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Concept
International Date Line
Summary
The International Date Line (IDL) is an internationally accepted demarcation of the surface of Earth, running between the South and North Poles and serving as the boundary between one calendar day and the next. It passes through the Pacific Ocean, roughly following the 180.0° line of longitude and deviating to pass around some territories and island groups. Crossing the date line eastbound decreases the date by one day, while crossing the date line westbound increases the date.
People traveling westward around the world must set their clocks:
Back by one hour for every 15° of longitude crossed, and
Forward by 24 hours upon crossing the International Date Line.
People traveling eastward must set their clocks:
Forward by one hour for every 15° of longitude crossed, and
Back by 24 hours upon crossing the International Date Line.
Failing to do this would make their time inaccurate to the local time.
The Arab geographer Abulfeda (1273–1331) predicted that circumnavigators would accumulate a one-day offset to the local date. This phenomenon was confirmed in 1522 at the end of the Magellan–Elcano circumnavigation (1519–1522), the first successful circumnavigation. After sailing westward around the world from Spain, the expedition called at Cape Verde for provisions on Wednesday, 9 July 1522 (ship's time). However, the locals told them that it was actually Thursday, 10 July 1522. The crew was surprised, as they had recorded each day of the three-year journey without omission. Cardinal Gasparo Contarini, the Venetian ambassador to Spain, was the first European to give a correct explanation of the discrepancy.
This description is based on the most common understanding of the de facto International Date Line. See below, and map above at right.
The IDL is roughly based on the meridian of 180° longitude, roughly down the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and halfway around the world from the IERS Reference Meridian, the successor to the historic Greenwich Prime Meridian running through the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
Official source
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