The point at which the equator (0° latitude) and the prime meridian (0° longitude) intersect has no real significance but it is in the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean, about 380 miles (611 kilometers) south of Ghana and 670 miles (1078 km) west of Gabon.While the equator is an important line on the earth's surface, marking the line above which the sun is directly overhead on the March and September equinoxes, the prime meridian is an imaginary line, created by people to mark zero degrees longitude. It just happens to pass through Greenwich, but it could have been located anywhere. Therefore, the intersection of zero degrees longitude and zero degrees latitude is of no significance. |