greenwich was chosen as the location for the prime meridian due to its popularity.
greenwich was chosen as the location for the prime meridian due to its popularity.
why was greenwich chosen as the location for the prime meridian?
due to its popularity
the future prime meridian based at the royal observatory, greenwich, in london, england, was established by sir george airy in 1851. by 1884, over two-thirds of all ships and tonnage used it as the reference meridian on their charts and maps. in october of that year, at the behest of us president chester a. arthur, 41 delegates from 25 nations met in washington, d.c., united states, for the international meridian conference. this conference selected the meridian passing through greenwich as the official prime meridian due to its popularity. however, france abstained from the vote, and french maps continued to use the paris meridian for several decades. in the 18th century, london lexicographer malachy postlethwayt published his african maps showing the "meridian of london" intersecting the equator a few degrees west of the later meridian and accra, ghana.
prime meridian (greenwich)
in october 1884 the greenwich meridian was selected by delegates (forty-one delegates representing twenty-five 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. 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.









































section::::international prime meridian.:prime meridian at greenwich.









































the modern prime meridian, based at the royal observatory, greenwich, was established by sir george airy in 1851.
prime meridian