(e.g., plotting earthquakes or shipping routes), if you center a map on the Atlantic, the Pacific gets split — but if you center on the Pacific, the Atlantic gets split. No perfect flat map avoids the antimeridian problem.
Here’s what they are, why they matter, and where things get weird. What it is: The starting point for measuring longitude. It runs through Greenwich, London , UK, and divides Earth into Eastern Hemisphere (0° to 180° east) and Western Hemisphere (0° to 180° west). antimeridian and prime meridian
In 1884, 25 nations voted to make the Greenwich Meridian the world’s prime meridian. Why? Britain was the world’s leading maritime power, and most ships already used Greenwich charts. France abstained (they preferred Paris), but eventually adopted it too. What it is: The starting point for measuring longitude
Mostly through the Pacific Ocean , avoiding most land. It passes between Russia and Alaska (through the Bering Strait), then near Fiji, and down between New Zealand’s main islands. Mostly through the Pacific Ocean