Interactive map reveals the ‘antipode’ of any location on our planet
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There have been many fruitless discussions about where someone would end up if they started digging under them with the aim of getting out the other side.
In Britain, some may assume Australia, while for Americans, the most popular answer is probably China.
While it’s not physically possible to figure this out for sure — it would, after all, require a journey of nearly 8,000 miles through the Earth’s crust, mantle, and inner and outer core — an interactive map offers a theoretical way to pinpoint the opposite point of the location.
It reveals that the majority of our planet’s most populous cities have an opposite point or “antipode” somewhere in the ocean.
Since the Earth’s surface consists of about 71 percent water, it is of course not surprising that the chance of hitting land is relatively small.
Digging Deep: An interactive map reveals that most of our planet’s most populous cities have an opposite point, or “antipode,” somewhere in the ocean. This looks at what is the opposite of New York…
It turns out that New York, like most of our planet’s most populous cities, has an opposite point, or “antipode,” somewhere in the ocean (pictured)
However, there are plenty of other cities that match or closely match each other, including Auckland in New Zealand with Seville and Malaga in Spain, as well as Shanghai in China with the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires.
The Chinese are among the relative minority of countries that would seize land if they undertook this venture, the Antipodes Map website.
If you dig a hole from the center of Beijing, you will end up in Rio Negro, near Bahia Blanca in Argentina.
An example of two exact antipodes is Ulan Ude in Russia and Puerto Natales in Chile.
The two largest inhabited antipodal areas are in East Asia, in China and Mongolia, and in South America, in Argentina and Chile.
“The Australian mainland is the largest landmass with its antipodes entirely in the ocean,” the Antipodes website writes.
Britons digging under the Houses of Parliament would reappear off the coast of New Zealand
This is where you would end up if you started digging under London and came out the other side
“Most locations on land do not have antipodes on land.”
The largest antipodal landmasses are the Malay Archipelago, which faces the Amazon basin and adjacent Andes ranges.
An American digging a hole from Times Square in New York would end up in the ocean off the coast of Australia, while British people would be submerged. the Houses of Parliament would reappear off the coast of New Zealand.
Russians digging from Moscow would end up in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
And if you were in Tokyo and wanted to get to the other side of the earth, you’d be off the coast of Uruguay.
The North Pole and the South Pole are by definition antipodes.
If you were to dig under Christchurch in New Zealand, you would almost hit land on the other side
Reappearing: That’s because you would land near the town of A Coruna in Spain
There are plenty of other cities that match or are closely related, including Auckland in New Zealand with Seville and Malaga in Spain
This shows how you would end up near Seville and Malaga in Spain by digging through Auckland
The Antipodes website states, “This map helps you find the antipodes (the other side of the world) of any place on Earth.
‘[This] is the point on the Earth’s surface that is diametrically opposed to it.
‘Two opposite points are connected by a straight line passing through the center of the earth. An antipodal point is often called an antipode.’
It adds: ‘Most Europeans and Americans believe that if you dig a hole, in a straight line through the center of the earth, you will end up exactly in China on the other side.
‘But this is just a saying, because in reality, if you dig a straight tunnel, you will end up in the ocean in most areas of Europe or the United States.
‘The only places in China where a straight hole forms are parts of Argentina and Chile.’
It was originally thought that if you fell ‘through’ the Earth, it would take 42 minutes and 12 seconds to get from one side to the other.
However, research by Alexander Klotz, a graduate student in physics at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and published in The American Journal of Astrophysics, later estimated it would take 38 minutes.
The revised guess came about after taking into account the different densities of the strata, resulting in a four-minute shorter travel time than originally predicted.