line of longitude, at which longitude is defined to be 0°
prime meridian line longitude 0
prime meridian
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 … Wikipedia
Factsheet
Country United Kingdom
France
Spain
Algeria
Mali
Burkina Faso
Togo
Ghana
no value
Located in the administrative territorial entity Antarctic Treaty area
Factsheet
Country United Kingdom
France
Spain
Algeria
Mali
Burkina Faso
Togo
Ghana
no value
Located in the administrative territorial entity Antarctic Treaty area
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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. This divides the body (e.g.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
britannica.com › philosophy & religion › humanities
Meridian | Prime Meridian, Longitude & Latitude | Britannica
3 weeks ago - The 40th meridian, for example, has a longitude of 40° E or 40° W. See latitude and longitude. The prime meridian is zero degrees longitude and divides Earth into the Western and Eastern hemispheres.
Discussions

"Prime Meridian is located at _______ degree meridian."
The correct answer is 0°. The prime meridian passes through Greenwich in England which is zero degrees longitude. So It is also called the  More on testbook.com
🌐 testbook.com
1
1850
6 days ago
How do we establish the longitude of the Prime Meridian for bodies other than Earth?
Even on earth it is 100% arbitrary. Why greenwich? why not Hawaii, or Cairo? while the poles and equator are perfectly logical landmarks, longitudinal lines are absolutely manmade ideas. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/askscience
8
1
May 2, 2014
Would it make more sense for the prime meridian to be somewhere other than Greenwich? How would you design a new system for longitude coordinates?
This thread is obviously full of Europeans and/or East coast Americans. The real issue is not where the 0° Meridan is, but where 180° is. The international date line needs to be in the least disruptive place for the majority of the planet. Sadly for those of us around the pacific it is probably best where it is. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/geography
42
10
April 24, 2025
Why do some NATO countries not use the Prime Meridian that runs through Greenwich?
The big issue is not different prime meridians, but different geoids, which is usually indicated by the map datum. (I have not read the FM you mention, though I learned land navigation in the Army.) The earth is not a perfect sphere, but an oblate spheroid, which means that mathematically you need a different model to represent the shape of the earth. Some models are really accurate in one part of the planet, but useless elsewhere. For example, maps in the UK usually use the Ordnance Survey of 1936, which is itself based on the Airy 1830 ellipsoid. No one outside the UK uses OSGB36, because your grids would be wildly off. The US military typically uses a datum that works worldwide called WGS84. However, when you deploy you might be using host-nation maps that use a different datum. It doesn’t matter much if you’re using a map and compass, but if you’re using GPS you have to specify the different datum. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/WarCollege
11
66
July 14, 2024
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NOAA National Ocean Service
oceanservice.noaa.gov › facts › longitude.html
What is longitude?
In 1884, representatives at the International Meridian Conference in Washington, D.C., met to define the meridian that would represent 0 degrees longitude. For its location, the conference chose a line that ran through the telescope at the Royal ...
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Royal Museums Greenwich
rmg.co.uk › royal-observatory › attractions › stand-on-prime-meridian-line
Stand on the Prime Meridian Greenwich | Visit Royal Observatory
Astronomers at the Royal Observatory took thousands of measurements to define the Prime Meridian and establish zero degrees longitude.
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National Geographic
education.nationalgeographic.org › resource › prime-meridian
Prime Meridian
The prime meridian is the line of 0° longitude, the starting point for measuring distance both east and west around Earth. The prime meridian is arbitrary, meaning it could be chosen to be anywhere.
Find elsewhere
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Manoa Hawaii
manoa.hawaii.edu › exploringourfluidearth › physical › world-ocean › locating-points-globe › weird-science-prime-meridian-and-time-zones
Weird Science: The Prime Meridian and Time Zones | manoa.hawaii.edu/ExploringOurFluidEarth
Today, the prime meridian is located in Greenwich, England, but this primary reference line of longitude has not always been at its current location. Different people and cultures used different primary reference lines throughout history. For example, in the second century B.C., the Canary Islands were bisected by the prime meridian because these islands were believed to be the western extent of the world.
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Esri Support
support.esri.com › en-us › gis-dictionary › prime-meridian
Prime Meridian Definition | GIS Dictionary
[coordinate systems] In a coordinate system, any line of longitude designated as 0 degrees east and west, to which all other meridians are referenced. The Greenwich meridian is internationally recognized as the prime meridian for most official ...
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University of Virginia
as.virginia.edu › news › researchers-explain-why-greenwich-prime-meridian-moved
Researchers Explain Why the Greenwich Prime Meridian Moved
August 10, 2015 - In 1884, a delegation of international representatives convened in Washington, D.C. to recommend that Earth’s prime meridian (the north-south line marking zero degrees longitude) should pass through the Airy Transit Circle at the Royal Observatory ...
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Everything Everywhere
everything-everywhere.com › the-prime-meridian
The Prime Meridian – Everything Everywhere
February 5, 2025 - This line is significant because it is the reference point for every other line of longitude in the world. What is even more remarkable is that there is no objective reason for this particular line to be so important. Learn more about the Prime Meridian and why it is where it is on this episode ...
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ArcGIS
storymaps.arcgis.com › stories › 941f88d09c8945a7b6b0200916b1ec97
A refresher on Latitude & Longitude
August 29, 2021 - The Prime Meridian is the y-axis, or zero line for longitude. If you are on the Prime Meridian, you are at zero degrees longitude. As you go further EAST or WEST of the Prime Meridian, you go to higher longitudes.
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Royal Museums Greenwich
rmg.co.uk › stories › time › what-prime-meridian-why-it-greenwich
What is the Prime Meridian, and why is it in Greenwich?
After weeks of discussion, delegates voted to make the Greenwich Meridian the world's Prime Meridian. The cross-hairs in the eyepiece of the Airy Transit Circle precisely defined zero degrees longitude for the world.
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Slideshare
slideshare.net › home › environment › prime meridian,equator, latitude and longitude
Prime Meridian,Equator, Latitude and longitude | PPTX
This meridian is defined as the longitude line that starts at the North Pole, travels through Greenwich, England, and ends at the South Pole. •Longitude is always the second point plotted and will always be listed as how many degrees West ...
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National Snow and Ice Data Center
nsidc.org › learn › cryosphere-glossary › prime-meridian
prime meridian | National Snow and Ice Data Center
the meridian (line of longitude) defined to be 0 degrees and passing through the Royal Greenwich Observatory in London; also known as the International Meridian or Greenwich Meridian; the Prime Meridian and the opposite 180th meridian (at 180 degrees longitude) separate the Eastern and Western ...
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/geography › would it make more sense for the prime meridian to be somewhere other than greenwich? how would you design a new system for longitude coordinates?
r/geography on Reddit: Would it make more sense for the prime meridian to be somewhere other than Greenwich? How would you design a new system for longitude coordinates?
April 24, 2025 -

Longitude measures how far east or west you are from the prime meridian (0°), all the way up to 180°. While there is a similar system for latitude, this measures how far north or south you are from the equator, which is a meaningful geographical concept (the line where the distance to the planet's North Pole is exactly the same as the distance to the planet's South Pole).

Meanwhile, for longitude, the prime meridian is where it is because in 1884, a meeting of 26 national governments agreed to standardise to Great Britain's system, where they'd decided to set the prime meridian as the north-south line passing through one of London's main astronomical observatories in Greenwich Park. Devoid of that historical explanation, there is nothing geographically significant about describing longitude in terms of how far east or west you are from a random park in the east of London.

With that in mind, acknowledging the immense practical difficulties of making any such change today, where else could the prime meridian have been set up so that coordinates tell you something more meaningful in terms of what you are east or west of? For example, would it be better to pass right through the centre of the City of London, so that longitude tells you how far east/west you are from that metropolitan hub? Of course it wouldn't have to be London - would it be more globally "useful" to measure longitude as how far east/west you are from a different city? Could it line up with a significant geographical feature, like the westernmost point of Europe (currently 9.5° W), or the easternmost point of South America (currently 34.8° W), or the southernmost point of Africa (currently 20° E)? Or how about the Diomede Islands, where Eurasia nearly meets the Americas (currently 169° W)?

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ThoughtCo
thoughtco.com › prime-meridian-and-the-equator-intersect-4070819
Where Do the Equator and Prime Meridian Meet?
May 9, 2025 - Though invisible, the equator (0 degrees latitude) is a real location that divides the world into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Scholars created the prime meridian (0 degrees longitude) as a frame of reference to begin noting east-west ...