What Is The International Date Line? About The Geographical Term

INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE – In this topic, we are going to know and learn about a geographical line known as the International Date Line.

According to the National Ocean Service, this line passes through the mid-Pacific Ocean and follows a 180 degrees longitude north-south line on the Earth.

This can be found halfway round the world from the prime meridian, also known as the zero degrees longitude found in Greenwich, England, in 1852,

Abbreviated as IDL, this serves as a line of demarcation, which separates two consecutive calendar dates. A demarcation line is known as a geopolitical border which is usually agreed as part of an armistice (formal agreement) or ceasefire (temporary war stoppage)

Crossing the IDL to the west and you are in an area one day later, crossing back the line and you have “gone back in time.”

It has no legal international status and the nations have the freedom to choose the dates that they observe.

Albeit the line runs north to south from pole to pole, it zigzags around political borders.