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The Prime Meridian, also called the Greenwich Meridian, is 0 degrees longitude. The observatory where the Meridian is defined is in Greenwich, England. The line passes from the North Pole through England, Europe, Africa, and ends at the South pole in Antarctica. Opposite the Prime Meridian is the International Date Line, or the Ante-Meridian. The choice of the Meridian is entirely abitrary. At various time the Meridian has been set at other locations. The US even used Washington, DC, as the Prime Meridian. Standardization was important for global navigation, so it was finally agreed to use Greenwich as the meridian "0" reference. This is especially convenient because the Ante-Meridian dateline is located where there are no large land masses.

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12y ago

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