{"id":80864,"date":"2023-07-19T13:57:40","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T18:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/?p=80864"},"modified":"2023-08-12T20:33:12","modified_gmt":"2023-08-13T01:33:12","slug":"null-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost in Null Island: The Curious Origin of 0,0"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kb-image80864_77ba20-d9 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image80864_77ba20-d9 size-full-width\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature-1000x563.jpg\" alt=\"Null Island Feature\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-80865\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature-1000x563.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature-678x381.jpg 678w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature-200x113.jpg 200w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature-425x239.jpg 425w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature-550x309.jpg 550w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature-115x65.jpg 115w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature-360x203.jpg 360w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_6e05b7-46, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_6e05b7-46[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading80864_6e05b7-46\"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_6e05b7-46 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_6e05b7-46[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading80864_6e05b7-46\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_6e05b7-46 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_6e05b7-46[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading80864_6e05b7-46\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<h2 class=\"kt-adv-heading80864_6e05b7-46 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading80864_6e05b7-46\">What is Null Island?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;Null Island&#8221;<\/strong> is a bit of an ongoing inside joke in the world of GIS. It&#8217;s actually a place that doesn&#8217;t exist in the world today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But rather it&#8217;s a set of geographical coordinates where the equator (latitude 0\u00b0) intersects with the <a href=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/prime-greenwich-meridian\/\">prime meridian<\/a> (longitude 0\u00b0).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means that it&#8217;s located in the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean\u2026 basically in the <strong>middle of nowhere<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We, GIS folks, just made it up because <strong>it&#8217;s an error<\/strong> that we constantly make when creating GIS data. More on this later.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_b09565-a5, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_b09565-a5[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading80864_b09565-a5\"]{padding-top:var(--global-kb-spacing-md, 2rem);font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_b09565-a5 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_b09565-a5[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading80864_b09565-a5\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_b09565-a5 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_b09565-a5[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading80864_b09565-a5\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<h2 class=\"kt-adv-heading80864_b09565-a5 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading80864_b09565-a5\">Why Data Ends Up Near Null Island<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As mentioned before, &#8220;Null Island&#8221; is a common error with geospatial data. Here&#8217;s a situation that leads to locations being placed at &#8220;Null Island&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider that you have the following coordinates in the city of Calgary, Canada. These coordinates are in the <a href=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wgs84-world-geodetic-system\/\">WGS84 coordinate system<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>ID<\/th><th>Latitude<\/th><th>Longitude<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>A1<\/td><td>51.044<\/td><td>-114.072<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>A2<\/td><td>51.062<\/td><td>-114.065<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>A3<\/td><td>51.038<\/td><td>-114.081<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>A4<\/td><td>51.055<\/td><td>-114.077<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>A5<\/td><td>51.039<\/td><td>-114.069<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:5px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>First, let&#8217;s create XY points the correct way. If we choose <strong>WGS 84<\/strong> as the geographic coordinate system, you can see that these coordinates land exactly where they belong in the <a href=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/calgary-map-canada\/\">City of Calgary<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image80864_40eb6f-1b .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image80864_40eb6f-1b size-full-width\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"556\" src=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-WGS84-Calgary-1000x556.jpg\" alt=\"Coordinates WGS84 Calgary\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-80866\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-WGS84-Calgary-1000x556.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-WGS84-Calgary-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-WGS84-Calgary-678x377.jpg 678w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-WGS84-Calgary-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-WGS84-Calgary-200x111.jpg 200w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-WGS84-Calgary-425x236.jpg 425w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-WGS84-Calgary-550x306.jpg 550w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-WGS84-Calgary-115x64.jpg 115w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-WGS84-Calgary-360x200.jpg 360w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-WGS84-Calgary.jpg 1278w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>But let\u2019s say I think that these coordinates are actually in the <strong>Times (World)<\/strong> <strong>Projection<\/strong>, which is a <a href=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/cylindrical-projection\/\">cylindrical map projection<\/a>. What will happen is that these coordinates will end up in what we call \u201cNull Island\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s where these coordinates land with the Times (World) projection:<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image80864_daa4f2-a4 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image80864_daa4f2-a4 size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"492\" src=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-Times-World-Projection-Null-Island-768x492.jpg\" alt=\"Coordinates Times World Projection Null Island\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-80867\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-Times-World-Projection-Null-Island-768x492.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-Times-World-Projection-Null-Island-300x192.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-Times-World-Projection-Null-Island-678x435.jpg 678w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-Times-World-Projection-Null-Island-200x128.jpg 200w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-Times-World-Projection-Null-Island-425x272.jpg 425w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-Times-World-Projection-Null-Island-550x353.jpg 550w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-Times-World-Projection-Null-Island-115x74.jpg 115w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-Times-World-Projection-Null-Island-1000x641.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-Times-World-Projection-Null-Island-360x231.jpg 360w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Coordinates-Times-World-Projection-Null-Island.jpg 1081w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As you can see in the image above, the point locations land near Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. But this is nowhere near where we want them to be in Calgary. How come?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the reason is that you have to know the correct <a href=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/latitude-longitude-coordinates\/\">coordinate system<\/a> before you create XY points.&nbsp;If you select any random coordinate system, this is how your data may <strong>end up in \u201cNull Island\u201d<\/strong> or at least close to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you zoom into its full extent, you can see these coordinates are close to \u201cNull Island\u201d (0\u00b0N latitude and 0\u00b0E longitude).&nbsp;This is not that exciting of an image, but you can see how it\u2019s in the Atlantic Ocean and still takes the <strong>same shape <\/strong>as it should (but just in the wrong spot!).<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image80864_ddb7f6-34 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image80864_ddb7f6-34 size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"492\" src=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Coordinates-768x492.jpg\" alt=\"Null Island Coordinates\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-80868\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Coordinates-768x492.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Coordinates-300x192.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Coordinates-678x435.jpg 678w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Coordinates-200x128.jpg 200w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Coordinates-425x272.jpg 425w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Coordinates-550x353.jpg 550w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Coordinates-115x74.jpg 115w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Coordinates-1000x641.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Coordinates-360x231.jpg 360w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Coordinates.jpg 1081w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>But why are these coordinates in the wrong spot?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, let&#8217;s take a look at one set of coordinates from the table. If you have a latitude coordinate of 51.044<em>\u00b0<\/em> and a longitude coordinate of -114.072<em>\u00b0<\/em>, you can see in the map below that it&#8217;s roughly in Calgary, Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image80864_c74c71-0e .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image80864_c74c71-0e size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"607\" height=\"310\" src=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Latitude-Longitude.png\" alt=\"Latitude \/ Longitude Geographic Coordinate System\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-4506\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Latitude-Longitude.png 607w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Latitude-Longitude-300x153.png 300w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Latitude-Longitude-50x26.png 50w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Latitude-Longitude-200x102.png 200w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Latitude-Longitude-425x217.png 425w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Latitude-Longitude-550x281.png 550w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Latitude-Longitude-135x70.png 135w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Latitude-Longitude-115x59.png 115w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Latitude-Longitude-304x155.png 304w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 607px) 100vw, 607px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>But because this set of coordinates is so small in values in a Times (World) projection, this point will end up close to the origin (0\u00b0N, 0\u00b0E).<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_17f0b2-7a, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_17f0b2-7a[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading80864_17f0b2-7a\"]{padding-top:var(--global-kb-spacing-md, 2rem);font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_17f0b2-7a mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_17f0b2-7a[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading80864_17f0b2-7a\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_17f0b2-7a img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading80864_17f0b2-7a[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading80864_17f0b2-7a\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<h2 class=\"kt-adv-heading80864_17f0b2-7a wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading80864_17f0b2-7a\">Conclusion: Where Is Null Island?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>So to recap&#8230; &#8220;Null Island&#8221; has become an inside joke amongst geospatial professionals to show data location errors in GIS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But what&#8217;s the current state of this non-existent island? Although there is no landmass or island at these coordinates, there is an <strong>ATLAS buoy<\/strong> at (0\u00b0N, 0\u00b0E) at all times.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image80864_b9be19-c2 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image80864_b9be19-c2\"><figure class=\"alignright size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"258\" src=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Buoy-300x258.jpg\" alt=\"Null Island Buoy\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-80869\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Buoy-300x258.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Buoy-200x172.jpg 200w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Buoy-115x99.jpg 115w, https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Buoy.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>This buoy is anchored by a cable to the seabed and it measures temperature and wind speed at all times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, there you have it.&nbsp;We\u2019ve explained what \u201cNull Island\u201d is and how <a href=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/gis-career-job\/\">GIS professionals<\/a> erroneously land their data near there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you have any questions or comments?&nbsp;Please let us know in the comments section below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Null Island is an inside joke in the world of GIS. It&#8217;s actually a place that doesn&#8217;t exist in the world today but where data lands in error.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[291],"class_list":["post-80864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-maps-cartography","tag-map-projections"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lost in Null Island: The Curious Origin of 0,0 - GIS Geography<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Null Island is an inside joke in the world of GIS. It&#039;s actually a place that doesn&#039;t exist in the world today but where data lands in error.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lost in Null Island: The Curious Origin of 0,0 - GIS Geography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Null Island is an inside joke in the world of GIS. It&#039;s actually a place that doesn&#039;t exist in the world today but where data lands in error.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GIS Geography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gisgeography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gisgeography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-19T18:57:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-13T01:33:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"GISGeography\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/GisGeography\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GisGeography\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GISGeography\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/null-island\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/null-island\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"GISGeography\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9e7385da3acea92bc45d45be5dfe191e\"},\"headline\":\"Lost in Null Island: The Curious Origin of 0,0\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-19T18:57:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-13T01:33:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/null-island\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":569,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/null-island\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/Null-Island-Feature.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Map Projections\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Maps &amp; Cartography\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/null-island\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/null-island\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/null-island\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lost in Null Island: The Curious Origin of 0,0 - GIS Geography\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/null-island\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/null-island\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/Null-Island-Feature.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-19T18:57:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-13T01:33:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"Null Island is an inside joke in the world of GIS. It's actually a place that doesn't exist in the world today but where data lands in error.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/null-island\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/null-island\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/null-island\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/Null-Island-Feature.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/Null-Island-Feature.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Null Island Feature\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/null-island\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Maps &amp; Cartography\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/category\\\/maps-cartography\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Lost in Null Island: The Curious Origin of 0,0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"GIS Geography\",\"description\":\"Geographic Information Systems\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"GIS Geography\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/cropped-GIS-Geography-Logo0.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/cropped-GIS-Geography-Logo0.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"GIS Geography\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/gisgeography\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/GisGeography\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9e7385da3acea92bc45d45be5dfe191e\",\"name\":\"GISGeography\",\"description\":\"We help you learn Geographic Information Systems and remote sensing\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/gisgeography\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/https:\\\/\\\/twitter.com\\\/GisGeography\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gisgeography.com\\\/author\\\/gisgeo\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lost in Null Island: The Curious Origin of 0,0 - GIS Geography","description":"Null Island is an inside joke in the world of GIS. It's actually a place that doesn't exist in the world today but where data lands in error.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lost in Null Island: The Curious Origin of 0,0 - GIS Geography","og_description":"Null Island is an inside joke in the world of GIS. It's actually a place that doesn't exist in the world today but where data lands in error.","og_url":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/","og_site_name":"GIS Geography","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gisgeography","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gisgeography","article_published_time":"2023-07-19T18:57:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-08-13T01:33:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"GISGeography","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/GisGeography","twitter_site":"@GisGeography","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"GISGeography","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/"},"author":{"name":"GISGeography","@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9e7385da3acea92bc45d45be5dfe191e"},"headline":"Lost in Null Island: The Curious Origin of 0,0","datePublished":"2023-07-19T18:57:40+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-13T01:33:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/"},"wordCount":569,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature.jpg","keywords":["Map Projections"],"articleSection":["Maps &amp; Cartography"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/","url":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/","name":"Lost in Null Island: The Curious Origin of 0,0 - GIS Geography","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature.jpg","datePublished":"2023-07-19T18:57:40+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-13T01:33:12+00:00","description":"Null Island is an inside joke in the world of GIS. It's actually a place that doesn't exist in the world today but where data lands in error.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature.jpg","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"Null Island Feature"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/null-island\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Maps &amp; Cartography","item":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/category\/maps-cartography\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Lost in Null Island: The Curious Origin of 0,0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/","name":"GIS Geography","description":"Geographic Information Systems","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/#organization","name":"GIS Geography","url":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/cropped-GIS-Geography-Logo0.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/cropped-GIS-Geography-Logo0.png","width":500,"height":100,"caption":"GIS Geography"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gisgeography","https:\/\/x.com\/GisGeography"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9e7385da3acea92bc45d45be5dfe191e","name":"GISGeography","description":"We help you learn Geographic Information Systems and remote sensing","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gisgeography","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/GisGeography"],"url":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/author\/gisgeo\/"}]}},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":108,"label":"Maps &amp; Cartography"}],"post_tag":[{"value":291,"label":"Map Projections"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Null-Island-Feature-678x381.jpg",678,381,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"GISGeography","author_link":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/author\/gisgeo\/"},"comment_info":22,"category_info":[{"term_id":108,"name":"Maps &amp; Cartography","slug":"maps-cartography","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":109,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":77,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":108,"category_count":77,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Maps &amp; Cartography","category_nicename":"maps-cartography","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":291,"name":"Map Projections","slug":"map-projections","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":293,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":10,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80864"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83943,"href":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80864\/revisions\/83943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}