Mostly through the Pacific Ocean , avoiding most land. It passes between Russia and Alaska (through the Bering Strait), then near Fiji, and down between New Zealand’s main islands.
(e.g., plotting earthquakes or shipping routes), if you center a map on the Atlantic, the Pacific gets split — but if you center on the Pacific, the Atlantic gets split. No perfect flat map avoids the antimeridian problem. antimeridian and prime meridian
In 1884, 25 nations voted to make the Greenwich Meridian the world’s prime meridian. Why? Britain was the world’s leading maritime power, and most ships already used Greenwich charts. France abstained (they preferred Paris), but eventually adopted it too. Mostly through the Pacific Ocean , avoiding most land
This is why Pacific island nations and airlines pay close attention to where the IDL is drawn. GIS / mapping software often struggles with the antimeridian. A shape that crosses 180° longitude (e.g., Russia’s far east) will wrap around the map incorrectly if not handled with antimeridian splitting — dividing the geometry into two pieces, one on each side. No perfect flat map avoids the antimeridian problem
