Halfway between the North Pole and equator isn't where you think it is

This video was produced by Trevor Kjorlien as part of the CBC Creator Network. It was originally published in November 2023. Learn more about the Creator Network here.

During wintertime in Montreal, it's easy to think that we live in a northern part of the world. It's cold, it's snowy and it's dark at 4:30 p.m. But surprisingly, Montreal is at nearly the exact halfway point between the North Pole and the equator.

How we measure the Earth

If you have a globe near you, take a closer look at it.

At the equator, this is 0. And going further north of the equator, this number gets bigger, until we reach the North Pole at 90 N. This number is called a location's latitude.

Here's a few example cities and their latitude:

• Bogota, Colombia: 4.7 N.
• Mexico City, Mexico: 19.4 N.
• Iqaluit: 63.7 N.

What is Montreal's latitude? Almost halfway between 0 and 90, with a latitude of 45.5 N.

It's natural to assume the halfway point would be anywhere at 45 N latitude.

But to find the exact halfway point, there's a problem: The Earth is not a perfect sphere. It's slightly squished at the North and South Poles. What this means is that the true halfway point is about 16 kilometres north of 45 N latitude.

The exact latitude is 45.1433 N.

Finding a location

Still have your globe nearby? Try to find 45 N on it. You'll notice there's not any one single point, but rather an almost limitless number of places that could be the halfway point. You can imagine placing a piece of string on the globe at 45 N and any spot on that string could be the halfway point.

I wanted to find a spot that was south of Montreal, accessible and visually interesting. And I found one: at the crossroads of a place called Aubrey, Que.

On Google Street View, I saw a mailbox under a patch of trees, and a few houses dotted along the road of what appeared to be a farm-focused part of the province.

So I got into the car and began driving.

The halfway point

There was no sign marking this spot. That was expected. I saw mailboxes, trees and houses lining the crossroads.

But then, standing there, I couldn't help but feel the halfway-ness of the location: the two-way sign pointing in either direction, the arrows on a telephone pole pointing down toward the ground as if to mark the exact spot.

The families living there probably have no idea of the specialness of the intersection outside their door: 5,001 kilometres in each direction, the equator and the North Pole come to meet at this quaint spot.

The Creator Network, which works with emerging visual storytellers to bring their stories to CBC platforms, produced the piece. If you have an idea for the Creator Network, you can send your pitch here.