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The International Date Line definition can be expressed as a hypothetical zig-zag line that is assumed on the physical map of our Earth. The International Date Line holds great significance in the proper designation of the dates at different places on the planet. The International Date Line originates from the North Pole and Terminates at the South Pole.
Interestingly, the international date line is related to the prime meridian. The International Date Line is the reference that is followed and accepted internationally to measure and keep track of dates in every corner of the world. In this article, we have summed up what is a prime meridian and the international date line definition briefly.
International Date Line
International Date Line is the line of the division responsible for separating two consecutive days or nights. It passes through the center of the largest ocean, the Pacific Ocean. It is also accountable for allotting different days with the change in time, and thus, different countries will have different dates irrespective of the day at some other place on Earth.
It is located at 180 degrees from the prime meridian longitude (0 degrees) that passes through a ” Greenwich ” city in the United Kingdom. The International Date Line is not straight just like other longitudes.
Since this line depicts the change of dates by one day, if you cross this line via any country such as Eastern Russian countries or Alaska’s the Aleutian Islands, you can call yourself a sort of time traveler. Moving to the west will take you one day ahead, whereas moving towards the east will take you one day back.
In What Way is the International Date Line Drawn?
The International Date Line has been introduced with great discussions and opinions at the International Meridian Conference that took place in 1884. This conference had representative members from 21 prominent countries from around the world. The conference was announced by the President of the United States.
In this meeting, the purpose was to create a time zone and the mapping of 24 hours clock has to be proposed. The proper geographical representation of the international date line was not the focus of the conference.
The structure of the International Date Line has been very versatile for countries near it. The International Date Line is not a straight line and there is a very big reason for that. Countries that are present near the longitudinal degree of 180 degrees have close proximity to the date line because it is present at 180 degrees from the Greenwich meridian or the prime meridian.
Some of those countries are Tonga, Bering Strait, Fiji, Antarctica at the bottom, and Arctic oceans Iceland at the top. Now, if we assume the International Date Line to be a straight line from top to bottom, then these countries have to get divided into two separate regions where both regions have different times and dates on that same date.
This inconvenience was causing trouble because one city of country X can have Saturday of one week, whereas the other city of the same country will have Sunday from the next week. Hence, the International Date Line is not a straight line but a zig-zag line that is shifted more towards the right in some east countries and more left towards the west countries.
What is Prime Meridian?
The prime meridian is similar to the international date line because it is also an imaginary straight line that originates from the North Pole and terminates at the South Pole. The prime meridian is the line of reference used by astronomers from all over the world in astronomical observations because it has been given the status of zero degrees longitude.
The prime meridian is the line that is responsible for managing the allotment of different time zones in the world. Greenwich was the special choice for choosing the prime meridian for a very long time since the late 19th century because the United States had already chosen Greenwich as their national time zone system.
The international acceptance of Greenwich as the prime meridian came because, in the 19th century, most of the international commerce trade was dependent on the sea charts which used Greenwich as the Prime meridian.
The value of prime meridian is that it divides the Earth (a sphere) into two hemispheres if bisected along any longitude just like the equator bisects the Earth latitude-wise. This Greenwich line holds the power to denote which part of the globe is East and which part of the globe is West.
The value of prime meridian is also seen during the time of expansion in the communication and railway networks in several countries in the 1850s. The need to have a fixed international time measuring standard was fulfilled by the prime meridian of Greenwich.
Conclusion
The International Date Line and the prime meridian were chosen by the delegates from 21 countries agreeing with the statements and purpose of the International Meridian Conference.
The International Date Line definition holds the exact purpose of it determining the change of the date, similarly, the value of prime meridian is the allotment of exact and internationally accepted time zones to each and every part of the world. The time zones will be equal along the longitudes, whereas the time zones are different along the latitudes.
