Prime meridian

Not to be confused with Principal meridian.

and various conventions have been used or advocated in
0 longitude redirects here. It is not to be confused with dierent regions and throughout history.[1]
Longitude.
Prime Meridian redirects here. For the meridian
often called the Prime Meridian, see Prime meridian 1 History
(Greenwich).
See also: History of longitude
The notion of longitude was developed by the Greek

0
Prime Meridian
A prime meridian is a meridian (a line of longitude) in
a geographical coordinate system at which longitude is
dened to be 0. Together, a prime meridian and its antimeridian (the 180th meridian in a 360-system) form a
great circle. This great circle divides the sphere, e.g., the
Earth, into two hemispheres. If one uses directions of
East and West from a dened prime meridian, then they
can be called Eastern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere.

Ptolemys 1st projection, redrawn under Maximus Planudes

around 1300, using a prime meridian east of Africa

Eratosthenes (c. 276 BC c. 195 BC) in Alexandria and

Hipparchus (c. 190 BC c. 120 BC) in Rhodes and applied to a large number of cities by the geographer Strabo
(64/63 BC c. 24 AD). But it was Ptolemy (c. AD 90
c. AD 168) who rst used a consistent meridian for a
world map in his Geographia.
Ptolemy used as his basis the "Fortunate Isles", a group of
islands in the Atlantic which are usually associated with
the Canary Islands (13 to 18W), although his maps correspond more closely to the Cape Verde islands (22 to
25 W). The main point is to be comfortably west of the
western tip of Africa (17.5 W) as negative numbers were
not yet in use. His prime meridian corresponds to 18 40'
west of Winchester (about 20W) today.[2] At this time
the chief method of determining longitude was by using
the reported times of lunar eclipses in dierent countries.

Ptolemys Geographia was rst printed with maps at

Gerardus Mercator in his Atlas Cosmographicae (1595) uses a Bologna in 1477 and many early globes in the sixteenth
prime meridian somewhere close to 25W, passing just to the west century followed his lead. But there was still a hope that a
of Santa Maria Island in the Atlantic. His 180th meridian runs natural basis for a prime meridian existed. Christopher
Columbus reported (1493) that the compass pointed due
along the Strait of Anin (Bering Strait)
north somewhere in mid-Atlantic and this fact was used
A prime meridian is ultimately arbitrary, unlike an in the important Tordesillas Treaty of 1494 which settled
equator, which is determined by the axis of rotation the territorial dispute between Spain and Portugal over
1

Diogo Ribeiros map of 1529, now in the Vatican library

newly discovered lands. The Tordesillas line was eventually settled at 370 leagues west of Cape Verde. This is
shown in Diogo Ribeiro's 1529 map. So Miguel Island
(25.5W) in the Azores was still used for the same reason as late as 1594 by Christopher Saxton, although by
this time it had been shown that the zero deviation line
did not follow a line of longitude.[3]

3 INTERNATIONAL PRIME MERIDIAN

steed between 1680 and 1719 and disseminated by his
successor, Edmund Halley that enabled navigators to use
the lunar method of determining longitude more accurately using the octant developed by Thomas Godfrey and
John Hadley.[6] Between 1765 and 1811, Nevil Maskelyne published 49 issues of the Nautical Almanac based
on the meridian of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
Maskelynes tables not only made the lunar method practicable, they also made the Greenwich meridian the universal reference point. Even the French translations of
the Nautical Almanac retained Maskelynes calculations
from Greenwichin spite of the fact that every other table in the Connaissance des Temps considered the Paris
meridian as the prime. [7]
In 1884, at the International Meridian Conference held
in Washington, D.C., 22 countries voted to adopt the
Greenwich[8] meridian as the prime meridian of the
world. The French argued for a neutral line, mentioning
the Azores and the Bering Strait but eventually abstained
and continued to use the Paris meridian until 1911.

2 List of prime meridians on Earth

3 International prime meridian

1571 Africa map by Abraham Ortelius, Cabo Verde prime meridian

In 1541, Mercator produced his famous forty-one centimetre terrestrial globe and drew his prime meridian precisely through Fuertaventura (141'W) in the Canaries.
His later maps used the Azores, following the magnetic
hypothesis. But by the time that Ortelius produced the
rst modern atlas in 1570, other islands such as Cape
Verde were coming into use. In his atlas longitudes were
counted from 0 to 360, not 180W to 180E as is common today. This practice was followed by navigators well
into the eighteenth century.[4] In 1634, Cardinal Richelieu used the westernmost island of the Canaries, Ferro,
19 55' west of Paris, as the choice of meridian. Unfortunately, the geographer Delisle decided to round this o
to 20, so that it simply became the meridian of Paris
disguised.[5]
In the early eighteenth century the battle was on to improve the determination of longitude at sea, leading to
the development of the chronometer by John Harrison.
But it was the development of accurate star charts principally by the rst British Astronomer Royal, John Flam-

In October 1884 the Greenwich Meridian was selected

by delegates (forty-one delegates representing twenty-ve
nations) to the International Meridian Conference held in
Washington, D.C., United States to be the common zero
of longitude and standard of time reckoning throughout the world.[26][note 1] The modern prime meridian, the
IERS Reference Meridian, is placed very near this meridian and is the prime meridian that currently has the widest
use.

3.1 Prime meridian at Greenwich

Main article: Prime Meridian (Greenwich)
The modern prime meridian, based at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, was established by Sir George Airy in
1851.[28]
The position of the Greenwich Meridian has been dened by the location of the Airy Transit Circle ever since
the rst observation was taken with it by Sir George Airy
in 1851.[28] Prior to that, it was dened by a succession
of earlier transit instruments, the rst of which was acquired by the second Astronomer Royal, Edmond Halley
in 1721. It was set up in the extreme north-west corner of the Observatory between Flamsteed House and
the Western Summer House. This spot, now subsumed
into Flamsteed House, is roughly 43 metres to the west of
the Airy Transit Circle, a distance equivalent to roughly
0.15 seconds of time.[17] It was Airys transit circle that

3
This was ocially accepted by the Bureau International
de l'Heure (BIH) in 1984 via its BTS84 (BIH Terrestrial
System) that later became WGS84 (World Geodetic System 1984) and the various ITRFs (International Terrestrial Reference Systems).

Markings of the prime meridian at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

was adopted in principle (with French delegates, who

pressed for adoption of the Paris meridian abstaining) as
the Prime Meridian of the world at the 1884 International
Meridian Conference.[29][30]

Due to the movement of Earths tectonic plates, the line

of 0 longitude along the surface of the Earth has slowly
moved toward the west from this shifted position by a
few centimetres; that is, towards the Airy Transit Circle (or the Airy Transit Circle has moved toward the
east, depending on your point of view) since 1984 (or the
1960s). With the introduction of satellite technology, it
became possible to create a more accurate and detailed
global map. With these advances there also arose the
necessity to dene a reference meridian that, whilst being derived from the Airy Transit Circle, would also take
into account the eects of plate movement and variations
in the way that the Earth was spinning.[32] As a result,
the International Reference Meridian was established and
is commonly used to denote Earths prime meridian (0
longitude) by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, which denes and maintains
the link between longitude and time. Based on observations to satellites and celestial compact radio sources
(quasars) from various coordinated stations around the
globe, Airys transit circle drifts northeast about 2.5 centimetres per year relative to this Earth-centred 0 longitude. Circa 1999 the international reference meridian (IRM) passed 5.31 arcseconds east of Airys meridian
or 102.5 metres (336.3 feet) at the latitude of the Royal
Observatory, Greenwich, London.[33][34][35][36] It is also
the reference meridian of the Global Positioning System
operated by the United States Department of Defense,
and of WGS84 and its two formal versions, the ideal
International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS) and its
realization, the International Terrestrial Reference Frame
(ITRF).[33][34][35] A current convention on the Earth uses
the opposite of the IRM as the basis for the International
Date Line.

All of these Greenwich meridians were located via an astronomic observation from the surface of the Earth, oriented via a plumb line along the direction of gravity at the
surface. This astronomic Greenwich meridian was disseminated around the world, rst via the lunar distance
method, then by chronometers carried on ships, then via
telegraph lines carried by submarine communications cables, then via radio time signals. One remote longitude
ultimately based on the Greenwich meridian using these
methods was that of the North American Datum 1927 or 3.2.1 List of places
NAD27, an ellipsoid whose surface best matches mean
On Earth, starting at the North Pole and heading south
sea level under the United States.
to the South Pole, the IERS Reference Meridian passes
through:

3.2

IERS Reference Meridian

Main article: IERS Reference Meridian

Satellites changed the reference from the surface of the 4 Prime meridian on other planeEarth to its centre of mass around which all satellites ortary bodies
bit regardless of surface irregularities. The requirement
that satellite-based geodetic reference systems be centred
on the centre of mass of the earth caused the modern See also: Longitude (planets)
prime meridian to be 5.3 east of the astronomic Green- Prime meridian (planets)" redirects here. It is not to be
wich prime meridian through the Airy Transit Circle. At confused with Central meridian (planets).
the latitude of Greenwich, this amounts to 102 metres.[31]

As on the Earth, prime meridians must be arbitrarily dened. Often a landmark such as a crater is used; other
times a prime meridian is dened by reference to another
celestial object, or by magnetic elds. The prime meridians of the following planetographic systems have been
dened:
The prime meridian of the Moon lies directly in the
middle of the face of the moon visible from Earth
and passes near the crater Bruce.
The prime meridian of Mars is dened by the crater
Airy-0.
The prime meridian of Venus passes through the
central peak in the crater Ariadne.[37]

REFERENCES

7 References
[1] Prime Meridian, geog.port.ac.uk
[2] Norgate 2006
[3] Hooker 2006
[4] e.g. Jacob Roggeveen in 1722 reported the longitude of
Easter Island as 268 45' (starting from Fuertaventura)
in the Extract from the Ocial log of Jacob Roggeveen
reproduced in Bolton Glanville Corney, ed. (1908), The
voyage of Don Felipe Gonzalez to Easter Island in 1770-1,
Hakluyt Society, p. 3, retrieved 13 January 2013
[5] Speech by Pierre Janssen, director of the Paris observatory, at the rst session of the Meridian Conference.
[6] Sobel & Andrewes 1998, pp. 110115

Two dierent heliographic coordinate systems are [7]

used on the Sun. The rst is the Carrington heliographic coordinate system. In this system, the [8]
prime meridian passes through the center of the
solar disk as seen from the Earth on 9 November [9]
1853, which is when Richard Christopher Carrington started his observations of sunspots.[38] The second is the Stonyhurst heliographic coordinates sys[10]
tem.

Sobel & Andrewes 1998, pp. 197199

The Prime Meridian at Greenwich. Royal Museums
Greenwich. n.d. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
International Conference Held at Washington for the Purpose of Fixing a Prime Meridian and a Universal Day.
October, 1884. Project Gutenberg
Hooker (2006), introduction.

[11] Oct. 13, 1884: Greenwich Resolves Subprime Meridian

Jupiter has several coordinate systems because its

Crisis, WIRED, 13 October 2010.
cloud topsthe only part of the planet visible
from spacerotate at dierent rates depending on [12] Atlas do Brazil, 1909, by Baro Homem de Mello e Francisco Homem de Mello, published in Rio de Janeiro by F.
latitude.[39] It is unknown whether Jupiter has any
Briguiet & Cia.
internal solid surface that would enable a more
Earth-like coordinate system. System I and Sys- [13] The Project Gutenberg eBook of International Confertem II coordinates are based on atmospheric rotaence Held at Washington for the Purpose of Fixing a
tion, and System III coordinates use Jupiters magPrime Meridian and a Universal Day. Gutenberg.org. 12
netic eld.
February 2006. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
Titan, like the Earths moon, always has the same [14] Ancient, used in Ptolemy's Geographia. Later redened
17 39 46 W of Greenwich to be exactly 20 W of Paris.
face towards Saturn, and so the middle of that face
French submarin at Washington 1884.
is 0 longitude.
Pluto's prime meridian is dened as the center of
the face that is always pointed towards Charon, its
largest moon, as the two are tidally locked towards
each other.

See also
1st meridian east
1st meridian west

Notes

[1] Voting took place on 13 October and the resolutions were

adopted on 22 October 1884.[27]

[15] A.R.T. Jonkers; Parallel meridians: Diusion and change

in early modern oceanic reckoning, in Noord-Zuid in Oostindisch perspectief, The Hague, 2005, p. 7. Retrieved 2
February 2015.
[16] Bartky, Ian R. (2007), One Time Fits All: The Campaigns for Global Uniformity, p. 98, retrieved through
GoogleBooks, 6 May 2014.
[17] Dolan 2013a.
[18] (Dutch)Eenheid van tijd in Nederland (Unity of time in
the Netherlands), Utrecht University website, retrieved 28
August 2013.
[19] Grids & Datums Italian Republic, asprs.org, Retrieved
10 December 2013.
[20] meridian, article from Den Store Danske Encyklopdi
[21] Oradea, Tourism oce website, retrieved 3 February
2015.

[22] The meridian of Ptolemy's Almagest.

[23] Wilcomb E. Washburn, "The Canary Islands and the
Question of the Prime Meridian: The Search for Precision in the Measurement of the Earth"
[24] Maimonides, Hilchot Kiddush Hachodesh 11:17, calls this
point , the middle of the habitation, i.e. the
habitable hemisphere. Evidently this was a convention accepted by Arab geographers of his day.
[25] Burgess c. 2013
[26] International Conference Held at Washington for the
Purpose of Fixing a Prime Meridian and a Universal Day.
October, 1884. Protocols of the proceedings. Project
Gutenberg. 1884. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
[27] Howse 1997, p. 12, 137
[28] Greenwich Observatory ... the story of Britains oldest
scientic institution, the Royal Observatory at Greenwich
and Herstmonceux, 16751975 p.10. Taylor & Francis,
1975
[29] McCarthy, Dennis; Seidelmann, P. Kenneth (2009).
TIME from Earth Rotation to Atomic Physics. Weinheim:
Wiley-VCH. pp. 2445.
[30] ROG Learing Team (23 August 2002). The Prime
Meridian at Greenwich. Royal Museums Greenwich.
Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
[31] Malys, Stephen; Seago, John H.; Palvis, Nikolaos K.;
Seidelmann, P. Kenneth; Kaplan, George H. (1 August
2015). Why the Greenwich meridian moved. Journal
of Geodesy. doi:10.1007/s00190-015-0844-y.
[32] Dolan 2013b.
[33] History of the Prime Meridian -Past and Present
[34] IRM on grounds of Royal Observatory from Google Earth
Accessed 30 March 2012
[35] The astronomic latitude of the Royal Observatory is
5128'38"N whereas its latitude on the European Terrestrial Reference Frame (1989) datum is 5128'40.1247"N.
[36] Guinot, B., 2011. Solar time, legal time, time in use.
Metrologica 48, S181S185.
[37] USGS Astrogeology: Rotation and pole position for the
Sun and planets (IAU WGCCRE)". Retrieved 22 October
2009.
[38] Carrington heliographic coordinates.
[39] Planetographic Coordinates. Retrieved 19 June 2009.

Burgess, Ebenezer (1860), Translation of the

Surya-Siddhanta, Journal of the American Oriental Society (e book) 6, Google (published c. 2013),
p. 185
Dolan, Graham (2013a). The Greenwich Meridian before the Airy Transit Circle. The Greenwich
Meridian.

Dolan, Graham (2013b). WGS84 and the Greenwich Meridian. The Greenwich Meridian.

8 Further reading
Hooker, Brian (2006), A multitude of prime meridians, retrieved 13 January 2013
Norgate, Jean and Martin (2006), Prime meridian,
retrieved 13 January 2013
Sobel, Dava; Andrewes, William J. H. (1998), The
Illustrated Longitude, Fourth Estate, London
Howse, Derek (1997), Greenwich Time and the Longitude, Phillip Wilson, ISBN 0-85667-468-0

9 External links
Where the Earths surface beginsand ends, Popular Mechanics, December 1930
scanned TIFFs of the conference proceedings
Prime meridians in use in the 1880s, by country

10

10

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

10.1

Text

Prime meridian Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_meridian?oldid=714096373 Contributors: Lee Daniel Crocker, Vicki

Rosenzweig, Mav, Bryan Derksen, The Anome, PierreAbbat, William Avery, Fonzy, Montrealais, Hephaestos, Leandrod, Nealmcb,
Michael Hardy, Gabbe, Bluelion, Nnh, Denelson83, Twang, Robbot, Psmith, Pigsonthewing, ChrisO~enwiki, Moncrief, Sverdrup, Henrygb, Ojigiri~enwiki, Wereon, Seth Ilys, Carnildo, ManuelGR, Alerante, Giftlite, Marnanel, var Arnfjr Bjarmason, Mark Richards,
COMPATT, Bkonrad, Joe Kress, Niteowlneils, Ezhiki, Alt6878ggtg, Wmahan, Fishal, Alexf, Fuzzy Logic, Robert Brockway, Ruzulo,
Icairns, MRSC, Fabrcio Kury, Abdull, Mormegil, Ularsen, Vague Rant, Naive cynic, Florian Blaschke, Smyth, Dbachmann, Mani1,
Bender235, El C, Aude, RoyBoy, Bobo192, Franey, Foxandpotatoes, Jumbuck, Guy Harris, Keenan Pepper, Snowolf, Zsero, Paul Martin,
Gene Nygaard, Hopeless~enwiki, Georgia guy, Fingers-of-Pyrex, Grillo, WadeSimMiser, Pdn~enwiki, Optichan, Teemu Leisti, Obersachse, BD2412, Lasunncty, Drbogdan, Ian Dunster, FlaBot, SchuminWeb, RexNL, Russavia, Glenn L, Spencerk, Chobot, Jaraalbe, E
Pluribus Anthony, Billpg, Roboto de Ajvol, YurikBot, RobotE, Deeptrivia, Yamara, OettingerCroat, Ospalh, Mgnbar, Robyvecchio, Jess
Riedel, Eurosong, Boivie, FF2010, Miraculouschaos, Redgolpe, Black-Velvet, Poulpy, Veinor, SmackBot, Reedy, Unyoyega, Delldot,
W!B:, Gilliam, Durova, Chris the speller, Bluebot, Miquonranger03, Bazonka, DHN-bot~enwiki, TheGerm, MJCdetroit, BIL, Cockneyite,
Lambiam, Michael J, Jj04, Fev, Edwy, Dr Greg, Dicklyon, Jam01, Hogyn Lleol, Iridescent, Joseph Solis in Australia, Richard75, Blehfu,
Chris55, Vanished user 45po45lr87gj, Gogo Dodo, Optimist on the run, Mathew5000, Vanished User jdksfajlasd, Malleus Fatuorum,
Thijs!bot, Epbr123, Anupam, Headbomb, Louis Waweru, Itsmejudith, Bethpage89, Natalie Erin, Escarbot, AntiVandalBot, AstroLynx,
Kbthompson, Vanjagenije, Tuor~enwiki, Leuko, Husond, Chicken Wing, The Transhumanist, Airbreather, PhilKnight, Rdht, Acroterion,
Magioladitis, VoABot II, JamesBWatson, Tedickey, KConWiki, Daarznieks, Johnson Lau, Kayau, MartinBot, Schmloof, GoldenMeadows,
Anaxial, MacAuslan, Tgeairn, Terry wonghk, J.delanoy, Mosthumble, Rhinestone K, All Is One, Maproom, Acalamari, AntiSpamBot, SJP,
Jefebu, Olegwiki, Treisijs, Bobo2000, Useight, CardinalDan, VolkovBot, Chris Dybala, AlnoktaBOT, TXiKiBoT, Eddie6705, Sroc, Blake
the bookbinder, FrstFrs, Lradrama, Notmaryrose, BotKung, Eubulides, RaseaC, Boboblong, BRENNAN.P0WN4G3, Mario1952, SieBot,
ElPeski, VVVBot, Ergateesuk, Jckcip, Interchange88, Flyer22 Reborn, Oysterguitarist, Le Pied-bot~enwiki, Sander1453, Yerpo, Mimihitam, Oxymoron83, Techman224, PalaceGuard008, MarkMLl, Jcfrye, ClueBot, Avenged Eightfold, The Thing That Should Not Be, Mexican Sponge, Franamax, NuclearVacuum, Bbb2007, DragonBot, Excirial, Tylerw101, Keysanger, Snowmanic, SchreiberBike, Stepheng3,
Antti29, Life of Riley, Mark Chung, Dthomsen8, WikHead, PL290, Kbdankbot, Addbot, Jafeluv, Jojhutton, Fgnievinski, Vishnava, NjardarBot, Glane23, Lemonade100, Blaylockjam10, Tide rolls, OlEnglish, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Tohd8BohaithuGh1, Les boys, Tangopaso,
Paxmac, THEN WHO WAS PHONE?, AnomieBOT, LlywelynII, GB fan, Xqbot, Gymnophoria, Sithlord642, RibotBOT, Mathonius,
IShadowed, Drdpw, Shadowjams, Thehelpfulbot, Kiteretsu, Jc3s5h, BajanZindy, Thebabyhog, Louperibot, Pinethicket, Tom.Reding, Claytonbigwood, Thesevenseas, Jauhienij, ActivExpression, TobeBot, Arif40uk, Ripchip Bot, Jackehammond, Igel B TyMaHe, EmausBot, John
of Reading, Gfoley4, Katherine, Racerx11, GoingBatty, RenamedUser01302013, Winner 42, Dcirovic, K6ka, Erpert, Erget2005, ChuispastonBot, Noted Seven, ClueBot NG, Matthiaspaul, Leejohnson898, Braincricket, Rezabot, Milkman1234567, Widr, Helpful Pixie Bot,
Wbm1058, WNYY98, BG19bot, MusikAnimal, AwamerT, Jm21736, TZ master, Buddy595, Gibbja, HTML2011, Allesschonvergeben,
Eduardofeld, EuroCarGT, DCruns, Webclient101, BDE1982, Jamesx12345, ChemTerm, Grayowl3, Luka5353, Finnusertop, Whizz40,
WrongWebsiteYo, Rafal1234, Awesomeman223, Tylerty5 and Anonymous: 353

10.2

Images

File:Atlas_Cosmographicae_(Mercator)_033.jpg
Cosmographicae_%28Mercator%29_033.jpg License:
Original artist: Gerardus Mercator

Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Atlas_
Public domain Contributors: Library of Congress, Rosenwald Collection

File:Atlas_Ortelius_KB_PPN369376781-006av-006br.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Atlas_

Ortelius_KB_PPN369376781-006av-006br.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: This is an image from the collections of the
Koninklijke Bibliotheek, the Dutch National Library.
This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information.

Original artist: Abraham Ortelius

File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Earthmap1000x500compac.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Earthmap1000x500compac.jpg
License: Public domain Contributors: planetpixelemporium.com (internet archive) Original artist: jimht at shaw dot ca, modied by
Rodrigocd
File:Earthmap720x360_grid.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Earthmap720x360_grid.jpg License:
Copyrighted free use Contributors: modication of Image:Earthmap1000x500.jpg Original artist: based on map by jimht at shaw dot ca
File:Flag_of_Algeria.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Flag_of_Algeria.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: SVG implementation of the 63-145 Algerian law "on Characteristics of the Algerian national emblem" ("Caractristiques du
Drapeau Algrien", in English). Original artist: This graphic was originaly drawn by User:SKopp.
File:Flag_of_Burkina_Faso.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Flag_of_Burkina_Faso.svg License:
Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_France.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/Flag_of_France.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Ghana.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Flag_of_Ghana.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Mali.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Flag_of_Mali.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Norway.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Flag_of_Norway.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: Own work Original artist: Dbenbenn

10.3

Content license

File:Flag_of_Spain.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9a/Flag_of_Spain.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Original

artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Togo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Flag_of_Togo.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Prime_meridian.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Prime_meridian.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0
Contributors: ? Original artist: Image by ChrisO
File:Ptolemy-World_Vat_Urb_82.jpg
Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Ptolemy-World_
Vat_Urb_82.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and
other countries and areas where the copyright term is the authors life plus 100 years or less.
Original artist: Unknown<a
href='//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4233718'
title='wikidata:Q4233718'><img
alt='wikidata:Q4233718'
src='https:
//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/20px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png'
width='20'
height='11'
srcset='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/30px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png
1.5x,
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/40px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 2x' data-le-width='1050'
data-le-height='590' /></a>
File:Terrestrial_globe.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/Terrestrial_globe.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Worldmap_1529-Ribero.jpeg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Worldmap_1529-Ribero.jpeg License: Public domain Contributors: Scan Original artist: Diego Ribero

10.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0