0 Longitude 0 Latitude Location

Cartographers take divided upwardly the Globe into a grid of imaginary lines that run both due north and southward (latitude) and east and west (longitude).

Zilch degrees latitude is the line designating the Equator and divides the Globe into two equal hemispheres (due north and south).

Shaded relief map of the world with a bold white line showing the location of the Equator. — The Equator is located at a latitude of 0 degrees. Map: Caitlin Dempsey.

Zip degrees longitude is an imaginary line known every bit the Prime number Elevation.

Shaded relief map of the world showing the Prime Meridian at zero degrees longitude with a bold white line. — The prime summit is the line fatigued north to s at 0° (0 degrees) longitude. Map: Caitlin Dempsey.

Mapping the Location of Zero Degrees Latitude and Zero Degrees Longitude

Therefore, we are looking for what exists at the location where the Equator and the Prime Meridian cross each other. In other words, we are desire to what is located at the confluence of (0°N 0°E)

Shaded relief globe centered on Europe and Africa showing where the Prime Meridian and Equator cross in bold white lines. — The intersection of the Equator and the Prime Meridian is but due south of northwestern Africa. Map: Caitlin Dempsey.

If you look at the intersection of 0 degrees latitude (known as the Equator) and 0 degrees longitude (known every bit the Prime Acme) on a map, y'all volition run across that the confluence falls in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, in the Gulf of Guinea off the declension of western Africa.

The map beneath shows in bold white lines the lines of zero degrees latitude and aught degrees longitude.

Detailed country map with shaded relief showing the intersection of the Equator and the Prime Meridian in bold white lines. — A closer look at the intersection of the Equator and the Prime Meridian just south of northwestern Africa. Map: Caitlin Dempsey.

The closest country to 0°, 0° is the African land of Ghana which lies nearly 614 km (382 mi) to the due north of this confluence.

The closest piece of land to 0°, 0° is a pocket-size islet offshore of Ghana, between Akwidaa and Dixcove at the latitude and longitude coordinates of iv°45′thirty″N, 1°58′33″Due west. The distance from this islet to 0°, 0° is about 570 km (354.2 mi).

Therefore, the open ocean lies at zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude.

This coordinate is marked past a weather ascertainment buoy (Station 13010—Soul), placed in that location equally function of the Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Atlantic, also known as PIRATA and is operated past the countries of United States, France, and Brazil.

A weather buoy can be found at the location of 0 degrees latitude, 0 degrees longitude. Photo: Graham Curran, CC BY 4.0, MediaWiki Commons. — A weather buoy can be found at the location of 0 degrees latitude, 0 degrees longitude. Photo: Graham Curran, CC Past iv.0, MediaWiki Eatables.

Null Island

At that place is a fictional island known as Cypher Island at zero latitude and zero longitude. Although it'south not clear when the concept of Null Island was conceived, information technology came to prominence with the release of public domain Natural World GIS data. This one foursquare meter area island is used for troubleshooting purposes for flagging geocoding failures, which is geographic data that cannot be properly located due to an error.

When a GIS software plan or other mapping tools are unable to properly assign geographic coordinates to an address, the address record might be assigned a coordinate of 0,0 so cartographers tin flag those address with errors.

Acquire more: Null Island: Where Geocoding Errors Get to Live

This article was beginning published on September 17, 2015 and has since been updated.