What Country is Really on the Other Side of the World from Michigan?
I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say it's a millennial pastime to start at your location on Google Maps and zoom all the way out. It's a humbling experience as much as it is terrifying.
A planet with more than 8 billion people on it, with 1.5 million animal species with their own enormous world populations sharing the same tiny rock in the galaxy.
After going around the world a bit I accidentally zoomed in on China, and something hit me.
We all grew up on cartoons that told us that if we dug a hole in the ground and kept going until we popped out on the other side, we'd be in China.
Well, If you look at a flat map, that'd make some sense, seeing as their latitude and longitude coordinates are similar. The United States is 37.0902° N, 95.7129° W. China is 35.8617° N,104.1954° E.
If you look at a globe, you can draw a straight line to the opposite side of the world from America to China. But you wouldn't be digging straight down.
If you were to dig straight down, through the Earth's core diametrically to the other side, you would find the true opposite of the United States, or its "Antidope". Further, you would end up some 5,500 miles south of China.
This video from Reddit's /r/dataisbeautiful shows both opposites for America
Comparing latitudes in the same hemisphere, then flipping the world to show the antipodes and comparing latitudes in opposite hemisphere [OC]
byu/neilrkaye indataisbeautiful
As you can see, the opposite side of the world from America is entirely in the Indian Ocean.
Of course, you can find the exact coordinates of what lies on the other side of the world from you with an interactive map found here.
So say you were somewhere in the middle of Michigan, like say Union Charter Township at the coordinates 43.621195° N, -84.682435° W. The other side of the world is in the Indian Ocean at approximately -43.621195° S, 95.317565° E.
There's a stark realization that we live nearly as far north as Antarctica's most northern points are south on the globe.
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