The Equator, or line of 0 degrees latitude, divides the Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The prime meridian, or 0 degrees longitude, and the International Date Line, 180 degrees longitude, divide the Earth into Eastern and Western hemispheres.

An equator divides the planet into a Northern Hemisphere and a Southern Hemisphere. The Earth is widest at its Equator. The distance around the Earth at the Equator, its circumference, is 40,075 kilometers (24,901 miles).

The equator serves many purposes. One of such purposes is to divide the earth into two equal hemispheres – northern and southern. In addition, it serves as a reference point and division for all other lines that are parallel to the equator. this is why equator is the most important line of the latitude.

By using the equator and prime meridian, we can divide the world into four hemispheres, north, south, east, and west. For instance, the United States is in the Western Hemisphere (because it is west of the prime meridian) and also in the Northern Hemisphere (because it is north of the equator).

The Prime Meridian divides the globe into Eastern and Western hemispheres, just as the equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern hemispheres. The Prime Meridian is at 0 degrees longitude, just as the equator is at 0 degrees latitude.

The Equator passes through 13 countries: Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Sao Tome & Principe, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Maldives, Indonesia and Kiribati.

To be exact, the intersection of zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude falls about 380 miles south of Ghana and 670 miles west of Gabon. 1 This location is in the tropical waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, in an area called the Gulf of Guinea.

Average annual temperatures in equatorial lowlands are around 31 °C (88 °F) during the afternoon and 23 °C (73 °F) around sunrise. Rainfall is very high away from cold ocean current upwelling zones, from 2,500 to 3,500 mm (100 to 140 in) per year.

The meridian that runs through Greenwich, England, is internationally accepted as the line of 0 degrees longitude, or prime meridian. The antimeridian is halfway around the world, at 180 degrees.

Greenwich meridian, imaginary line used to indicate 0° longitude that passes through Greenwich, a borough of London, and terminates at the North and South poles.

In 1721, Great Britain established its own meridian passing through an early transit circle at the newly established Royal Observatory at Greenwich. The meridian chosen was that which passed through the Airy transit circle at Greenwich, and it became the prime meridian of the world.

Everywhere on Earth has a position because we can assign them geographic coordinates. It’s also called the Greenwich Meridian because it runs through Greenwich, England. Then, we can measure 180° to the west or 180° to the east.

After inventors created timepieces accurate enough to help navigators calculate their longitude, an international conference in 1884 officially established the prime meridian through Greenwich. The prime meridian was used to establish Greenwich Mean Time, upon which all other time zones now depend.

Farthest Points in the Entire U.S. The reason Alaska can be considered the farthest both east and west is that the Aleutian Islands cross the 180-degree meridian of longitude. This places some of the islands in the Eastern Hemisphere and thus degrees east of Greenwich (and the prime meridian).

The 180th degree meridian is also called the anti meridian. It is used to define the International Date Line. Because the Earth is spherical, traveling 180 degrees in either direction from the prime meridian will lead to 180 degrees longitude or the opposite meridian.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Prime Meridian passes through the UK, France and Spain in Europe and Algeria, Mali, Burkina, Faso, Tongo and Ghana in Africa. The only landmass crossed by the Meridian in the Southern Hemisphere is Antarctica.

Equator