If you could dig a straight tunnel through the centre of the Earth, you would come out at your antipode – the point diametrically opposite. Children are often told they would end up in China; from most of the United States you would actually surface in the southern Indian Ocean, because about 70% of the planet is water and only around 15% of land has land at its antipode.
Finding the antipode is simple arithmetic. The latitude changes sign (north becomes south), and the longitude moves by 180°: subtract 180° from an eastern longitude or add 180° to a western one. Famous land-to-land pairs include Spain and New Zealand, Argentina and China, and Hawaii and Botswana.
Antipodal places have opposite seasons, their solar noon and midnight swap (12 hours apart), and their shortest distance along the surface is half the Earth’s circumference – about 20,000 km – in every direction. Enter coordinates as signed decimals or as degrees, minutes and seconds with N/S and E/W.
How to use the Antipode Calculator
- Coordinates in
- Latitude — Positive north, negative south
- Longitude — Positive east, negative west
- Latitude degrees
- minutes
- seconds
- N / S
- Longitude degrees
- minutes
- seconds
- E / W
Everything is calculated in your browser, so results appear instantly and nothing you type is sent to a server.
How it works
The calculator flips the sign of the latitude and shifts the longitude by 180° in the direction that keeps it within −180° to 180°, then shows the result in both decimal and DMS notation.
Worked example
Mount Everest is at 27.988° N, 86.925° E. Its antipode has latitude −27.988° (27.988° S) and longitude 86.925° − 180° = −93.075° (93.075° W) – in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile. In DMS that is 27° 59′ 16.8″ S, 93° 4′ 30″ W.
Famous antipodal pairs
| Place | Antipode |
|---|---|
| Madrid, Spain | Near Weber, New Zealand |
| Shanghai, China | Near Buenos Aires province, Argentina |
| Honolulu, Hawaii | Near the Botswana–Namibia border |
| Bermuda | Off Western Australia |
| North Pole | South Pole |
Tips
- Use decimal degrees (negative for south and west) or the degrees–minutes–seconds fields.
- Great-circle distances assume a spherical Earth (error under 0.5%).
- Every field has its own unit menu.
- Everything is calculated in your browser.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Swapping latitude and longitude.
- Forgetting the minus sign for southern and western coordinates.
- Mixing magnetic and true north for bearings.
Formula
Antipode latitude = −φ · Antipode longitude = λ − 180° if λ > 0, otherwise λ + 180° · Distance between antipodes = πR ≈ 20,015 km
Worked example
Inputs — Coordinates in: Decimal degrees (−90…90, −180…180); Latitude: 40.4168 °; Longitude: -3.7038 °.
Results — Antipode = 40° 25′ 0.5″ S, 176° 17′ 46.3″ E; Antipode latitude = -40.4168 °; Antipode longitude = 176.2962 °; Your point = 40° 25′ 0.5″ N, 3° 42′ 13.7″ W; Distance to the antipode along the surface = 20,015; Time difference = 12 hours (nominal solar time) – e.g. noon at the original point is midnight at the antipode.
Key terms
- Antipode
- The point on the Earth's surface diametrically opposite another point.
- Latitude
- Angle north (+) or south (−) of the equator, −90° to 90°.
- Longitude
- Angle east (+) or west (−) of the prime meridian, −180° to 180°.
Frequently asked questions
What is the antipode of Madrid?
40.4168° S, 176.2962° E – near Weber on New Zealand's North Island, one of the few land-to-land antipodal pairs.
What is on the other side of the Earth from the USA?
Mostly the Indian Ocean southwest of Australia; only small parts of the U.S., such as parts of Colorado and Kansas and northern Montana, map to remote islands like St Paul, Amsterdam and the Kerguelen.
How do I calculate an antipode?
Change the sign of the latitude, then subtract 180° from an eastern longitude or add 180° to a western one.
How far away is my antipode?
About 20,015 km (12,437 miles) along the surface in any direction, or 12,742 km straight through the Earth.
What is the antipode of the North Pole?
The South Pole – the longitude does not matter at the poles.
Do antipodes have the same weather?
No – they have opposite seasons, and their climates differ because of oceans and landmasses.