The meridian 120° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Indian Ocean, Australia, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. In mean solar time this offset is the UTC+08:00 time zone.

Line across the Earth
120°
120th meridian east

The 120th meridian east forms a great circle with the 60th meridian west. The 120th meridian east is the easternmost of South China Sea, according to Vietnam's typhoon warning region.

From Pole to Pole

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Starting at the North Pole and heading south to the South Pole, the 120th meridian east passes through:

Co-ordinates Country, territory or sea Notes
90°0′N 120°0′E / 90.000°N 120.000°E / 90.000; 120.000 (Arctic Ocean) Arctic Ocean
78°22′N 120°0′E / 78.367°N 120.000°E / 78.367; 120.000 (Laptev Sea) Laptev Sea
73°10′N 120°0′E / 73.167°N 120.000°E / 73.167; 120.000 (Russia)   Russia Sakha Republic
Amur Oblast — from 56°55′N 120°0′E / 56.917°N 120.000°E / 56.917; 120.000 (Amur Oblast)
Zabaykalsky Krai — from 56°30′N 120°0′E / 56.500°N 120.000°E / 56.500; 120.000 (Zabaykalsky Krai)
51°31′N 120°0′E / 51.517°N 120.000°E / 51.517; 120.000 (China)   People's Republic of China Inner Mongolia
Liaoning – from 41°42′N 120°0′E / 41.700°N 120.000°E / 41.700; 120.000 (Liaoning)
40°4′N 120°0′E / 40.067°N 120.000°E / 40.067; 120.000 (Bohai Sea) Bohai Sea
37°25′N 120°0′E / 37.417°N 120.000°E / 37.417; 120.000 (China)   People's Republic of China Shandong (Shandong Peninsula)
35°43′N 120°0′E / 35.717°N 120.000°E / 35.717; 120.000 (Yellow Sea) Yellow Sea
34°26′N 120°0′E / 34.433°N 120.000°E / 34.433; 120.000 (China)   People's Republic of China Jiangsu
Zhejiang – from 31°1′N 120°0′E / 31.017°N 120.000°E / 31.017; 120.000 (Zhejiang), passing just west of Hangzhou (at 30°15′N 120°10′E / 30.250°N 120.167°E / 30.250; 120.167 (Hangzhou))
Fujian – from 27°19′N 120°0′E / 27.317°N 120.000°E / 27.317; 120.000 (Fujian)
26°36′N 120°0′E / 26.600°N 120.000°E / 26.600; 120.000 (East China Sea) East China Sea
25°23′N 120°0′E / 25.383°N 120.000°E / 25.383; 120.000 (South China Sea) South China Sea Passing through the Taiwan Strait, just west of the island of Taiwan,   Republic of China (at 23°5′N 120°2′E / 23.083°N 120.033°E / 23.083; 120.033 (Taiwan))
16°20′N 120°0′E / 16.333°N 120.000°E / 16.333; 120.000 (Philippines)   Philippines Islands of Cabarruyan and Luzon
15°17′N 120°0′E / 15.283°N 120.000°E / 15.283; 120.000 (South China Sea) South China Sea Passing just west of the Lubang Islands,   Philippines (at 13°53′N 120°1′E / 13.883°N 120.017°E / 13.883; 120.017 (Lubang))
12°16′N 120°0′E / 12.267°N 120.000°E / 12.267; 120.000 (Philippines)   Philippines Islands of Busuanga and Culion
11°41′N 120°0′E / 11.683°N 120.000°E / 11.683; 120.000 (Sulu Sea) Sulu Sea
10°34′N 120°0′E / 10.567°N 120.000°E / 10.567; 120.000 (Philippines)   Philippines Island of Dumaran
10°33′N 120°0′E / 10.550°N 120.000°E / 10.550; 120.000 (Sulu Sea) Sulu Sea Passing through Tubbataha Reef,   Philippines (at 8°55′N 120°0′E / 8.917°N 120.000°E / 8.917; 120.000 (Tubbataha Reef))
5°56′N 120°0′E / 5.933°N 120.000°E / 5.933; 120.000 (Philippines)   Philippines Island of Laparan
5°52′N 120°0′E / 5.867°N 120.000°E / 5.867; 120.000 (Sulu Sea) Sulu Sea
5°14′N 120°0′E / 5.233°N 120.000°E / 5.233; 120.000 (Philippines)   Philippines Islands of Tawi-Tawi and Bilatan
4°57′N 120°0′E / 4.950°N 120.000°E / 4.950; 120.000 (Celebes Sea) Celebes Sea
1°12′N 120°0′E / 1.200°N 120.000°E / 1.200; 120.000 (Makassar Strait) Makassar Strait
0°29′N 120°0′E / 0.483°N 120.000°E / 0.483; 120.000 (Indonesia)   Indonesia Island of Sulawesi
5°34′S 120°0′E / 5.567°S 120.000°E / -5.567; 120.000 (Flores Sea) Flores Sea
8°27′S 120°0′E / 8.450°S 120.000°E / -8.450; 120.000 (Indonesia)   Indonesia Island of Flores
8°49′S 120°0′E / 8.817°S 120.000°E / -8.817; 120.000 (Sumba Strait) Sumba Strait
9°22′S 120°0′E / 9.367°S 120.000°E / -9.367; 120.000 (Indonesia)   Indonesia Island of Sumba
10°2′S 120°0′E / 10.033°S 120.000°E / -10.033; 120.000 (Indian Ocean) Indian Ocean
19°56′S 120°0′E / 19.933°S 120.000°E / -19.933; 120.000 (Australia)   Australia Western Australia
33°56′S 120°0′E / 33.933°S 120.000°E / -33.933; 120.000 (Indian Ocean) Indian Ocean Australian authorities consider this to be part of the Southern Ocean[1][2]
60°0′S 120°0′E / 60.000°S 120.000°E / -60.000; 120.000 (Southern Ocean) Southern Ocean
66°52′S 120°0′E / 66.867°S 120.000°E / -66.867; 120.000 (Antarctica) Antarctica Australian Antarctic Territory, claimed by   Australia

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Darby, Andrew (22 December 2003). "Canberra all at sea over position of Southern Ocean". The Age. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  2. ^ "Indian Ocean". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2013.