120th meridian west

120°
120th meridian west

The meridian 120° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.

The 120th meridian west forms a great circle with the 60th meridian east.

In Canada much of the border between British Columbia and Alberta is defined by the meridian, and in the United States part of the border between California and Nevada approximately follows it.

The mean solar time at this meridian determines the time for the Pacific Time Zone (UTC−08:00) during standard time. Most of the year however, it is the meridian for Alaska Daylight Time, as daylight saving time is observed for nearly 2/3 of the year.


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

Co-ordinates Country, territory or sea Notes
Arctic Ocean
 Canada Northwest Territories - Prince Patrick Island
M'Clure Strait
 Canada Northwest Territories - Banks Island
Prince of Wales Strait
Amundsen Gulf
 Canada Nunavut
Northwest Territories - passing through Great Bear Lake
British Columbia / Alberta border - south of the 60th parallel north
British Columbia - at Intersection Mountain () the meridian meets the Continental Divide, and the boundary with Alberta diverts southeast
 United States Washington
Oregon
California / Nevada border (approximate)
California
Pacific Ocean Santa Barbara Channel
 United States California - Santa Rosa Island
Pacific Ocean
Southern Ocean
Antarctica Unclaimed territory

See also