Mystical latitude 00° 00’ 00” of the Mitad del Mundo

Even though the equator line passes through 13 other countries around the globe, no other country like Ecuador exhibits this much pride in its unique geographical location at “the middle of the world” or “Mitad del Mundo”. 

While the concept of the equator is based on geometry, early mapping efforts, like the one by French explorers in 1730 who was the first Geodesic (which meant the shortest line between two points on a curved surface) Mission of the French Academy of Sciences, which brought French scientists (and some Spanish naval officers) to determine the equatorial line. Which was one of the first that employed modern scientific principles and helped to define and map its location on the Earth’s surface. So, their Mission helped establish the equator’s location near Quito, Ecuador, leading to the country’s name and its association with the 0-degree latitude line. 

At around 20km from Quito Ecuador’s capital, a monument has been built to commemorate their mission. This official monument is impressive, you can experience the thrill of standing on the equator, visit museums and enjoy the area surrounding the monument that offers restaurants and shops, allowing you to experience the local culture.  This museum provides insights into the history of geodesy and the Earth’s shape, with interactive exhibits. 

Ciudad Mitad del Mundo contains other attractions such as a planetarium, a miniature model of Quito, and restaurants. On weekends, Ciudad Mitad del Mundo’s Central Plaza hosts varied musical and cultural events for tourists. Also, there are diverse local handcraft stores and local food served at several cafés along a small colonial town.

But it has been confirmed to be misplaced, approximately 200 meters from the true 0-degree latitude line certainly caused by the inaccuracy of the equipment use at that time by the first Geodesic Mission of the French Academy of Sciences compare to our actual GPS.

Fortunately, at the true 0-degree latitude, there is the private Intiñan Solar Museum that you can visited right away after your journey to the official monument.  You can see several things at this museum like the shadow clock which referred as the solar clock, this stone tool was used by ancient Ecuadorian cultures to tell time. However, there aren’t any numbers on it and in lieu of two hands, a single rod protrudes from its center. The clock is divided into three sections: tuta manta, chisi, and pajta, meaning morning, afternoon, and midday. The way the sun casts a shadow on the rod is a very accurate way to tell time.

But the funny part at Intiñan Museum is at the equator line itself. While it is not as “monumental” as its misplaced counterpart, it does its job: marks the Mitad del Mundo accurately.  The guide will take you through a series of demonstrations that are a result of the Coriolis effect and the equator’s weaker gravitational pull.

This Coriolis effect is caused by Earth’s rotation, deflects moving objects (like air currents, ocean currents, or even projectiles) to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. 

As a direct result of the Coriolis effect, in countries near the Earth’s equator, tourists are often dazzled by a demonstration of a mysterious physical phenomenon.  The presenter will drain water down from a bucket of water and according from the Hemisphere you are, the water will spin counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere but on the equator line, the water will drain out straits through. 

However, according to Carl-Gustav Rossby meteorologist, the Coriolis force can be measured by the Rossby number for an average hurricane is 1. It is true that hurricanes tend to rotate clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. But for a relatively small system like the bucket of water, the Rossby number will be more than 10000 times larger. 

This observation indicates that the Coriolis force is negligible on water draining in a bathroom sink.  In fact, the Rossby number predicts that the water would need to move at an almost imperceptible speed for the Coriolis force to become significant. So even though the way water swirls down the drain may be consistent, that isn’t due to the Coriolis effect.  This conclusion is supported by this 2 others video showing that the water in the Northern Hemisphere rotates counterclockwise in one video but clockwise in another video. If the rotation were due to the Coriolis effect, the result would be the same in both videos.