114-528: The South Pole , also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole , is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipodally on the opposite side of Earth from the North Pole , at a distance of 20,004 km (12,430 miles) in all directions. It is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. Situated on the continent of Antarctica , it is
228-522: A Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection of the Earth, in yellow, overlaid on which is another map, in blue, shifted horizontally by 180° of longitude and inverted about the Equator with respect to latitude. Noon at one place is midnight at the other (ignoring daylight saving time and irregularly shaped time zones ) and, with the exception of the tropics , the longest day at one point corresponds to
342-625: A heraldic device in battle, allowing easier identification of a knight over only the heraldic icon painted on the shield. Already during the high medieval period, and increasingly during the Late Middle Ages , city states and communes such as those of the Old Swiss Confederacy also began to use flags as field signs. Regimental flags for individual units became commonplace during the Early Modern period . During
456-472: A belief. The antipodes being an attribute of a spherical Earth , some ancient authors used their perceived absurdity as an argument for a flat Earth . However, knowledge of the spherical Earth was widespread during the Middle Ages, only occasionally disputed—the medieval dispute surrounding the antipodes mainly concerned the question whether people could live on the opposite side of the earth: since
570-456: A closed beach (in the UK also other dangers), yellow signifies strong current or difficult swimming conditions, and green represents a beach safe for general swimming. In Ireland, a red and yellow flag indicates that it is safe to swim; a red flag that it is unsafe; and no flag indicates that there are no lifeguards on duty. Blue flags may also be used away from the yellow-red lifesaver area to designate
684-526: A day apart, with Gamme starting first, but completing according to plan the last few kilometers together. As Gamme traveled alone he thus simultaneously became the first to complete the task solo. On 28 December 2018, Captain Lou Rudd became the first Briton to cross the Antarctic unassisted via the south pole, and the second person to make the journey in 56 days. On 10 January 2020, Mollie Hughes became
798-458: A great circle distance of 17,176 km (10,673 mi; 9,274 nmi). A hypothetically almost perfect antipodal flight would be Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport , Morocco ( IATA : TNG), to Whangarei Aerodrome , New Zealand (IATA: WRE), whose designated locators are 10,800 nautical miles (12,428 mi; 20,002 km) apart, almost the maximum possible distance. However, with only a length of 3,599 ft (1,097 m), Whangarei's runway
912-399: A higher elevation). The South Pole is at an altitude of 9,200 feet (2,800 m) but feels like 11,000 feet (3,400 m). Centripetal force from the spin of the planet throws the atmosphere toward the equator. The South Pole is colder than the North Pole primarily because of the elevation difference and for being in the middle of a continent. The North Pole is a few feet from sea level in
1026-564: A horizontal crossbar from which it is hoisted, either by a vertical pole (no. 5a) or a horizontal one (no. 5b). The topmost stripe on the horizontal version of the flag normally faces to the left. Flags can play many different roles in religion. In Buddhism , prayer flags are used, usually in sets of five differently coloured flags. Several flags and banners including the Black Standard are associated with Islam . Many national flags and other flags include religious symbols such as
1140-577: A military fort, base, station or post and at sea at the stern (rear) or main top mast of a warship, a Naval Jack flag and other maritime flags , pennants and emblems are flown at the bow (front). In times of war waving a white flag is a banner of truce, talks/negotiations or surrender. Four distinctive African flags currently in the collection of the National Maritime Museum in Britain were flown in action by Itsekiri ships under
1254-435: A military or naval context began with the rise of nationalism by the end of the 18th century, although some flags date back earlier. The flags of countries such as Austria, Denmark or Turkey have legendary origins while many others, including those of Poland and Switzerland, grew out of the heraldic emblems of the Middle Ages. The 17th century saw the birth of several national flags through revolutionary struggle. One of these
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#17327653157461368-472: A mystery, the oldest flag discovered is made of bronze: a Derafsh or 'flag-like' Shahdad, which was found in Shahdad , Iran, and dates back to c. 2400 BC . It features a seated man and a kneeling woman facing each other, with a star in between. This iconography was found in other Iranian Bronze Age pieces of art. Flags made of cloth were almost certainly the invention of the ancient peoples of
1482-692: A part of Antarctica. The Australian mainland is the largest landmass with its antipodes entirely in ocean, although some locations of mainland Australia and Tasmania are close to being antipodes of islands (Bermuda, Azores, Puerto Rico) in the North Atlantic Ocean. The largest landmass with antipodes entirely on land is the island of Borneo , whose antipodes are in the Amazon rainforest. Exact or almost exact antipodes: To within 100 km (62 mi), with at least one major city (population of at least 1 million): Taiwan (formerly called Formosa)
1596-492: A standard full commercial passenger load. The current world record-holder Airbus A350-900ULR is capable of flying 18,000 kilometres (9,700 nmi; 11,000 mi), or roughly 90% of an average antipodal distance. Singapore Airlines currently holds the world record for the longest scheduled passenger flight , and utilizes this model in their non-stop Singapore to New York-JFK route SQ23/24. In 2019, Qantas completed separate non-stop flights taking 19–20 hours to encompass
1710-549: A translation of the 13th century De Proprietatibus Rerum by Bartholomeus Anglicus , translated by John of Trevisa : Yonde in Ethiopia ben the Antipodes, men that haue theyr fete ayenst our fete. ( In Modern English: Yonder in Ethiopia are the Antipodes, men that have their feet against our feet. ) The modern English singular antipode arose in the 16th or 17th century as a back-formation from antipodes ; antipous or
1824-480: A zone for surfboarding and other small, non-motorised watercraft. Reasons for closing the beach include: A surf flag exists, divided into four quadrants. The top left and bottom right quadrants are black, and the remaining area is white. Signal flag "India" (a black circle on a yellow square) is frequently used to denote a "blackball" zone where surfboards cannot be used but other water activities are permitted. The United States uses beach warning flags created by
1938-502: Is a distance of 40,008 kilometres (24,860 mi). Any other closed great circle route starting on the equator and traveling at an angle between 0° (an equatorial route) and 90° (a polar route) would be between 40,075 and 40,008 kilometres (24,901 and 24,860 mi). In all of these cases, after half of the world has been traversed, every subsequent point will be antipodal to one already visited. There are currently no commercial aircraft capable of traveling non-stop between antipodes with
2052-430: Is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol , a signalling device, or for decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and flags have evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signalling and identification, especially in environments where communication is challenging (such as the maritime environment , where semaphore
2166-423: Is a vertical form of the standard flag. The flag's design may remain unchanged (No. 2a) or it may change, e.g. by changing horizontal stripes to vertical ones (no. 2b). If the flag carries an emblem, it may remain centred or may be shifted slightly upwards. The vertical flag for hoisting from a beam (German: Auslegerflagge or Galgenflagge ; no. 3) is additionally attached to a horizontal beam, ensuring that it
2280-485: Is antipodal to Bermuda , the antipodes of Australia are in the 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. Another source estimates that about 3% of Earth's surface is antipodal land. The largest antipodal land masses are
2394-472: Is attested in Plato 's dialogue Timaeus , already referring to a spherical Earth, explaining the relativity of the terms "above" and "below": For if there were any solid body in equipoise at the centre of the universe, there would be nothing to draw it to this extreme rather than to that, for they are all perfectly similar; and if a person were to go round the world in a circle, he would often, when standing at
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#17327653157462508-515: Is because the US flies its resupply missions (" Operation Deep Freeze ") out of McMurdo Station , which is supplied from Christchurch , New Zealand. Due to its exceptionally harsh climate, there are no native resident plants or animals at the South Pole. Off-course south polar skuas and snow petrels are occasionally seen there. In 2000 it was reported that microbes had been detected living in
2622-584: Is currently buried beneath the snow and ice in the vicinity of the Pole. It has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 80), following a proposal by Norway to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting . The precise location of the tent is unknown, but based on calculations of the rate of movement of the ice and the accumulation of snow, it is believed, as of 2010, to lie between 1.8 and 2.5 km (1.1 and 1.5 miles) from
2736-412: Is done on both the state flag of Maryland and the flag of Kiribati . The de jure flag of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi , which consisted of a rectangular field of green, was for a long period the only national flag using a single colour and no design or insignia. However, other historical states have also used flags without designs or insignia, such as the short-lived Soviet Republic of Hungary and
2850-616: Is equivalent to a brigade in Arab countries. In Spain, a flag (Spanish: bandera ) is a battalion -equivalent in the Spanish Legion . The origin of the flag is unknown and it remains unclear when the first flag was raised. Ships with vexilloids were represented on predynastic Egyptian pottery c. 3500 BC . In antiquity, field signs that can be categorised as vexilloid or "flag-like" were used in warfare, originating in ancient Egypt or Assyria . Examples include
2964-409: Is fully displayed even if there is no wind. The vertical flag for hoisting from a horizontal pole (German: Hängeflagge ; no. 4) is hoisted from a horizontal pole, normally attached to a building. The topmost stripe on the horizontal version of the flag faces away from the building. The vertical flag for hoisting from a crossbar or banner (German: Bannerflagge ; no. 5) is firmly attached to
3078-406: Is geometrically undefined and irrelevant. When a longitude is desired, it may be given as 0°. At the South Pole, all directions face north. For this reason, directions at the Pole are given relative to "grid north", which points northward along the prime meridian . Along tight latitude circles, clockwise is east, and counterclockwise is west, opposite to the North Pole . The Geographic South Pole
3192-420: Is marked by a stake in the ice alongside a small sign; these are repositioned each year in a ceremony on New Year's Day to compensate for the movement of the ice. The sign records the respective dates that Roald Amundsen and Robert F. Scott reached the Pole, followed by a short quotation from each man, and gives the elevation as "9,301 FT. ". A new marker stake is designed and fabricated each year by staff at
3306-408: Is not symmetric and should be read in the same direction, regardless of whether the hoist is to the viewer's left or right. These cases can be divided into two types: Common designs on flags include crosses, stripes, and divisions of the surface, or field , into bands or quarters—patterns and principles mainly derived from heraldry . A heraldic coat of arms may also be flown as a banner of arms , as
3420-456: Is partially buried due to snow storms, and the entrance to the dome had to be regularly bulldozed to uncover it. More recent buildings are raised on stilts so that the snow does not build up against their sides. In most places on Earth, local time is determined by longitude , such that the time of day is more-or-less synchronised to the perceived position of the Sun in the sky (for example, at midday
3534-534: Is partly antipodal to the province of Formosa in Argentina . Capital cities within 200 km (120 mi) of each other's antipodes: Other major cities or capitals close to being antipodes: Gibraltar is approximately antipodal to Te Ārai about 85 km (53 mi) north of Auckland , New Zealand . This illustrates the old yet correct saying that the sun never sets on the British Empire ;
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3648-425: Is possible by walking in a circle around one of the poles—but such trips are shorter than a minimum circumnavigation. On the other hand, the greatest straight line distance that could in theory be covered is a trip exactly on the Equator, a distance of 40,075 kilometres (24,901 mi). The Earth's equatorial bulge makes this slightly longer than a north–south trip around the world along a set of meridian lines, which
3762-495: Is presently located on the continent of Antarctica , although this has not been the case for all of Earth's history because of continental drift . It sits atop a featureless, barren, windswept and icy plateau at an altitude of 2,835 m (9,301 ft) above sea level, and is located about 1,300 km (810 mi) from the nearest open sea at the Bay of Whales . The ice is estimated to be about 2,700 m (8,900 ft) thick at
3876-628: Is replaced by its supplementary angle while E is exchanged for W. For example, the antipode of the point in China at 37° N 119° E (a few hundred kilometres from Beijing ) is the point in Argentina at 37° S 61° W (a few hundred kilometres from Buenos Aires ). The word antipodes comes from the Greek: ἀντίποδες (antípodes), plural of ἀντίπους (antipous), "with feet opposite (ours)", from ἀντί (antí, “opposite”) + πούς ( poús , “foot”). The Greek word
3990-775: Is too short to accommodate any current (as of 2015 ) commercial jet airliner, especially one with the required range. Traveling between them would currently need at least two plane changes. Other near-antipodal major city pairs include: The ambiguous airport designation HLA could refer to either Lanseria International Airport ( IATA : HLA , ICAO : FALA , 25°56′S 027°55′E) in South Africa or Huslia Airport ( IATA : HSL , ICAO : PAHL , FAA LID : HLA, 65°42′N 156°21′W) in Alaska. While these airports are not quite antipodal (only 15,581 km (9,682 mi; 8,413 nmi) apart), they are notable considering that they share
4104-401: Is used to mark the limits of the bathing area on a beach, usually guarded by surf lifesavers . If the beach is closed, the poles of the flags are crossed. The flags are coloured with a red triangle and a yellow triangle making a rectangular flag, or a red rectangle over a yellow rectangle. On many Australian beaches there is a slight variation with beach condition signalling. A red flag signifies
4218-604: Is used). Many flags fall into groups of similar designs called flag families . The study of flags is known as " vexillology " from the Latin vexillum , meaning "flag" or " banner ". National flags are patriotic symbols with widely varied interpretations that often include strong military associations because of their original and ongoing use for that purpose. Flags are also used in messaging , advertising , or for decorative purposes. Some military units are called "flags" after their use of flags. A flag (Arabic: لواء )
4332-439: The 5 October 1910 revolution which brought this party to power. Throughout history, monarchs have often had personal flags (including royal standards ), representing the royal person, including in personal union of national monarchies. Flags are often representative of an individual's affinity or allegiance to a country, team or business and can be presented in various ways. A popular trend that has surfaced revolves around
4446-717: The Airbus A350 , the ACJ350 , which entered into service in 2020, has a range of 20,550 km (12,770 miles), enabling it to operate between any two available antipodes. As of September 2021, there are three ACJ350s now in service globally. The owner of the first ACJ350, the German Government, has already taken it on a close to antipodal flight with a flight from Cologne, Germany to Canberra, Australia in November 2020. The upcoming Boeing business jet variant,
4560-458: The BBJ 777-8 , will also have an antipodal reach with its published range of 21,570 km (13,403 miles). Both aforementioned variants from Airbus and Boeing are the first aircraft designed to handle flights exceeding the Earth's average antipodal distance of 20,000 km (12,420 miles). Among flights with fuel stop and crew-change stop but still same flight number, Air New Zealand previously had
4674-466: The COVID-19 pandemic . In March 2021, a Comlux 787-8 , registered P4-787, flew a non-scheduled (chartered), non-stop flight from Seoul Incheon to Buenos Aires , which are nearly antipodal points. This set a new record for the longest commercial non-stop flight with paying passengers, covering 19,483 kilometres (10,520 nmi; 12,106 mi) in 20 hours 19 minutes. The business jet variant of
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4788-577: The Indian subcontinent or the Zhou dynasty of Ancient China . Chinese flags had iconography such as a red bird, a white tiger, or a blue dragon, and royal flags were to be treated with a level of respect similar to that given to the ruler. Indian flags were often triangular and decorated with attachments such as a yak 's tail and the state umbrella. Silk flags either spread to the Near East from China or it
4902-623: The International Geophysical Year and has been continuously staffed since then by research and support personnel. After Amundsen and Scott, the next people to reach the South Pole overland (albeit with some air support) were Edmund Hillary (4 January 1958) and Vivian Fuchs (19 January 1958) and their respective parties, during the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition . There have been many subsequent expeditions to arrive at
5016-772: The Malay Archipelago , antipodal to the Amazon basin and adjoining Andean ranges; east China and Mongolia , and small sections of southeast Russia , antipodal to Argentina and Chile ; and Greenland and the 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,
5130-756: The Northern Hemisphere , "the Antipodes" may refer to Australia and New Zealand , and Antipodeans to their inhabitants. 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 . With the exception of a part of the Perth metropolitan area near Baldivis and Rockingham that
5244-574: The Sassanid battle standard Derafsh Kaviani , and the standards of the Roman legions such as the eagle of Augustus Caesar 's Xth legion and the dragon standard of the Sarmatians ; the latter was allowed to fly freely in the wind, carried by a horseman, but depictions suggest that it bore more similarity to an elongated dragon kite than to a simple flag. While the origin of the flag remains
5358-475: The antipode ( / 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 diametrically opposite to it. A pair of points antipodal ( / æ n ˈ t ɪ p ə d əl / ) to each other are situated such that a straight line connecting the two would pass through Earth's center. Antipodal points are as far away from each other as possible. The North and South Poles are antipodes of each other. In
5472-568: The cross , the crescent , or a reference to a patron saint. Flags are also adopted by religious groups and flags such as the Jain flag , Nishan Sahib ( Sikhism ), the Saffron flag ( Hindu ) and the Christian flag are used to represent a whole religion. Because of their ease of signalling and identification, flags are often used in sports . Some countries use diplomatic flags, such as
5586-583: The national flag . Other countries' armed forces (such as those of the United States or Switzerland) use their standard national flag ; in addition, the U.S. has alongside flags and seals designed from long tradition for each of its six uniformed military services/military sub-departments in the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security . The Philippines' armed forces may use their standard national flag , but during times of war
5700-674: The rainbow flag was adopted as a symbol of the LGBT social movements . Its derivatives include the Bisexual pride and Transgender pride flags . Some of these political flags have become national flags, such as the red flag of the Soviet Union and national socialist banners for Nazi Germany . The present Flag of Portugal is based on what had been the political flag of the Portuguese Republican Party previous to
5814-553: The 15th century and "St. Augustine doubts" was a response to Columbus's proposal to sail westwards to the Indies. The author of the Norwegian book Konungs Skuggsjá , from around 1250, discusses the existence of antipodes. He notes that (if they exist) they will see the sun in the north in the middle of the day and that they will have seasons opposite those of the Northern Hemisphere. Herodotus recorded that Pharaoh Necho II of
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#17327653157465928-507: The 16,013 km (9950 miles) from New York and 17,016 km (10,573 miles) from London, both to Sydney, Australia with a limit of 49 passengers on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and who underwent medical tests on the flight. The London-Sydney direct routes are said to be the world's most profitable ultra-long haul flights annually. Their plans for the same pair of experiments were quickly put on hold due to global travel restrictions throughout
6042-530: The 26th Dynasty (610–595 BC) commissioned an expedition of Phoenicians which in three years sailed from the Red Sea around Africa back to the mouth of the Nile, and that " as they sailed on a westerly course round the southern end of Libya (Africa), they had the sun on their right "— to northward of them, proving that they had been in the Southern Hemisphere. The earliest surviving account by a European who had visited
6156-671: The Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station was −12.3 °C (9.9 °F) on Christmas Day, 2011, and the lowest was −82.8 °C (−117.0 °F) on 23 June 1982 (for comparison, the lowest temperature directly recorded anywhere on earth was −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) at Vostok Station on 21 July 1983, though −93.2 °C (−135.8 °F) was measured indirectly by satellite in East Antarctica between Dome A and Dome F in August 2010). Mean annual temperature at
6270-560: The Antipodes by the diplomatist Peter Martyr who, in a letter he wrote from Barcelona dated 14 May 1493, said: "A few days since, a certain Christopher Columbus, a Ligurian, returned from the Western Antipodes". Perhaps influenced by this, Fernão Vaz Dourado in his Atlas of 1571 inscribed over the map of Mexico and adjacent parts of America, Tera Antipodum regis Castelle inventa a Xforo Columbo Januensi (Land of
6384-607: The Antipodes, discovered for the King of Castile by Christopher Columbus of Genoa). In spite of having been discovered relatively late by European explorers, Australia was inhabited very early in human history; the ancestors of the Indigenous Australians reached it at least 50,000 years ago. To make the longest distance trip around the planet, a traveler would have to pass through a set of antipodal points. All meridians can be crossed in one hemisphere—indeed, this
6498-456: The Earth is approximated as a perfect sphere or as a reference ellipsoid . In terms of the usual way these geographic coordinates are given, this transformation can be expressed symbolically as that is, for the latitude (the north–south coordinate) the magnitude of the angle remains the same but N is changed to S and vice versa, and for the longitude (the East/West coordinate) the angle
6612-529: The Earth's land surfaces have ocean at their antipodes; this is a natural consequence of most of the Earth's surface being covered in water. The antipode of any place on Earth is distant from it by 180° of longitude and as many degrees to the north of the Equator as the original is to the south (or vice versa); in other words, the latitudes are numerically equal, but one is north and the other south. The maps shown here are based on this relationship; they show
6726-581: The Geographic South Pole is defined as the southern point of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface (the other being the Geographic North Pole ). However, Earth's axis of rotation is actually subject to very small "wobbles" ( polar motion ), so this definition is not adequate for very precise work. The geographic coordinates of the South Pole are usually given simply as 90°S, since its longitude
6840-657: The Geographic South Pole were the Norwegian Roald Amundsen and his party on 14 December 1911. Amundsen named his camp Polheim and the entire plateau surrounding the Pole King Haakon VII Vidde in honour of King Haakon VII of Norway . Robert Falcon Scott returned to Antarctica with his second expedition, the Terra Nova Expedition , initially unaware of Amundsen's secretive expedition. Scott and four other men reached
6954-547: The Latinate antipus would have been closer to the original singular. Most dictionaries suggest a pronunciation of / ˈ æ n t ɪ ˌ p oʊ d / for this form. Pomponius Mela , the first Roman geographer, asserted that the earth had two habitable zones, a North and South one, but that it would be impossible to get into contact with each other because of the unbearable heat at the Equator ( De orbis situ 1.4). Third-century AD Christian philospher Augustine of Hippo
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#17327653157467068-660: The Pole at a depth of 17 m (56 ft) below the present surface. A flagpole erected at the South Geographical Pole in December 1965 by the First Argentine Overland Polar Expedition has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 1) following a proposal by Argentina to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting . In 1820, several expeditions claimed to have been the first to have sighted Antarctica, with
7182-466: The Pole, so the land surface under the ice sheet is actually near sea level. The polar ice sheet is moving at a rate of roughly 10 m (33 ft) per year in a direction between 37° and 40° west of grid north, down towards the Weddell Sea . Therefore, the position of the station and other artificial features relative to the geographic pole gradually shift over time. The Geographic South Pole
7296-420: The South Pole became more accessible to non-government expeditions. On 30 December 1989, Arved Fuchs and Reinhold Messner were the first to traverse Antarctica via the South Pole without animal or motorized help, using only skis and the help of wind. Two women, Victoria E. Murden and Shirley Metz, reached the pole by land on 17 January 1989. The fastest unsupported journey to the Geographic South Pole from
7410-428: The South Pole by surface transportation, including those by Havola, Crary , and Fiennes . The first group of women to reach the pole were Pam Young, Jean Pearson, Lois Jones , Eileen McSaveney , Kay Lindsay, and Terry Tickhill in 1969. In 1978–79, Michele Eileen Raney became the first woman to winter at the South Pole. Subsequent to the establishment, in 1987, of the logistic support base at Patriot Hills Base Camp ,
7524-475: The South Pole ice. Scientists published in the journal Gondwana Research that evidence had been found of dinosaurs with feathers to protect the animals from the extreme cold. The fossils had been found over 100 years ago in Koonwarra , Australia, but in sediment which had accumulated under a lake which had been near to the South Pole millions of years ago. Antipode (geography) In geography ,
7638-474: The South Pole is –49.5 °C (–57.1 °F). The South Pole has an ice cap climate ( Köppen climate classification EF ). It resembles a desert, receiving very little precipitation. Air humidity is near zero. However, high winds can cause the blowing of snowfall, and the accumulation of snow amounts to about 7 cm (2.8 in) per year. The former dome seen in pictures of the Amundsen–Scott station
7752-508: The South Pole on 17 January 1912, thirty-four days after Amundsen. On the return trip, Scott and his four companions all died of starvation and extreme cold. In 1914 Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition set out with the goal of crossing Antarctica via the South Pole, but his ship, the Endurance , was frozen in pack ice and sank 11 months later. The overland journey was never made. US Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd , with
7866-569: The Southern Hemisphere is that of Marco Polo (who, on his way home in 1292, sailed south of the Malay Peninsula ). He noted that it was impossible to see the star Polaris from there. The idea of dry land in the southern climes, the Terra Australis , was introduced by Ptolemy and appears on European maps as an imaginary continent from the 15th century. Antipodes was what Giovanni Contarini , on his world map of 1506 called
7980-443: The Sun is roughly perceived to be at its highest). This line of reasoning fails at the South Pole, where the Sun is seen to rise and set only once per year with solar elevation varying only with day of the year, not time of day. There is no a priori reason for placing the South Pole in any particular time zone, but as a matter of practical convenience the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station keeps New Zealand Time (UTC+12/UTC+13). This
8094-483: The UK in 2006. She made the journey in 39 days 9 hours 33 minutes. She started on 19 November 2006 and finished on 28 December 2006. In the 2011–12 summer, separate expeditions by Norwegian Aleksander Gamme and Australians James Castrission and Justin Jones jointly claimed the first unsupported trek without dogs or kites from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole and back. The two expeditions started from Hercules Inlet
8208-652: The United Kingdom (see image of the Embassy flag ) and the Kingdom of Thailand (see image of the Embassy flag ). The socialist movement uses red flags to represent their cause. The anarchist movement has a variety of different flags, but the primary flag associated with them is the black flag . In the Spanish Civil War , the anarchists used the red-and-black bisected flag. In the 20th century,
8322-541: The aim of travelling as far south as possible, and on 31 December 1902, reached 82°16′ S. Shackleton later returned to Antarctica as leader of the British Antarctic Expedition ( Nimrod Expedition ) in a bid to reach the Pole. On 9 January 1909, with three companions, he reached 88°23' S – 112 miles (180 km) from the Pole ;– before being forced to turn back. The first men to reach
8436-490: The alphabet. Each flag or pennant has a specific meaning when flown individually. As well, semaphore flags can be used to communicate on an ad hoc basis from ship to ship over short distances. Another category of maritime flag flown by some United States government ships is the distinctive mark . Although the United States Coast Guard has its own service ensign, all other U.S. government ships fly
8550-543: The antipodes of Australia are in the North Atlantic Ocean , while the antipodes of southern Africa are in the North Pacific Ocean . Since the antipode of any place on the Earth is the place that is diametrically opposite of it, a line drawn from one to the other will pass through the centre of Earth and form a true diameter . For example, the antipodes of New Zealand's lower North Island lie in Spain. Most of
8664-516: The antipodes of his former position, speak of the same point as above and below; for, as I was saying just now, to speak of the whole which is in the form of a globe as having one part above and another below is not like a sensible man. The term is taken up by Aristotle ( De caelo 308a.20), Strabo ( Geographica 1.1.13), Plutarch ( On the Malice of Herodotus 37) and Diogenes Laërtius ( Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers book 3), and
8778-566: The approximately 23.5° tilt of the earth's axis. Much of the sunlight that does reach the surface is reflected by the white snow. This lack of warmth from the sun, combined with the high altitude (about 2,800 metres (9,200 ft)), means that the South Pole has one of the coldest climates on Earth (though it is not quite the coldest; that record goes to the region in the vicinity of the Vostok Station , also in Antarctica, which lies at
8892-472: The assistance of his first pilot Bernt Balchen , became the first person to fly over the South Pole on 29 November 1929. It was not until 31 October 1956 that humans once again set foot at the South Pole, when a party led by Admiral George J. Dufek of the US Navy landed there in an R4D-5L Skytrain ( C-47 Skytrain ) aircraft. The US Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station was established by air over 1956–1957 for
9006-532: The control of Nana Olomu during the conflict in the late 19th century. One is the flag generally known as the Benin Empire flag and one is referred to as Nana Olomu's flag. Among international flags are the United Nations , Europe , Olympic , NATO and Paralympic flags . Flags are particularly important at sea, where they can mean the difference between life and death, and consequently where
9120-399: The design of their own flags. Some prominent examples include: National flag designs are often used to signify nationality in other forms, such as flag patches . A civil flag is a version of the national flag that is flown by civilians on non-government installations or craft. The use of civil flags was more common in the past, in order to denote buildings or ships that were not crewed by
9234-682: The earth's land has an antipode on land. Rough calculation shows that, of the 29% of the earth that is covered by land, if 15% of that has antipodes on land, then about 4% (0.15 × 29% = 4.35%) of the earth's surface has antipodes that are both land surfaces. Spilhaus estimates this at about 3%. The two largest human-inhabited antipodal areas are located in East Asia (mainly eastern China) and South America (mainly Argentina and Chile). The two largest monolithic antipodal land areas are most of Chile and Argentina along with eastern and central China and Mongolia, and most of Greenland along with
9348-399: The face of a foreign warship traditionally indicates a willingness to fight, with cannon , for the right to do so. As of 2009 , this custom is still taken seriously by many naval and port authorities and is readily enforced in many parts of the world by boarding, confiscation and other civil penalties. In some countries yacht ensigns are different from merchant ensigns in order to signal that
9462-532: The first being the Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev . The first landing was probably just over a year later when English-born American captain John Davis , a sealer, set foot on the ice. The basic geography of the Antarctic coastline was not understood until the mid-to-late 19th century. American naval officer Charles Wilkes claimed (correctly) that Antarctica
9576-400: The flag is turned upside down. Bulgaria's flag is also turned upside down during times of war. These are also considered war flags, though the terminology only applies to the flag's military usage. Large versions of the war flag flown on the warships of countries' navies are known as battle ensigns . In addition, besides flying the national standard or a military services' emblem flag at
9690-484: The idea of the 'mobile' flag in which an individual displays their particular flag of choice on their vehicle. These items are commonly referred to as car flags and are usually manufactured from high strength polyester material and are attached to a vehicle via a polypropylene pole and clip window attachment. In Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Philippines, Ireland and the United Kingdom, a pair of red-yellow flags
9804-572: The land later named America by Martin Waldseemüller . When the land discovered by Pedro Alvarez Cabral in April 1500, Brazil , was formally named Santa Cruz by the assembled Portuguese court on 20 May 1503, it was also referred to in the official record of the proceedings as the “Land of the Antipodes”: terra Antipodum . The land reached by Columbus in 1492 was identified as that of
9918-714: The largest island of the Philippines , is antipodal to eastern Bolivia . Santa Vitória do Palmar , the most southerly town of more than 10,000 people in Brazil , is antipodal to Jeju Island , the southernmost territory of South Korea . Hawaii is antipodal to parts of Botswana . The Big Island of Hawaii is antipodal to the Okavango Delta in Botswana, with the island's largest city, Hilo , antipodal to Nxai Pan National Park . Flag#Flagpoles A flag
10032-554: The middle of an ocean. In midsummer, as the sun reaches its maximum elevation of about 23.5 degrees, high temperatures at the South Pole in January average at −25.9 °C (−15 °F). As the six-month "day" wears on and the sun gets lower, temperatures drop as well: they reach −55 °C (−67 °F) around sunset (late March) and sunrise (late September). In midwinter, the average temperature remains steady at around −60 °C (−76 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded at
10146-623: The military. In some countries the civil flag is the same as the war flag or state flag , but without the coat of arms, such as in the case of Spain , and in others it is an alteration of the war flag. Several countries, including the Royal Air Force , British Army and the Royal Navy ( White Ensign ) of the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union have had unique flags flown by their armed forces separately, rather than
10260-573: The more recent Sultanate of Muscat and Oman , whose flags were both a plain field of red. Colours are normally described with common names, such as "red", but may be further specified using colourimetry . The largest flag flown from a flagpole worldwide, according to Guinness World Records, is the flag of the United Arab Emirates flown in Sharjah . This flag was 2,448.56 m (26,356.1 sq ft). The largest flag ever made
10374-610: The national ensign as their service ensign, following United States Navy practice. To distinguish themselves from ships of the Navy, such ships historically have flown their parent organisation's flag from a forward mast as a distinctive mark. Today, for example, commissioned ships of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fly the NOAA flag as a distinctive mark. Flags are usually rectangular in shape (often in
10488-412: The ocean is 24 days and one hour from Hercules Inlet and was set in 2011 by Norwegian adventurer Christian Eide, who beat the previous solo record set in 2009 by American Todd Carmichael of 39 days and seven hours, and the previous group record also set in 2009 of 33 days and 23 hours. The fastest solo, unsupported and unassisted trek to the south pole by a female was performed by Hannah McKeand from
10602-467: The opposite side of the Earth), as well as to a geographical place: Apart from these three parts of the world, there exists a fourth part beyond the interior Ocean; it is in the south and is unknown to us because of the burning heat of the Sun; within its borders the fabled Antipodeans are reputed to dwell. In using the form antipodas rather than the more usual Latin antipodes Isidore simply transcribed
10716-506: The original Greek αντίποδας, the singular case of the name: the plural case is αντίποδες (antipodes), used in converting the name into Latin. These people came to play a role in medieval discussions about the shape of the Earth . In 748, in reply to a letter from Boniface , Pope Zachary declared the belief "that beneath the earth there was another world and other men, another sun and moon" to be heretical. In his letter, Boniface had apparently maintained that Vergilius of Salzburg held such
10830-437: The peak of the sailing age , beginning in the early 17th century, it was customary (and later a legal requirement) for ships to fly flags designating their nationality; these flags eventually evolved into the national flags and maritime flags of today. Flags also became the preferred means of communications at sea, resulting in various systems of flag signals; see, International maritime signal flags . Use of flags beyond
10944-459: The ratio 2:3, 1:2, or 3:5), but may be of any shape or size that is practical for flying, including square, triangular, or swallow tailed. A more unusual flag shape is that of the flag of Nepal , which is in the shape of two stacked triangles. Other unusually shaped flags include the civil flags of Ohio (a swallowtail ); Tampa, Florida ; and Pike County, Ohio . Many flags are dyed through and through to be inexpensive to manufacture, such that
11058-415: The reverse side is the mirror image of the obverse (front) side, generally the side displayed when, from the observer's point of view, the flag flies from pole-side left to right. This presents two possibilities: Some complex flag designs are not intended to be shown on both sides, requiring separate obverse and reverse sides if made correctly. In these cases there is a design element (usually text) which
11172-412: The rules and regulations for the flying of flags are strictly enforced. A national flag flown at sea is known as an ensign . A courteous, peaceable merchant ship or yacht customarily flies its ensign (in the usual ensign position), together with the flag of whatever nation it is currently visiting at the mast (known as a courtesy flag ). To fly one's ensign alone in foreign waters, a foreign port or in
11286-401: The same designation. Automated systems that select the wrong airport from a database could lead to navigation errors or large outliers in data analysis. Around 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by oceans , and seven-eighths of the Earth's land (when excluding Antarctica) is confined to the land hemisphere , so the majority of locations on land do not have land-based antipodes. About 15% of
11400-408: The shortest day at the other, and midwinter at one point coincides with midsummer at the other. Sunrise and sunset do not quite oppose each other at antipodes due to refraction of sunlight. If the geographic coordinates ( latitude and longitude ) of a point on the Earth's surface are ( φ , θ ), then the coordinates of the antipodal point are (− φ , θ ± 180°). This relation holds true whether
11514-667: The site of the United States Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station , which was established in 1956 and has been permanently staffed since that year. The Geographic South Pole is distinct from the South Magnetic Pole , the position of which is defined based on Earth's magnetic field . The South Pole is the center of the Southern Hemisphere . 90°S 0°E / 90°S 0°E / -90; 0 For most purposes,
11628-486: The site. The Ceremonial South Pole is an area set aside for photo opportunities at the South Pole Station . It is located some meters from the Geographic South Pole, and consists of a metallic sphere on a short barber pole, surrounded by the flags of the original Antarctic Treaty signatory states . The tent was erected by the Norwegian expedition led by Roald Amundsen on its arrival on 14 December 1911. It
11742-514: The standard horizontal flag in central and eastern Europe, particularly in the German-speaking countries. This practice came about because the relatively brisk wind needed to display horizontal flags is not common in these countries. The standard horizontal flag (no. 1 in the preceding illustration) is nonetheless the form most often used even in these countries. The vertical flag (German: Hochformatflagge or Knatterflagge ; no. 2)
11856-608: The sun still does not set on the Commonwealth of Nations . The northern part of New Caledonia , an overseas territory of France, is antipodal to some thinly populated desert in Mauritania , a part of the former French West Africa . Portions of Suriname , a former Dutch colony, are antipodal to Sulawesi , an Indonesian island spelled Celebes when it was part of the Netherlands East Indies . Luzon ,
11970-494: The torrid clime was considered impassable, it would have been impossible to evangelize them. This posed the problem that Christ told the apostles to evangelize all mankind; with regard to the unreachable antipodes, this would have been impossible. Christ would either have appeared a second time, in the antipodes, or left the damned irredeemable. Such an argument was forwarded by the Spanish theologian Alonso Tostado as late as
12084-528: The world's longest active plane route—the Auckland – Los Angeles – London marathon, at 19,240 km (11,960 mi) over Los Angeles (directly 18,360 km or 11,410 mi)—until the airline cancelled this route late in 2019. The current record holder for such a flight is co-owned by Qantas and British Airways in their operating of the Kangaroo Route 's Sydney—Singapore—London flights covering
12198-459: The yacht is not carrying cargo that requires a customs declaration. Carrying commercial cargo on a boat with a yacht ensign is deemed to be smuggling in many jurisdictions. Traditionally, a vessel flying under the courtesy flag of a specific nation, regardless of the vessel's country of registry, is considered to be operating under the law of her 'host' nation. There is a system of international maritime signal flags for numerals and letters of
12312-427: The youngest person to ski to the pole, aged 29. During winter (May through August), the South Pole receives no sunlight at all, and is completely dark apart from moonlight. In summer (November through February), the sun is continuously above the horizon and appears to move in a counter-clockwise circle. However, it is always low in the sky, reaching a maximum of approximately 23.5° around the December solstice because of
12426-535: Was a new continent, basing the claim on his exploration in 1839–40, while James Clark Ross , in his expedition of 1839–1843, hoped that he might be able to sail all the way to the South Pole; He was unsuccessful. British explorer Robert Falcon Scott on the Discovery Expedition of 1901–1904 was the first to attempt to find a route from the Antarctic coastline to the South Pole. Scott, accompanied by Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson , set out with
12540-437: Was adopted into Latin as antipodes . The Latin word changed its sense from the original "under the feet, opposite side" to "those with the feet opposite", i.e. a bahuvrihi referring to hypothetical people living on the opposite side of the Earth. Medieval illustrations imagine them in some way "inverted", with their feet growing out of their heads, pointing upward. In this sense, Antipodes first entered English in 1398 in
12654-558: Was just the silk itself, later fashioned by people who had independently conceptualized a rectangular cloth attached to a pole. Flags were probably transmitted to Europe via the Muslim world , where plainly coloured flags were used due to Islamic proscriptions . They are often mentioned in the early history of Islam and may have been copied from India. In Europe, during the High Middle Ages , flags came to be used primarily as
12768-511: Was skeptical of the notion. Augustine asserted that "it is too absurd to say that some men might have set sail from this side and, traversing the immense expanse of ocean, have propagated there a race of human beings descended from that one first man." In the Early Middle Ages , Isidore of Seville 's widely read encyclopedia presented the term "antipodes" or, as he said "antipodas" as referring to antichthones (people who lived on
12882-483: Was the flag of Qatar ; the flag, which measures at 101,978 m (1,097,680 sq ft), was completed in December 2013 in Doha . The general parts of a flag are: canton (the upper inner section of the flag), field or ground (the entire flag except the canton), the hoist (the edge used to attach the flag to the hoist), and the fly (the furthest edge from the hoist end). Vertical flags are sometimes used in lieu of
12996-590: Was the flag of the Netherlands, which appeared during the 80-year Dutch rebellion which began in 1568 against Spanish domination. Political change and social reform, allied with a growing sense of nationhood among ordinary people, led to the creation of new nations and flags all over the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the most popular uses of a flag is to symbolise a nation or country . Some national flags have been particularly inspirational to other nations, countries, or subnational entities in
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