The International Date Line, Explained

The date line, it's somewhat of a border, but who is in charge of it?

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Johnny Harris is a filmmaker and journalist. He currently is based in Washington, DC, reporting on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the globe. Johnny's visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways. He holds a BA in international relations from Brigham Young University and an MA in international peace and conflict resolution from American University.

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[georgebuzea]

13:40 “at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter”, but whose end of the day, Johnny? 😂

[m.daniels]

I’m from the Cook Islands 🇨🇰 and I just want to confirm that your info in this video is 100% spot on in terms of what day the Cook Islands fall in.. Your research and content here is just incredible..thank you 🙌🏾

[dalfifran]

I'm a geographer, and i can tell you how hard, and what a pain in the ass is to describe how International Date Line works to common people.
2:25 That animation you do by looking the earth upside down from pole is great. It would help a lot of people to understand the concept of how it works.

[ravex]

I was in the Navy and in 2003, we crossed the IDL going West, losing a day, meaning I only experienced 364 calendar days that year. However, we came back in 2004 and crossed the IDL going East, so I experienced an extra day. It was also a leap year in 2004 which means I got to experience 367 days that year.

[KenKnorr]

I never realized that in some places Amazon could offer "previous day" shipping.

[JuanWayTrips]

I can't wait for the future series of Borders when Johnny takes a boat and travels along the whole international date line to expand on this video.

[ThreeProphets]

Dates can have a pretty major impact on trade. Less confusing date hopping between important Pacific nations like Japan and Australia means less delays and easier logistics. I suspect this is why countries like Samoa chose to change sides. So in that way, this does affect what countries get how many resources and when, and is very important. Just one more way we've carved up the planet in the interest of business rather than being easily understandable to the average geographer

[tristandunn]

The fun part is that some of these islands are GMT+13 and GMT+14 hours! In fairness, the time zone borders over land are just as messed up. Coming down from us here in the UK, a good half of France is immediately below us, and Spain is all below or to the west of us, yet they prefer to be in a more easterly time zone to be with their neighbours on the same land mass. Interestingly, Portugal is the same as the UK, so the line follows the Spain/Portugal border. I dare say there are similar quirks through Asia and the Americas.

[manarroumiah]

12:41
That moment When you use Google search engine to prove that Google maps are wrong

[solar]

This is a man of culture, he puts the sponsorship ad at the end of the video

[dimitriskonstantinidis]

Just a quick notice: the picture with the ship wreck that you show at 6:33 claiming to be from Pacific Ocean islands is actually from the beach Navagio in Zakynthos, an island of Greece. I state this so that you can make better references next time, giving every place the correct credits.

[CristinaVice]

As a Geographer I’ve watched many of your videos and love how your mapping examples show! I suggest later on integrating into Geographic Information Systems! Maybe if you upload the Pacific site layer and Google Maps layer it can be the same depending the coordinate system your looking them. Hope it helps! Greetings from Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 saludos

[hurd]

Dear lord your editing skills are next level

[jk]

Google Maps shouldn't be considered a definitive source. Nicaragua accidentally invaded Costa Rica in 2010 due to a Google Maps error.

[qwertymanseter]

6:26 "Just remember that the international date line runs through some of the most beautiful ocean in the world, and it's worth just looking at it for a second."

Greeks at 6:33:

*mr worldwide*

[canadagood]

I remember reading somewhere — which I can't locate in three minutes of extensive Wikipedia research — that a big argument of Greenwich as Prime Meridian was the relative lack of population that put near the 180 degree anti-meridian.
If, for example, the Prime Meridian was somewhat logically located in the mid-Atlantic then the Monday / Tuesday Date Line would run somewhere through New South Wales. If alternatively Jerusalem was chosen then the Date Line would run through Anchorage instead of Kiribati. Picking New York would put the Date Line mess in the middle of East Asia. Choosing mid-Europe makes a lot of sense.

[sanjanabindra]

As a geography nerd, I always felt so embarrassed telling people this was something I enjoyed. But now, I just show them your videos, cuz you make Geography look so goddamn cool. Thank you!

[euricthor]

I wouldn't put setting a dateline to arbitrariness ("it doesn't matter"), but instead, it is about geopolitical and economical influence of one state to another; considering Australia's and NZ's economical influence on the Pacific Islands-- it reduces commercial and logistical confusion.

[rebeccawarner]

I live in the UK, and as someone who has only travelled to France so far in my life I have never understood how when people travel they arrive at different times, or get jetlag. After watching your video on 'how England is the centre of the world' and now this video I understand it perfectly. I love how you can take a topic that is seemingly difficult to understand and make it so simple to understand.
I have only just found your channel, I am now binge watching your channel and I'm loving what I'm learning from you. ☺️ You are a born teacher and documentary maker, thankyou for sharing your passion for learning, making it easy to understand and also fun and interesting at the same time.

[phoenixepsilon]

6:34 I always find it funny that Zakynthos, Greece makes it to the list of stunning pacific beach pictures.