Editing Antipodes (section)

{{Short description|Diametrically opposite points on Earth's surface}}
{{Other uses|Antipode (disambiguation){{!}}Antipode}}
{{Redirect|Antipodean}}
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{{Excessive examples|date=November 2022}}
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{{Multiple image
| image1 = Antipodes LAEA.png
| image2 = Antipodes LAEA inverted.png
| direction = vertical
| caption1 = This map shows the antipode of each point on [[Earth]]'s surface—the points where the blue and yellow overlap are land antipodes; most land has its antipodes in the ocean. This map uses the [[Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection]]. The yellow areas are the reflections through Earth's center of land masses of the opposite [[Western Hemisphere]].
| caption2 = The same map, from the perspective of the Western Hemisphere. Here the blue areas are the reflections of the [[Eastern Hemisphere]]<!-- as they are also in the previous map-->.<!--The blue areas are the projections of the Eastern Hemisphere in the previous map.-->
}}

In [[geography]], the '''antipode''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|n|t|ɪ|ˌ|p|oʊ|d|,_|æ|n|ˈ|t|ɪ|p|ə|d|i}}) of any spot on [[Earth]] is the point on Earth's surface [[diameter|diametrically]] opposite to it. A pair of points ''antipodal'' ({{IPAc-en|æ|n|ˈ|t|ɪ|p|ə|d|əl}}) to each other are situated such that a [[line (geometry)|straight line]] connecting the two would pass through Earth's center. [[Antipodal point]]s are as far away from each other as possible.{{refn|group=note|In British English, "antipodes" can be either plural or singular.<ref name="Dictionary_antipodes">{{cite web |url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/antipodes? |title=antipodes |website=Dictionary.com |access-date=December 2, 2017}}</ref>}} The [[North Pole|North]] and [[South Pole]]s are antipodes of each other.

In the [[Northern Hemisphere]], "the Antipodes" may refer to [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]], and '''Antipodeans''' to their inhabitants.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/antipodes?view=uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051001025614/http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/antipodes?view=uk |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 1, 2005 |work=Compact Oxford English Dictionary |year=2008 |title=Antipodes |access-date=February 21, 2010}}</ref> Geographically, the antipodes of the British Isles are in the [[Pacific Ocean]], south of New Zealand. This gave rise to the name of the [[Antipodes Islands]] of New Zealand, which are close to the antipode of [[London]]. The antipodes of [[Australia]] are in the [[Atlantic Ocean|North Atlantic Ocean]], while parts of [[Spain]], [[Portugal]], [[France]] and [[Morocco]] are antipodal to New Zealand.

Approximately 15% of land territory is antipodal to other land, representing approximately 4.4% of Earth's surface.<ref name=Sawe2017>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-an-antipode-in-geography.html |title=What Is An Antipode In Geography? |last=Sawe |first=Benjamin Elisha |date=April 25, 2017 |publisher=World Atlas |access-date=March 16, 2019}}</ref> Another source estimates that about 3% of Earth's surface is antipodal land.<ref name=Spilhaus1991 /> The largest antipodal land masses are the [[Malay Archipelago]], antipodal to the [[Amazon basin]] and adjoining [[Andes|Andean]] ranges; east [[China]] and [[Mongolia]], and small sections of southeast [[Russia]], antipodal to [[Argentina]] and [[Chile]]; and [[Greenland]] and the [[Arctic Archipelago|Canadian Arctic Archipelago]], antipodal to [[East Antarctica]]. There is a general paucity of antipodal land because the Southern Hemisphere has comparatively less land than the Northern Hemisphere and, of that, the antipodes of Australia are in the [[Atlantic Ocean|North Atlantic Ocean]], while the antipodes of southern [[Africa]] are in the [[Pacific Ocean|North Pacific Ocean]].