Longitude

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What is Longitude?

Longitude is an imaginary line which runs north to south at a right angle to the parallels and passes through poles. Longitude measures the distance east or west of the prime meridianThe prime meridian is Zero degrees (0°) longitude. The prime meridian runs through the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Greenwich, England (the location was established in 1884 by international agreement). The prime... More.

The prime meridian is the line of 0° longitude and it passes through Greenwich, London. It is called the prime meridian (or Greenwich meridian) because all the lines of longitude are numbered in degrees, East or West from it. The prime meridian divides the globe into the Western and Eastern HemispheresA hemisphere is half the Earth's surface. The four hemispheres are the Northern and Southern hemispheres, divided by the equator (0° latitude), and the Eastern and Western hemispheres, divided by the... More.

The longitude of a place is said to be its angular distance East or West of the Greenwich Meridian, measured to 180 degrees of West longitude, and to another 180 degrees of East longitude. Making a full circle at 360 degrees. That means that 180°W and 180°E must be the same