Geographic: The place of refuge is somewhere in the current center of the Nephite lands. It is between the land of Zarahemla and the land of Bountiful, with the land of Bountiful being bordered by the land of Desolation, the ancient homeland of the Jaredites. This place of refuge must be large enough to support the combined population of the land, but compact enough that it was possible to lay siege to the area (see 3 Nephi 4:16).
Variant: The phrase: “and the land which was between the land Zarahemla and the land Bountiful” was deleted from the 1837 to 1920 editions of the Book of Mormon. It was present in the Printer’s manuscript, and in the 1830 edition. It was restored in the 1981 edition. (Book of Mormon Critical Text. FARMS, 1987, 3:1000).