This Map Shows Where You Would End Up If You Dug Straight Through the Earth

Ever got warned by that you’d end up in China if you kept digging that hole at the beach? Well, they were wrong, if you are based in the US it’s likely that you’ll end up somewhere in the ocean. You can check exactly where by using this ridiculously cool map on AntipodesMap.com. Antipodes, by the way, means the exact opposite of something.

[Image Source: Pixabay]

Where would you end up if you started digging?

The interactive map allows you to enter your destination and find out exactly where you’d pop out if you could dig straight through the globe. Unfortunately as the earth's surface is about 70% water, you’d end up getting wet in most cases. If you enter somewhere in the UK, you’ll end up just off the coast of New Zealand. So if the earth's burning core hasn’t finished you off, some aquatic wildlife might put an end to the adventure.

[Image Source: AntipodesMap]

Heading down from Spain sends you to NZ

It is good fun to click around the map and try and figure out how to get to anywhere. One safe bet seems to be from Central Spain.  If you start digging from there you’ll end up on the North Island of New Zealand.

[Image Source: AntipodesMap]

The site also has a great list of Antipodes Cities.  Such as:

Christchurch (New Zealand) — A Coruna (Spain)

Madrid (Spain) — Weber (New Zealand)

Wellington (New Zealand) — Alaejos (Spain)

Hong Kong (China) — La Quiaca (Argentina)

Nelson (New Zealand) — Mogadouro (Portugal)

Whangarei (New Zealand) — Tangier (Morocco)

Tauranga (New Zealand) — Jaen (Spain)

Hamilton (New Zealand) — Cordoba (Spain)

The antipodes of any city or place for that matter is the point on the Earth's surface which is diametrically opposite to it. Two places that we recognize as antipodal to each other are connected by a straight line running through the middle of the Earth. In the Northern Hemisphere, people often refer to "the Antipodes" when talking about Australia and New Zealand. People from these places are also known as "Antipodeans".

No airplane can complete a perfect antipodal trip

Currently, there are no aircraft that could complete a trip between two antipodal places. The site suggests “A hypothetically perfect antipode flight would be Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport, Morocco to Whangarei Aerodrome, New Zealand (approximately 20000 km flight).” But you can find some other good flight ideas by spending an afternoon clicking around the site.  

This isn’t the only example of an awesome interactive map that we’ve come across lately. This map from Bloomberg shows changes caused by climate change over the last three decades. You can watch the Arctic Ice shelf shrink from one view, then explore visualizations of increasing carbon levels. The site comprehensively covers a range of climate related issues and allows you to access more detailed information at each slide. 

[Image Source: Bloomberg]

Sources: AntipodesMap, VisualLoop

SEE ALSO: This Imaginary Subway Map Features Ancient Roman Roads