Starting Location

With the release of Version 4.1, users in many countries view their country by default in Google Earth. So when French users open Google Earth, the 3D viewer shows France, as opposed to some country on the other side of the pond whose name I forget ;-)

A related change is the debut of the Starting location placemark. This determines the default view that appears in Google Earth when you you start the application. In previous releases, this placemark was entitled "Default".

You can edit the Starting location as you would any other placemark. For example, I edited mine such that the placemark is on my neighborhood in California. I set the camera view (tilt and elevation) using right click > Snapshot View to capture the angle I want. Thus, everytime I start Google Earth, I see my house and the mountains behind it. Egocentric, I know.

So if you are in a country that does not use a default view of your nation, you can simply edit the Starting location file as you see fit. Or move this placemark to an interesting location, like the Swiss Alps, Mount Fuji, etc.

Learn more in the Google Earth user guide.