indicate a very limited scale, probably no more than a few hundred miles—perhaps a total area about the size of Tennessee. While such a small area may seem unusual to modern readers, it should be noted that 95% of the Old Testament took place in an area only 150 miles long and fewer than 75 miles wide. Ancient Jerusalem encompassed a mere 13 acres. This is a remarkably small area when we recall that 640 acres are needed to cover a square mile or that the Smith family farm where Joseph had his First Vision covered about 100 acres.

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The Peruvian and Baja Models

Both of these models have some attractive features but also what I see as some fatal flaws. Both have problems matching a river to the requirements of the River Sidon as described in the Book of Mormon text. In the Peruvian model the primary archaeological evidence for large populations come from people who are far too late to be connected with Book of Mormon peoples and the Baja model lacks archaeological support for civilizations during Book of Mormon periods in lands that are suggested to encompass Book of Mormon cities.

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The Great Lakes or Heartland Model

Beginning in about 1988 several Latter-day Saints began proposing that Book of Mormon events took place in the Great Lakes region of the United States. While there are variations of this model, most of the proponents claim not only that the area fits the Book of Mormon geographic requirements but they also claim that the Book of Mormon contains prophecies about the promised land that have been fulfilled (or are yet to be fulfilled) in—and only in—the United States of America (which would then rule out any non-U.S. geographic model).

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The Mesoamerican Model

Most LDS scholars (and some LDS leaders) favor a Mesoamerican model. In lieu of revelation on the matter (and statements made by past or current leaders do not equal revelation) the best way to determine the accuracy of any model is to subject it to the same tests that we would use in any other scientific or historical inquiry. From my research, I find that the Mesoamerican model fits all of the evidence better than any other competing model.