Antipode map: what is on the other side of the Earth?
If you dug a hole straight through the centre of the Earth, where would you come out? Pick a place and the second map shows its antipode, the exact opposite point on the globe.
Or click either map. Drag a pin and the other one follows.
What is an antipode?
The antipode of a place is the point diametrically opposite it on the Earth: the spot you would reach by drawing a straight line from it through the centre of the planet. To find it, flip the latitude from north to south (or the other way round) and move the longitude 180 degrees.
Madrid, at about 40.4°N and 3.7°W, has its antipode at 40.4°S and 176.3°E, which is on New Zealand's North Island. Any two antipodes are about 20,000 km apart, the greatest distance possible between two points on the Earth's surface.
Why most antipodes are in the ocean
About 29% of the Earth's surface is land. Measured from the same outlines this map uses, only about 15% of that land has land on the opposite side of the planet, and land-to-land antipodes cover just 4.4% of the whole surface.
The main reason is that land is concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere, while the opposite side of most of it is the Pacific or Indian Ocean. Nearly all of Europe, Africa and North America has water at its antipode. The big exceptions are parts of South America opposite China and Southeast Asia, New Zealand opposite Spain, and Antarctica opposite the Arctic lands.
Cities that are almost exactly opposite each other
The nearest city to each antipode, measured with the same calculation as the tool.
| City | Nearest city to its antipode | Distance from the exact antipode |
|---|---|---|
| Auckland, New Zealand | Ronda, Spain | 13 km |
| Hong Kong | Villazón, Bolivia | 35 km |
| Shanghai, China | Salto, Uruguay | 56 km |
| Phnom Penh, Cambodia | Huancayo, Peru | 59 km |
| Jakarta, Indonesia | Tunja, Colombia | 79 km |
| Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Cuenca, Ecuador | 81 km |
| Taipei, Taiwan | San Antonio, Paraguay | 90 km |
| Beijing, China | Bahía Blanca, Argentina | 174 km |
The Antipodes, and the far side of London
London's antipode lies in the Pacific Ocean south-east of New Zealand. The small Antipodes Islands nearby were named for exactly that reason: they are close to the point directly opposite Britain. That is also where the old nickname "the Antipodes" for Australia and New Zealand comes from.
New York's antipode is in the Indian Ocean, more than 1,000 km off the coast of Western Australia, and Paris's is in the Pacific, south-east of New Zealand.
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Questions about antipodes
How do you find the antipode of a place?
Change the latitude to the other hemisphere with the same number (40°N becomes 40°S), then add or subtract 180° from the longitude so that it stays between 180°W and 180°E. The map above does this for any point you pick.
If I dug a hole through the Earth, where would I come out?
At your antipode. For most people that is the ocean: from Europe, Africa and most of North America you would come out in the Pacific or Indian Ocean. From Spain or Portugal you would come out near New Zealand, and from China near Argentina or Uruguay.
What is the antipode of the United States?
Almost all of the United States has its antipode in the southern Indian Ocean, south-west of Australia. The small exceptions: the Big Island of Hawaii lies opposite Botswana, a corner of northern Montana is opposite the Kerguelen Islands, and the north coast of Alaska is opposite Antarctica.
Which countries are antipodes of each other?
Well-known land-to-land pairs include Spain and New Zealand, China and Argentina, Chile and China, and Indonesia with Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Most of the rest of the world is opposite ocean.
How far away is the antipode?
About 20,000 km along the surface, half the Earth's circumference, whichever direction you travel. Straight through the Earth it would be about 12,700 km, the Earth's diameter.