Interactive Map Shows Where on Earth You’d Be If You Dug Straight Through the Ground

Antipodes Map

Left: Canterbury 8011, New Zealand | Right: 27773, Lugo, Spain

A common childhood exercise involves imagining what country you’d encounter if you dug a straight line to the exact opposite side of the world. Would you go to China? Australia? Or maybe you’d venture to some tiny island you had never heard of. Well, wonder no longer. There’s now an Antipodes Map that will show you where you’d end up if you started digging (and didn’t succumb to the Earth’s fiery core).

The fascinating map is an interactive look at this thought experiment. To use it, simply input the address or city that you’d want to start your journey from. Then, the Google-powered map shows you where you’d emerge on the other side. If you’re planning a starting point in North America or most of Europe, be prepared to get wet; no matter where you begin, you’ll probably end up in the middle of the ocean! This isn’t uncommon, though. According to the map’s creators, a “majority of locations on land do not have land-based antipodes.”

Visit Antipodes Map to chart these odysseys for yourself. And if you want to make it to dry land soon, try their list of antipodes cities.

Ever wondered where you'd end up if you started digging to the exact other side of the world? The Antipodes Map will show you!

Antipodes Map Shows the Exact Opposite Side of the World

Just plug in the address or city where you want to start your journey…

Antipodes Map Shows the Exact Opposite Side of the World

… and you'll most likely end up in the ocean!

Antipodes Map Shows the Exact Opposite Side of the World

If you'd like to make it to dry land, the makers of the map have identified a number of cities that are antipodes of each other.

Antipodes Map

Left: Tai Mo Shan, Hong Kong | Right: Yavi, Jujuy, Argentina

Antipodes Map

Left: Junín, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina | Right: Haizhou, Lianyungang, Jiangsu, China

Antipode Map

Left: Ulan-Ude, Buryatia, Russia | Right: Natales, Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena, Chile

Antipodes Map Shows the Exact Opposite Side of the World

Left: Sumatera Selatan 30111, Indonesia | Right: Neiva, Huila, Colombia

Antipodes Map Shows the Exact Opposite Side of the World

Left: Haibowan, Wuhai, Inner Mongolia, China | Right: Mariquina, Región de los Ríos, Chile

Antipodes Map Shows the Exact Opposite Side of the World

Left: Padang, Padang City, West Sumatra, Indonesia | Right: Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador

Antipodes Map: Website 
h/t: [IFL Science]

All images via Antipodes Map.

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Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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