45×90 points

45°N, 90°W

The best-known and most frequently visited such point is , which is 1345 ft above sea level in the town of Rietbrock, Wisconsin near the unincorporated community of Poniatowski. A grand board and precise metal ground marker was placed by the Marathon County Park Commission, only to be relocated slightly and restored to visitor access since September 12, 2017.

The former marker has been replaced by a small parking lot with a trail that leads to a long, rectangular park. The Geographical Marker is at the southern end of the park along with informational displays.

The point has become something of a pop culture phenomenon thanks to Gesicki's Tavern in the tiny cluster of establishments in Poniatowski. They sold 45×90 T-shirts and registered visitors as members of the "45×90 Club". Since 2006, the Wausau/Central Wisconsin Convention & Visitors Bureau has been the holder of the official "45×90 Club" registration book. The book is on loan from the family. On becoming a member of the club, the Bureau gives a commemorative coin.

Image:Marker for the Western Hemisphere's 45X90 point (2).jpg|Close up of the incorrectly placed marker in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States Image:45x90 01.jpg|Image of the current 45°N× 90°W marker in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States Image:45x90 02.jpg|Image of the larger context for the 45°N× 90°W marker in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States Image:45x90 03.jpg|Image of 45°N× 90°W geographical marker informational display.

45°N, 90°E

The only other 45×90 point located on land is , which is at an elevation of 3311 ft above sea level. This point is located in a desolate region of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, near the Mongolian border, approximately 240 km northeast of Ürümqi. Administratively, it is on the border of Qitai and Qinggil counties. Greg Michaels, an American, and Ru Rong Zhao, a taxi driver from the closest town of Qitai, which is 110 km to the south-southwest, visited this point on April 13, 2004 and documented the visit on the Degree Confluence Project. Their visit found no monument or any physical recognition of the status and documented that the settlement nearest to the site documented on maps, Jiangjunmiao, had long since been abandoned.

45°S, 90°E

In the southern Indian Ocean, has an ocean floor depth of 10,489 ft below sea level and is: 773 mi southeast of the nearest (uninhabited) island of Île Saint-Paul; 920 mi northeast of Elephant Spit, Heard Island; 975 mi east northeast of the small village-like capital Port aux Français of the Kerguelen Islands; 1507 mi north of Antarctica; 1521 mi southwest of Augusta, Western Australia, 2535 mi southeast of Réunion Island, and 3450 mi southeast of Benguerra Island, Mozambique, and 3600 mi southeast of Mossel Bay, South Africa.

In March 2014, the point was in one of a few strips in a search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, after potential debris was spotted by satellite about there.

45°S, 90°W

Located in the southern Pacific Ocean, 806 mi west south west of Guaitecas in Chile, and 1910 mi north of Antarctica, has an ocean floor depth of 13,730 ft below sea level.

Antipodes

Each 45×90 point is the antipodethe point on the opposite side of Earthof another 45×90 point.

The southern Indian Ocean location and the point in Wisconsin are antipodes of each other. The southern Pacific Ocean location and the point in China are antipodes of each other.

References

References

1. "45 × 90 Geographical Marker".
2. "45°N × 90°W Geographic Marker".
3. Hart, Bill. "Gesicki, John Raymond". Marathon County Historical Society.
4. "Center of the Northwest Hemisphere". City of Wausau, Wisconsin.
5. (13 April 2004). "45°N 90°E". [[Degree Confluence Project]].
6. (22 March 2014). "Malaysia plane search: China checks new 'debris' image". [[BBC News]].
7. Murdoch, Lindsay. (22 March 2014). "Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370: Floating debris spotted by Chinese satellite image". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].