cartographical marker at 0°N, 0°E
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Null Island. Null Island is the location at zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude ( 0°N 0°E / 0°N 0°E), i.e., where the prime meridian … Wikipedia
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Null_Island
Null Island - Wikipedia
5 days ago - Natural Earth describes the entity as a "1 meter square island" (11 sq ft) with "scale rank 100, indicating it should never be shown in mapping". The name "Null" refers to the two zero coordinates, as null values (indicating an absence of data) are often coerced to a value of 0 when converted to an integer context or "no-nulls allowed" context.
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IFLScience
iflscience.com › what-is-at-coordinate-00-on-earth-80514
Is There Anything Actually At Coordinate 0,0 On Earth? | IFLScience
August 22, 2025 - "Misspelled street names, non-existent building numbers, and other quirks can create invalid addresses that can confuse a geocoder so that the output becomes '0,0'. While this output indicates that an error occurred, since '0,0' is in fact a location on the Earth’s surface according to the coordinate system, the feature will be mapped there, as nonsensical as the location may be.
Discussions

cartography - Is there a name for the geographic coordinate 0,0? - Geographic Information Systems Stack Exchange
On the other hand, when referring specifically to geodetic coordinate systems, the use of the term "origin" usually refers to one of three things, none of which are at (0°, 0°): the very center of the ellipsoid representing the Earth (see wiki/Geodetic_datum#Other_Earth-based_coordinate_systems ... More on gis.stackexchange.com
🌐 gis.stackexchange.com
This is null island, a permanent buoy marking where the equator and prime meridian intersect. at zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude (0°N 0°E)
Fun fact: Tons of pictures etc get upload with the geotag on this exact location. That's because when some cameras can't identify your location, they save the location as Null;Null, meaning unidentifiable. When you upload those pics, the data can be misinterpreted as 0°00"00'N;0°00"00'E, resulting in the geotag showing this location, in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/geek
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September 22, 2021
Null Island: 0° lat & lon, i.e., where the prime meridian and equator intersect. It is not an actual island. It is often used in mapping software as a placeholder to help correct databases. Started as a joke, it is now a useful means of addressing a recurring issue in geographic information science.
Honestly thank God we chose a system of coordinates in which 0 0 is ocean. Imagine the hassle for the inhabitants of that place otherwise More on reddit.com
🌐 r/wikipedia
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September 29, 2024
Does anyone know what the antipode (Exact opposite point of that location on Earth) of Null Island is called? I tried googling it but there's no answers.
Can someone tell me the antipode of the north pole? More on reddit.com
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LOC
blogs.loc.gov › maps › 2016 › 04 › the-geographical-oddity-of-null-island
The Geographical Oddity of Null Island | Worlds Revealed
In creating a one-square meter plot of land at 0°N 0°E in the digital dataset, Null Island was intended to help analysts flag errors in a process known as “geocoding.” · Geocoding is a function performed in a GIS that involves taking ...
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Mapscaping
mapscaping.com › 0-0-coordinates
Coordinates 0, 0 & The Origin Of Null Island - Mapscaping.com
March 7, 2026 - Null Island is a reference to a location on the Earth’s surface that is said to exist at the coordinates “0 degrees latitude, 0 degrees longitude”. These coordinates are at the intersection of the equator and the prime meridian, which ...
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The point at (0°, 0°) is not generally given a name

All geographers, cartographers and surveyors ought to know the following, but I reference some sources anyway:

According to Matt Rosenberg

The point at which the equator (0° latitude) and the prime meridian (0° longitude) intersect has no real significance but it is in the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean, about 380 miles (611 kilometers) south of Ghana and 670 miles (1078 km) west of Gabon.

Also, according to wiki/Geographic_coordinate_system#Geographic_latitude_and_longitude

The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator ...

The meridian of the British Royal Observatory in Greenwich, a little east of London, England, is the international Prime Meridian ... [is the 0° meridian]

...

The grid thus formed by latitude and longitude is known as the "graticule". The zero/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km (390 mi) south of Tema, Ghana.

And at Fact Monster's Geography Glossary:

Zero degrees (0°) latitude is the equator ... Zero degrees longitude (0°) is called the prime meridian.

While "the origin" might well work – after all, that is what we call (0, 0) on a plane coordinate system – the point at (0°, 0°), on a spheroidal system, is not generally given a name. Certainly, none of the above (3 refs) give it a name, and until now, I'd never heard of Null Island.

On the other hand, when referring specifically to geodetic coordinate systems, the use of the term "origin" usually refers to one of three things, none of which are at (0°, 0°):

  • the very center of the ellipsoid representing the Earth (see wiki/Geodetic_datum#Other_Earth-based_coordinate_systems or wiki/World_Geodetic_System#Main_parameters)
  • the datum or place, on the surface, used to relate the mathematical model and the physical Earth (see wiki/Geodetic_datum#Reference_datums)
  • the center a map projection or standard lines of a given projection, where the distortion is zero (see geography.hunter.cuny.edu/~jochen...Map coordinate systems/Projection parameters or georeference.org/doc/lambert_conformal_conic) NB: The center of a map projection could very well be at (0°, 0°) but it is not generally so.
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It's "there where all the data shows up when something goes wrong". At least that's how I call it, or how I often detect when something went wrong.

Others would call it Null Island, which is often used in a humorous way. For an occasional good laugh I would recommend some of the Null Island accounts on Twitter, such as Null Island Gang, Maptime Null Island, or Null Island.

But joking aside, as the Wikipedia article states:

Although intended humorously, the fiction has a serious purpose and is used by mapping systems to trap errors

As I stated above, when somthing ends up there, in most cases, it should not be there.

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ThoughtCo
thoughtco.com › prime-meridian-and-the-equator-intersect-4070819
Where on Earth Are 0 Degrees Latitude and 0 Degrees Longitude?
May 9, 2025 - It's pure coincidence that the coordinate of 0 degrees latitude, 0 degrees longitude (0,0) falls in the middle of a little-known body of water, about 380 miles south of Ghana and 670 miles west of Gabon.
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Mandry-Club
mandry.club › home page › useful information › earth’s zero point: what lies at coordinates 0,0 in the atlantic ocean
Earth's Zero Point: The Mystery of Null Island at 0,0 Coordinates– Mandry-Club
October 27, 2025 - However, in the digital world, the point is known by the humorous name “Null Island.” This name appeared in 2011 when cartographers from the Natural Earth project jokingly added a fictional island with an area of 1 m² at coordinates 0,0 ...
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NewsBreak
newsbreak.com › knewz › where on earth is the 0°,0°coordinates? and why it called the 'null island'
Where on Earth is the 0°,0°coordinates? And why it called the 'null island' - NewsBreak
September 6, 2025 - Many speculated that if 0, 0 is passing through waters, then what is the Null Island that represents it in digital maps? It is an imaginary island in the South Atlantic Ocean that represents errors during a process called geocoding, according ...
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Plateau Astro
plateauastro.com › blog › 2023-12-20 › take-me-null-island
Take me to Null Island | Plateau Astro
December 20, 2023 - If you have no location coordinates – NULL coordinates – this is often where the default pin is set. ... This spot on Earth is where the latitude is 0° and the longitude is 0°. "How can the same map lines intersect with itself?
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Université de Lyon
math.univ-lyon1.fr › ~alachal › diaporamas › diaporama_cartographie3 › Lost_Null_Island.htm
Lost in Null Island: The Curious Origin of 0,0
August 12, 2023 - Null Island” is a bit of an ongoing inside joke in the world of GIS. It’s actually a place that doesn’t exist in the world today. But rather it’s a set of geographical coordinates where the equator (latitude 0°) intersects with the prime meridian (longitude 0°).
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Geography Realm
geographyrealm.com › home › articles › what is at zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude?
What is at Zero Degrees Latitude and Zero Degrees Longitude? - Geography Realm
April 29, 2025 - Latitude lines, also known as parallels, are imaginary horizontal lines that run east-west around the globe. They measure the distance north or south of the equator, which is situated at 0° latitude.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/geek › this is null island, a permanent buoy marking where the equator and prime meridian intersect. at zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude (0°n 0°e)
r/geek on Reddit: This is null island, a permanent buoy marking where the equator and prime meridian intersect. at zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude (0°N 0°E)
September 22, 2021 - TIL about Null Island, the location at zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude (0°N 0°E), i.e. where the prime meridian and the equator intersect. Since there is no landmass located at these coordinates, it is not an actual island.
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Quora
quora.com › Where-are-the-coordinates-0-N-0-E-on-Earth
Where are the coordinates 0 N 0 E on Earth? - Quora
Answer (1 of 4): 1. The vertical line is called the y-axis and the horizontal is called the x-axis. This is single coordinate. Whereas, the intersecting x- and y-axes divide the coordinate plane into four sections called quadrants. There is nothing much known by onoe. 2. Whereas, Onoe was a Japan...
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UNILAD
unilad.com › news › travel
This is what's at the exact centre of the world - Travel - UNILAD
February 15, 2024 - Null Island is essentially the jokey name given to the location at zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude - aka the exact centre of the Earth.
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Prime_meridian
Prime meridian - Wikipedia
1 week ago - A prime meridian is a meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. On a spheroid, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian in a 360-degree system) form a great ellipse.
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Big Think
bigthink.com › strange-maps › null-island
Welcome to Null Island, where lost data goes to die - Big Think
October 5, 2023 - Credit: Google Earth / Ruland Kolen · Key Takeaways · The equator and the prime meridian meet at a place denoted as 0°N, 0°E. This location, in the Gulf of Guinea, is where non-geocoded data goes to die.
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ScienceAlert
sciencealert.com › home › welcome to null island, the most 'visited' place on earth that doesn't actually exist
Welcome to Null Island, The Most 'Visited' Place on Earth That Doesn't Actually Exist : ScienceAlert
May 11, 2016 - Sure, existing seems like a prerequisite for any 'place', but it actually isn't, because one of the most 'visited' sites on Earth is an imaginary place called Null Island, located at 0°N 0°E on the map in the South Atlantic Ocean, thanks to ...
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Atlas Obscura
atlasobscura.com › home › stories › null island is one of the most visited places on earth. too bad it doesn't exist
Null Island Is One of the Most Visited Places on Earth. Too Bad It Doesn't Exist
August 7, 2025 - Misspelled street names, non-existent building numbers, and other quirks can create invalid addresses that can confuse a geocoder so that the output becomes “0,0”. While this output indicates that an error occurred, since “0,0” is in fact a location on the Earth’s surface according to the coordinate system, the feature will be mapped there, as nonsensical as the location may be.