First, let's figure out how it happened that the maps have east and west, north and south. With the east and west, everything is quite simple - people have always been guided by the movement of the sun. It rose on one side of the earth and entered the other. North and south appeared as the simplest coordinate system on a plane: a perpendicular line was drawn to an already existing direction. In this coordinate system, it was possible to draw up geographical maps, which was done by the ancient people: Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Slavs. Each drew his own piece of land, taking his home or city as a starting point.
Even the ancient Greeks had a tradition to indicate north at the top of the map. Perhaps this was due to the coastline. The well-known coastline was drawn at the bottom of the map, because the sea did not have to be depicted, but at the top they painted the lands that needed to be explored and which were located north of the ecumene. For the Chinese, on the maps of the same period, the south was at the top, and on the maps of the Arabs, the east. At the beginning of the Middle Ages, it was customary in Christian monasteries to draw Jerusalem in the center of the map, and indicate the east from where the Savior should come from at the top. The map-making principle familiar to the Greeks returned after the colorful atlas of Ptolemy was published in Europe in the 15th century: in it, the north was still at the top. The tradition was consolidated by a compass, which pointed strictly to the north and became a common use for sailors.
But the usual coordinate system became scarce when sailors began sailing across the ocean and found that the Earth was round. Even the ancient Greeks and Sumerians could break the ball (circle) 360 degrees - what can we say about the enlightened sailors of the era of geographical discoveries. It's another matter to decide: where to count from, through which point to draw the zero meridian?
In ancient times, the Greeks took him through the Pillars of Hercules, St. Martin of Tire of the Roman Empire through the mythical Happy Isles, Ptolemy through Alexandria. Geographers and sailors of the Middle Ages placed the reference line on the Cape Verde Islands, in Toledo, on the Ferro Island. Later she was in Königsberg, Uraniborg, Longomontana. King Louis XIII of France placed the prime meridian in Paris by special decree, and in the local church of Saint-Sulpice it is still symbolized by a bronze strip on the floor. The zero meridian in Russia passed through the Pulkovo Observatory near St. Petersburg.
This made it difficult for the sailors of the merchant fleets of different countries to interact: it was impossible to use the maps of partners, there was a risk of confusing the longitude and running into rocks or walking past the island. Moreover, each country had its own time, and this also complicated the navigation calculations.
The first step towards unification was taken in 1884 in Washington, at a meeting of the International Commission, which decided to fix the prime meridian and determine the time zones for the entire Earth. The discussion dragged on for a whole month, the delegates either dispersed or gathered again. There were ideas to lay the meridian through Jerusalem, through the Bering Strait, through the top of the Cheops pyramid and even along the island of Tenerife. Great Britain won, which at that time was one of the greatest empires in the world and had an authority in the field of geography: the Greenwich Observatory was famous for its accurate instruments and a long history of observations.
Almost all the countries participating in the commission voted for Greenwich, except France, Brazil and the Dominican Republic. It was decided that the world earth day begins at the moment when midnight falls on the prime meridian.
As soon as the prime meridian appeared, cartography was unified. Everything that was located 180 degrees east of Greenwich, including Russia, turned out to be in the Eastern Hemisphere, and everything to the West - in the Western, including the entire American continent. Although, to be precise, not all of Russia is located in the Eastern Hemisphere of the Earth. A large chunk of Chukotka with Cape Dezhnev floats to the Western Hemisphere.
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Many countries still publish maps with their territories centered. For example, on a map issued in the United States, this country is in the center of the world, and the Eurasian continent is cut in two and is located to the right and left of America.
Australia's map depicts an upside-down world with north at the bottom and the Australian continent proudly crowning the globe. On the map of the small country of South Africa, the center of the world is at the southern tip of Africa, while Antarctica is not at the top. And only the maps published in Russia still adhere to the cartographic tradition of the late 19th century, placing the zero meridian in their center. Perhaps this is because Russia cannot be overlooked on any map of the world.
The most interesting thing is that the prime meridian, drawn by the British, is one hundred and two meters from the point to which the American GPS navigation system points. The Americans explain this by the fact that, they say, the British did not have navigators before, and therefore they drew the meridian incorrectly.
Maya Novik
