Antipodes Calculator
Find the point on the opposite side of the Earth for any latitude/longitude. If you dug straight down, where would you come out? Free, runs in your browser.
Surprising antipodal facts
- 71% of antipodes are underwater. Most of the Earth's surface is ocean, so if you pick a random point and dig down, you'll most likely emerge in the middle of the Indian or Pacific Ocean.
- The Philippines ↔ Brazil. Manila is nearly antipodal to eastern Brazil — one of the few large-land-to-large-land pairings.
- Spain ↔ New Zealand. Madrid and Wellington are the most-cited major-city antipodal pairing.
- Greenland ↔ Antarctica. The Arctic and Antarctic are roughly antipodal, which is why their daylight cycles are exactly opposite.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an antipode?
Your antipode is the point on the opposite side of the Earth — the place you would reach if you drilled straight through the core. For any latitude/longitude, the antipode has the latitude sign flipped and the longitude shifted by 180°. For example, the antipode of Madrid (40.4°N, 3.7°W) is near Wellington, New Zealand (~40.4°S, 176.3°E).
How is the antipode calculated?
The formula is simply antipodeLat = -lat and antipodeLng = lng + 180 (wrapped to the -180 to +180 range). No projection or spherical trigonometry needed — it is a pure sign-flip and 180° shift.
Why is "dig straight down" not quite what happens?
Because the Earth is a slightly oblate spheroid (wider at the equator), a true straight tunnel between two non-antipodal points is curved. But for the geometric antipode, the chord through the centre is symmetric, so the calculation is exact for any reasonable model of the Earth.
Where would I end up if I dug straight down?
For most of Europe and North America, the answer is the Indian Ocean or the southern Pacific — about 71% of the Earth is covered by water, and the antipodal land pairings are surprisingly rare. Spain ↔ New Zealand, Argentina ↔ China, and the Philippines ↔ Brazil are some of the few.