Prime Meridian


The Prime Meridian, also known as the International Meridian or Greenwich Meridian, is the meridian (line of longitude) passing through the Royal Greenwich Observatory in London — it is the meridian at which longitude is defined to be 0 degrees. The prime meridian, and the opposite 180th meridian (at 180° longitude), which the International Date Line generally follows, separate the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. The Prime Meridian and the 180th meridian form a great circle which encircles the Earth like a longitudinal equator.