answersLogoWhite

0


Best Answer

Unlike the parallels of latitude, which are defined by the rotational axis of the Earth (the poles being 90° and the Equator 0°), the Prime Meridian is arbitrary. By international convention, the modern Prime Meridian is one passing through Greenwich, London, United Kingdom, known as the International Meridian or Greenwich Meridian. Historically, various meridians have been used, including four different ones through Greenwich. Heading south from the North Pole, the Prime Meridian first passes through the United Kingdom (the most northerly land on the meridian is the shore (53°45′34″N) southeast of the Sand-le-Mere caravan park east of Kingston upon Hull, England). It then passes through France, Spain, Algeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Ghana, and then through Queen Maud Land to the South Pole. The Prime Meridian and the opposite 180th meridian (at 180° longitude), which the International Date Line generally follows, form a great circle that divides the Earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

User Avatar

Wiki User

16y ago
This answer is:
User Avatar

Add your answer:

Earn +20 pts
Q: Why is 0 degree longitude at the greenwich and not any other place on earth?
Write your answer...
Submit
Still have questions?
magnify glass
imp
Continue Learning about Earth Science

What is used to locate places on earth's surface?

A Map, in one one of these different types of projections: Mercator, Gnomonic, and Polyconic. Mercator - Shows the whole world except for the poles. Gnomonic - A circle projection showing, most often, the poles but sometimes other small places of the earth. Polyconic - Made as if a cone of paper had been wrapped around the earth, often used for places in the middle latitudes, such as the United States.


What is the affect of latitude n longitude of earth on gravity?

Your weight at the north or south pole would be ever so slightly greater than it is at the equator, because the Earth is slightly fatter around the equator than it is around the poles, so if you're standing on the equator, you're slightly farther from the Earth's center of mass than you are if you're standing on one of the poles. Other than that, your location on the surface of the Earth has no effect at all on the forces of gravity that attract you and the Earth toward each other.


How do you find the earth's crust compared to the other lyers?

Earth's crust is the thinnest among the other earth's layers.


Is temperature earth science?

Since the Earth's temperature changes, the study of that will be part of Earth Science. But there are lots and lots of other things about the earth, besides temperature, that is part of Earth Science. Also, other things besides the Earth change temperature ,so many other kinds of science, besides Earth Science, study the effects of temperature .


What is the Maori name for earth?

Papatuanuku is the earth mother (akin to other other religion/peoples Gaea) so Papa is used for the word earth or ground. If you are meaning Earth as in planet earth then the term used is Te Ao.

Related questions

What time is it at greenwich at longitude 74 degree west?

If you tell us the time at either Greenwich or at 74° west, then we can tell you the time at the other point. They do track together, but both of them keep changing.


What line of longitude is the basis of all other longitude measurements?

Zero degrees longitude, sometimes called the Greenwich Meridian after the observatory in Greenwich England where the system of latitude and longitude was worked out. The happy accident is that the 180 degree meridian, the International Date Line, is situated in the ocean where it causes relatively little trouble for major land masses.


Is greenwich meridian a line of longitude?

Yes. Every "meridian" is an imaginary line on the Earth that joins the north and south poles and has the same longitude at every point on it. The Greenwich meridian is the one that passes through the Royal Observatory in England. It's defined as zero longitude, and all other longitudes on Earth are numbered starting at that one.


What are the 2 major line of longitude?

The major longitude is the Greenwich meridian. The other is the line of longitude on the opposite side of the earth - more or less the International Date Line. Except that it is not a straight pole-to-pole line.


What is found 0 degree longitude?

The Prime Meridian is found at 0 degrees longitude. Additionally, this is the longitude line that goes through Greenwich, England which marks the base time zone GMT or UTC that other time zones are relative to.


What is the name of the imaginary vertical line that circles the earth and is found at zero degrees longitude?

the Prime Meridian or Greenwich Meridian and runs through Greenwich England ________________________________ You're probably thinking of the Prime Meridian, but the Prime Meridian doesn't circle the Earth; it only covers half of the Earth. The other half of the circle is the "anti-meridian" at longitude 180 degrees. (East or west? Both, and neither.)


What is the other name of chief meridian?

The Prime or Greenwich meridian. 0 degrees longitude


Why is greenwich england inportant to a geographer?

Because 0 degrees longitude passes through Greenwich - which is a suburb of southeast London. All other lines of longitude are either east or west of Greenwich. All of the worlds time is also measured as being either before or after GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).


What number of degrees is the line of longitude on the other side of the Earth from the line at 0 degrees longitude?

Travelling all the way around the Earth from the the Prime Meridian (0°) takes you in a circle of 360°Therefore, at the exact opposite side of the Earth as the prime Meridian is 180°.Longitude is measure from 0° to 180° either East or West of Greenwich so it ends at 180°.


Are longitudes complete circles How?

No. Each longitude "line" is a half-circle, going from the north pole to the south pole. On the other side of the Earth, the "other half of the circle" has a different longitude measurement. Longitude lines are measured east or west of the Prime Meridian, which passes through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England.


What is that imaginary line call that goes to the east and wet on earth?

They are lines of longitude and run from pole to pole. The Prime Meridian (zero) runs through Greenwich Observatory, and the other lines of longitude run from the Prime Meridian to the West and to the East.


London passes through what meridian?

The Prime Meridian, ie 0 degrees Longitude, runs through the London Borough of Greenwich. You can visit the site and stand with one foot in the Eastern Hemisphere and the other in the Western Hemisphere.