Antipode Calculator
Find the antipode of any latitude and longitude, the point on the exact opposite side of Earth, in an instant. You get the antipodal coordinates in both decimal degrees and degrees-minutes-seconds (DMS) format, the hemisphere label, and the straight-line distance through the planet. Switch to DMS input mode if you already have degrees, minutes, and seconds.
What is an antipode?
An antipode (from the Greek "anti" meaning opposite and "pous" meaning foot) is the point on the Earth's surface that is diametrically opposite to a given location. If you could drill a perfectly straight tunnel through the center of the Earth from any point, the exit on the other side would be the antipodal point. The concept has fascinated geographers and mathematicians since ancient times. Eratosthenes and other Greek scholars understood Earth's spherical nature well enough to reason about antipodal regions, though they imagined them as mirrored worlds rather than coordinate pairs. The word "antipodes" was historically used to refer to the people living on the opposite side of the globe, a usage still common in Australian and New Zealand English to describe their geographic distance from Europe.
How to calculate an antipode
Finding the antipodal coordinates of any point involves two operations. First, flip the latitude: if the origin is at 48.8566° N, the antipode is at 48.8566° S (change the sign in decimal degrees, or switch the N/S hemisphere label in DMS format). Second, shift the longitude by exactly 180 degrees and normalize the result to stay within [-180, 180]. If the origin longitude is 2.3522° E (positive), adding 180 gives 182.3522°, which is out of range, so you subtract 360 to get -177.6478° W. If the origin is at -74° W (New York), adding 180 gives 106° E, which needs no normalization. The formula in decimal degrees is: Antipodal latitude = -lat; Antipodal longitude = lon + 180 (if lon <= 0) or lon - 180 (if lon > 0). The distance between any point and its antipode is always the same: half the Earth's mean circumference, about 20,015 km (12,437 mi).
Why most antipodes fall in the ocean
Oceans cover about 71% of Earth's surface, and land is heavily concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere. The Southern Hemisphere is almost entirely ocean. This asymmetry means that for most land locations, the opposite side of the Earth is open ocean. Only about 15% of land areas have a land-based antipode. The largest land-to-land antipodal regions are parts of East Asia paired with South America, and parts of the Iberian Peninsula paired with New Zealand. Notable examples include Wellington, New Zealand, whose antipode is the small Spanish town of Alaejos, and Hong Kong, whose antipode is near La Quiaca in northern Argentina. Most of North America, Europe, Australia, and Africa have their antipodes in the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, or the Southern Ocean. The Borsuk-Ulam theorem from topology guarantees that for any continuous function on a sphere (such as temperature or atmospheric pressure), there is always at least one pair of antipodal points with identical values.
Degrees-minutes-seconds (DMS) vs decimal degrees (DD)
Geographic coordinates can be written in two common formats. Decimal degrees (DD) express latitude and longitude as a single number with a decimal fraction, such as 48.8566° N or -48.8566 (where the negative sign indicates South). This format is standard for GPS devices, online maps, and most modern software. Degrees-minutes-seconds (DMS) breaks each coordinate into three parts: whole degrees, whole minutes (1/60th of a degree), and seconds with decimals (1/3600th of a degree). An example is 48° 51' 24.0" N. To convert from DMS to DD: DD = degrees + minutes/60 + seconds/3600, then apply a negative sign for South or West. To convert from DD to DMS: degrees = floor(|DD|), minutes = floor((|DD| - degrees) x 60), seconds = ((|DD| - degrees) x 60 - minutes) x 60. This calculator handles both formats and converts between them automatically.
Notable antipodal city pairs
| Origin | Coordinates | Antipode | Antipodal coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wellington, New Zealand | 41.3° S, 174.8° E | Alaejos, Spain | 41.3° N, 5.2° W |
| Madrid, Spain | 40.4° N, 3.7° W | Near Antipodes Islands (NZ) | 40.4° S, 176.3° E |
| Buenos Aires, Argentina | 34.6° S, 58.4° W | Near Xian, China | 34.6° N, 121.6° E |
| Chagos Islands | 6° S, 72° E | Christmas Island area | 6° N, 108° W |
| North Pole | 90° N, any | South Pole | 90° S, any |
| London, UK | 51.5° N, 0.1° W | South Pacific Ocean | 51.5° S, 179.9° E |
| New York, USA | 40.7° N, 74.0° W | Indian Ocean | 40.7° S, 106.0° E |
| Sydney, Australia | 33.9° S, 151.2° E | Atlantic Ocean (off Azores) | 33.9° N, 28.8° W |
Some of the best-known locations where both points fall on or near land. Most locations have oceanic antipodes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the antipode of my location?
Enter your latitude and longitude into the calculator above (you can find these in Google Maps by right-clicking your location and selecting "What's here?"). The calculator will instantly show the antipodal coordinates, the hemisphere it falls in, and the distance to it. For most locations in North America and Europe, the antipode falls in the Indian Ocean or Pacific Ocean.
How far is any point from its antipode?
The distance between any point and its antipode is always exactly half the Earth's mean circumference: approximately 20,015 km (12,437 mi). This is because the antipode lies at the end of a diameter through the Earth's center, and the surface arc connecting two diametrically opposite points is always a half great-circle.
Does the antipode always land in the ocean?
For most land locations, yes. Oceans cover about 71% of Earth, and land is heavily clustered in the Northern Hemisphere while most of the Southern Hemisphere is ocean. Statistically, about 85% of land locations have an oceanic antipode. Only a handful of inhabited regions, such as parts of East Asia paired with South America, have land-to-land antipodal pairs.
What are the antipodes of the North and South Poles?
The North Pole (90° N) and the South Pole (90° S) are perfect antipodes of each other. This is the simplest antipodal pair: flip the latitude sign and the longitude does not matter, since all longitudes converge at the poles.
What is the difference between decimal degrees and DMS coordinates?
Decimal degrees (DD) express coordinates as a single decimal number, such as 48.8566° for Paris's latitude. Degrees-minutes-seconds (DMS) splits the same value into 48° 51' 24.0" N. Both systems describe the same locations; DD is more common in software and GPS, while DMS is used in traditional navigation and surveying. This calculator accepts both and converts between them automatically.
Can I find the antipode of a city by name?
This calculator uses latitude and longitude coordinates. To find the antipode of a named city, first look up the city's coordinates in Google Maps (right-click and select "What's here?") or in a geographic database, then enter those coordinates here. Common city coordinates include Paris (48.8566° N, 2.3522° E), New York (40.7128° N, 74.0060° W), and Sydney (33.8688° S, 151.2093° E).
What is the Borsuk-Ulam theorem and how does it relate to antipodes?
The Borsuk-Ulam theorem is a mathematical result that states: for any continuous function mapping points on a sphere to real values, there is always at least one pair of antipodal points with the same value. Applied to Earth, this means there is always at least one pair of antipodal points where the temperature is the same, where the atmospheric pressure is the same, and so on. It is a fundamental result in topology with real-world geographic implications.