These threads on fun with latitude and longitude have been both fun and educational. While responding to the latest one on antipodes (exact opposite side of the world) I made the same mistake as Andy Nold and entered a negative of my longitude instead of the supplementary number. Now it turns out I would end up in the Indian Ocean about 1800 miles west of the west coast of Australia instead of only 1300 miles.
While checking this new location out on Google Earth I discovered a tiny speck appeared in the Indian Ocean. It turns out the nearest dry land to my antipode (and for most in the US) is the island known as Ile Amsterdam, with its 30 residents at LaRoche Godon. It has an uninhabited sister island, Ile Saint-paul, a mere 50 miles to the south. The nearest inhabited spot to Ile Amsterdam is Port Aux Francais a mere 900 miles further to the south with its 60 residents.
So, if you ever decide to leave the hustle and bustle of the rat race and go to the ends of the earth, may I suggest you check out these two hospitable locales.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele_Amsterdam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port-aux-Fran%C3%A7ais
Fun with lat & long meets Qargan
That is Qargan as a rare city in the southeast region of the Tarim Basin of the Taklamakan Desert in the western end of what is called the Gobi Desert in China.
Perhaps this is what our parents meant when they referred to digging to China out in the yard. About 80 miles south of Qargan is where my hole through the Earth to precisely half a world away at the same latitude would find daylight. There appears to be absolutely nothing in the 80 mile stretch except solid rock and some sand. The nearest road is at least 40 miles to the northwest.
Much of the US would end up in similar rough country if digging through the Earth to a spot 180 degrees away, but at the same latitude.
