In many countries, kilometre zero (also written km 0) or similar terms in other languages (also known as zero mile marker, zero milepost, control stations, or control points) denote a particular location (usually in the nation's capital city) from which distances are traditionally measured and some use this as their official country location or coordinates for faster search at space satellites, this is also used for measuring distances between different countries around the world. Historically, they were markers where drivers could set their odometers to follow the directions in early roaming guide books.[1]
Argentina marks kilometre zero with a monolith in Plaza Congreso in Buenos Aires. The work of the brothers Máximo and José Fioravanti, the structure was placed on the north side of Plaza Lorea on October 2, 1935; it was moved to its present location on May 18, 1944. An image of Our Lady of Luján (honored on the monolith as "the patron saint of the national road network") appears on the monolith's north face, a relief map of Argentina is on the south face, plaques in honor of José de San Martín are west, and on its eastern side, the date of the decree and the name of the relevant authorities.
China Railway's kilometre zero is at the entrance to the Fengtai Yard on the Beijing–Guangzhou railway just outside its capital Beijing. This point was historically the start of the line; the marker is a simple concrete marker, with "0" painted on it. There is no ceremonial plaque.
The kilometre zero point for highways is at Tiananmen Square, just outside the Zhengyangmen Gate. It is marked with a plaque in the ground, with the four cardinal points, four animals, and "Zero Point of Highways, China" in English and Chinese.
Cuba
The diamond in El Capitolio, Havana, marking the Cuban Kilometre Zero
Cuba's kilometre zero is in its capital Havana in El Capitolio. Embedded in the floor in the centre of the main hall is a replica 25 carats (5.0g) diamond, which marks kilometre zero. The original diamond, said to have belonged to TsarNicholas II of Russia and have been sold to the Cuban state by a Turkish merchant, was stolen on March 25, 1946, and mysteriously returned to the President, Ramón Grau San Martín, on June 2, 1946. It was replaced in El Capitolio by a replica in 1973.
Traditionally, distances to Copenhagen, Denmark's capital, were measured to the old city gates. City Hall Square (old Vesterport) is the zero point for roads from south and west such as from Korsør or Rødby. For road from north such as from Helsingør or Hillerød, point zero is Østerport located on the North side of the inner city. Nørreport was used from Frederikssund, and Amagerport from Amager. There are old monuments at these locations.[6] On railways distances are in general measured from Copenhagen Central Station.
Kilometre zero in Ethiopia is in Menelik II Square, Addis Ababa, in front of St. George's Cathedral; it is the point from which all Ethiopian highway distances are measured. The point was designated by Emperor Haile Selassie in 1930.
Plaque at the original site of Charing Cross, now the site of the Charles I statue.
In the center of Charing Cross in London, there is a plaque bearing the inscription:
On the site now occupied by the statue of King Charles I was erected the original Queen Eleanor's Cross, a replica of which stands in front of Charing Cross station. Mileages from London are measured from the site of the original cross.
In Scotland, distances from Edinburgh are measured from a bollard in front of the GPO building in Princes Street.
In Ancient Greece, distances were measured from the Altar of the Twelve Gods in the ancient agora of Athens. So, that altar can be considered the first kilometre zero in human history.
The kilometre zero is located at the National Palace in Guatemala City. The National Palace is also the residence for the Guatemalan president.
Hong Kong
Traditionally, milestones for Castle Peak Road, Tai Po Road and Clear Water Bay Road, the first three highways extending from the city centre in Kowloon to the rural areas, were all measured from the Star Ferry pier at Tsim Sha Tsui. There are still milestones preserved today but there is no Milestone 0.
However, modern highways in Hong Kong no longer use this system. Each trunk route has its own Km. 0 at one end.
The Zero Kilometre Stone in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, is marked by a monument, forming the number "zero". The starting point was initially reckoned from the threshold of the Buda Royal Palace, but it was taken down to the Széchenyi Chain Bridge when it was built in 1849.
The city of Kecskemét also has a zero kilometre stone on Kossuth Square.
In India, the Zero Mile Stone is a monument in the city of Nagpur, Maharashtra. The Zero Mile Stone was erected by the British Raj, and consists of four horses and a pillar made of sandstone. There is no verifiable evidence that it is a monument locating the geographical centre of colonial India in the city of Nagpur,[9] or that the Zero Mile Stone was erected by the British to use this point to measure all the distances.[10] Incidentally, the city of Nagpur lies geographically center to all the four major metros of India, viz. Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi.
Kilometre zero of Indonesia is marked by the monument in Weh Island in Aceh, the northernmost and westernmost point of Indonesia.[13][14][15] It is one of the rare cases where the national kilometre zero is not at the capital (for this case, Jakarta). Previously it was little further north, in Rondo Island. But due to access difficulty, it was decided to move it to Weh Island.
In Jerusalem, its kilometre zero or zero point is at Jaffa Gate. Some say it is at The Garden Tomb. However, there is no precise marker, as of today. However, the Railway system uses a different Kilometer zero point at the former Haifa East railway station.
Kilometre Zero of Japan on the Nihonbashi Bridge in Tokyo
Kilometre zero in Japan (日本国道路元標, Nipponkoku Dōro Genpyō) is on the middle of Nihonbashi bridge in Tokyo, the capital city of Japan. Tokyo Station is considered the originating point of the national railway network and has several posts and monuments indicating kilometre zero for lines originating from the station.
Kilometre zero for roads and highways in Peninsular Malaysia is located in front of Johor Bahru General Post Office.[16] It is one of the rare cases where the national kilometre zero is not at the capital (in this case, Kuala Lumpur) due to the fact that the distances for three major backbone routes (Federal Routes 1, 3 and 5) are measured from Johor Bahru, where they meet. In addition, Kuala Lumpur has its own Zero Mile marker as a point of reference from the capital city.
In Sarawak, kilometre zero of Pan Borneo Highway started in Telok Melano. In Sabah, the starting point for Kota Kinabalu City's kilometre zero began in front of the Sabah Tourism Board building, which used to be a post office during the British colonial era.
Kilometre zero for roads from Oslo, the capital of Norway, is at the address Observatoriegaten 1. Kilometre zero for most railways in Norway is 0.27 kilometres (0.17mi) westwards into the Oslo Tunnel.
Panama
The Panamanian kilometre zero is at the Martin Sosa Bridge on the Simon Bolivar Avenue (Transisthmian Highway) in the capital Panama City.
Old Philippine Kilometer Zero that was replaced, also in Rizal Park
A small obelisk located near Rizal Monument of Rizal Park in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, serves as kilometer zero for the island of Luzon; this obelisk replaced a marker with a small metal sphere atop the marker sometime during the 2010s. The marker also serves as point of reference, via the Pan-Philippine Highway, for the islands of Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao,[19] although Leyte and Mindanao have their own kilometer zero markers in front of Leyte Provincial Capitol, Tacloban and in Marawi, respectively.[20]
For all the other islands, kilometer zero is located at the front of provincial capitol buildings or municipal halls, ports, town centers, or major junctions.[19] For instance, in Cebu, it is in front of the Cebu Provincial Capitol,[21] while in Panay, it is the Arroyo Fountain in front of the Casa Real de Iloilo.[22] Three islands of Batanes also have their respective kilometers zero.[23]Negros Oriental and Occidental each have their respective kilometer zero markers, even though they are both within the island of Negros.[24]Baguio also has its kilometer zero as a reference point to and from the city.[25]
Prior to World War II, the entire archipelago only had one kilometer zero – the cross atop the media naranjadome crossing of the Manila Cathedral.
Portugal does not have a physical kilometre zero marker, but distances in origin-destinations matrices involving the capital Lisbon use the Rossio square as kilometre zero.
Kilometre zero in Singapore is located at the entrance of The Fullerton Hotel, known as the former General Post Office. On the basement floor of the hotel, there are several explanatory boards indicating the history of the General Post Office and Singapore's roads.
Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, has its doro wonpyo (Korean: 도로원표) in the centre of Gwanghwamun Intersection to measure the distances of both national and regional roads. The initial statue, erected in 1997, is near the Donghwa duty-free shop building, next to a police station, and in front of the Shinhan Bank building (Gwanghwamun Station), 151 metres (495ft) from its exact point.
A plaque on the ground marks the official time in Spain, according to an urban legend. The plaque that marks this point was rotated 180 degrees by mistake in 2002 during a renovation of the square. This was corrected in 2009. The clock of the Post Office building marks the official time for Madrid, synchronized with Spanish ROA Time.
In Sweden, the equestrian statue of King Gustav II Adolf in the middle of the Gustav Adolfs torg square in Stockholm is used as kilometre zero for roads. In general road distance signs are measured to city midpoints. For most mainline railways, kilometres are measured from the entrance door from the main hall to track 10 of the Stockholm Central Station. There are simple painted signs on the side of the platforms.
Switzerland
In Switzerland, the federal railway network's Kilometre Null is in Olten. It was made in the 19th century to mark the point from where the Swiss railway system was measured. Because of the complex and dense manner in which the Swiss railway system has since grown, and continues to grow, it is no longer used. There is a mark at Zürich Main Station which is a little outside the present end of the tracks and used by some mainlines.
The metric system is not the common system in the United States, but mile markers for most major roads begin at either their western or southern terminus. The mile-marking systems are generally within individual states; the mile count starts over when a state boundary is crossed.
Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the original architect of Washington, D.C., proposed an otherwise unnamed reference marker in the form of a pole that was never built, intended to be one mile (1.6km) east of the Capitol.
Although not used for measurement on U.S. roads outside the city of Washington, D.C., a Zero Milestone near the White House was proposed in 1919 and a permanent marker placed in 1923 by the federal government, funded by the Good Roads Movement. However, the Capitol building is used as the zero point for the city including the nation.
In popular myth and some older sources, the Boston Stone is said to have been the zero marker for distances from Boston, but it was not.
Perhaps the most well-known 'Mile Zero' in the US, and the one that has spawned the creation of a popular bumper sticker, is in Key West, Florida, at the southern terminus of U.S. Route 1.
A Kilómetro Cero has been established for the Uruguay River by the Treaty of Río Uruguay in 1961 on the parallel passing the area, Punta Gorda in the Colonia Department, south of Nueva Palmira.
Historical
Reconstruction of Constantinople's Milion, based on historical accounts and surviving fragments.
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire had an arched building, the Milion of Constantinople, as the starting-place for the measurement of distances for all the roads leading to the other cities. In the 1960s, some fragments were discovered and erected in its original location, now in the district of Eminönü, Istanbul, Turkey.
Charing Cross is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. Clockwise from north, the routes that meet at Charing Cross are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; Northumberland Avenue leading to the Thames Embankment; Whitehall leading to Parliament Square; The Mall leading to Admiralty Arch and Buckingham Palace; and two short roads leading to Pall Mall.
A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like mileage signs; or they can give their position on the route relative to some datum location. On roads they are typically located at the side or in a median or central reservation. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts. A "kilometric point" is a term used in metricated areas, where distances are commonly measured in kilometres instead of miles. "Distance marker" is a generic unit-agnostic term.
An exit number is a number assigned to a road junction, usually an exit from a freeway. It is usually marked on the same sign as the destinations of the exit. In some countries, such as the United States, it is also marked on a sign in the gore.
Linear referencing, also called linear reference system or linear referencing system (LRS), is a method of spatial referencing in engineering and construction, in which the locations of physical features along a linear element are described in terms of measurements from a fixed point, such as a milestone along a road. Each feature is located by either a point or a line. If a segment of the linear element or route is changed, only those locations on the changed segment need to be updated. Linear referencing is suitable for management of data related to linear features like roads, railways, oil and gas transmission pipelines, power and data transmission lines, and rivers.
The Zero Milestone is a zero mile marker monument in Washington, D.C., intended as the initial milestone from which all road distances in the United States should be measured when it was built. At present, only roads in the Washington, D.C., area have distances measured from it.
The Washington meridians are four meridians that were used as prime meridians in the United States which pass through Washington, D.C. The four that have been specified are:
through the Capitol
through the White House
through the old Naval Observatory
through the new Naval Observatory.
Shinyanga, also known as Mji wa Shinyanga in the national language, is a city in northern Tanzania. The city is the location of the regional headquarters of Shinyanga Region as well as the district headquarters of Shinyanga Urban District. The region and district are named after the town.
The Puerta del Sol is a public square in Madrid, one of the best known and busiest places in the city. This is the centre of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous clock whose bells mark the traditional eating of the Twelve Grapes and the beginning of a new year. The New Year's celebration has been broadcast live since 31 December 1962 on major radio and television networks including Atresmedia and RTVE.
The Kilometer Zero monument located in central Bucharest, Romania, in front of the New St. George Church, was created by Constantin Baraschi in 1938.
Jefferson Pier, Jefferson Stone, or the Jefferson Pier Stone, in Washington, D.C., marks the second prime meridian of the United States even though it was never officially recognized, either by presidential proclamation or by a resolution or act of Congress.
National Route 40, also known as RN40 or "Ruta 40", is a route in western Argentina, stretching from Cabo Vírgenes near Río Gallegos in Santa Cruz Province in the south to La Quiaca in Jujuy Province in the north with approximately 5194 km length. The route parallels the Andes mountains. The southern part of the route, by now largely paved, has become a well-known adventure tourism journey, and there are plans to pave the whole road.
Highway 5 is a major highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It begins in downtown Saskatoon and runs eastward to the Manitoba border near Togo, where it becomes Provincial Road 363. The highway is approximately 393 kilometres (244 mi) long. Between the early 1900s (decade) and 1976, Provincial Highway 5 was a trans-provincial highway travelling approximately 630 kilometres (390 mi) in length. At this time it started at the Alberta border in Lloydminster and traveled east to the Manitoba border.
The boundary markers of the original District of Columbia are the 40 milestones that marked the four lines forming the boundaries between the states of Maryland and Virginia and the square of 100 square miles (259 km2) of federal territory that became the District of Columbia in 1801. Working under the supervision of three commissioners that President George Washington had appointed in 1790 in accordance with the federal Residence Act, a surveying team led by Major Andrew Ellicott placed these markers in 1791 and 1792. Among Ellicott's assistants were his brothers Joseph and Benjamin Ellicott, Isaac Roberdeau, George Fenwick, Isaac Briggs and an African American astronomer, Benjamin Banneker.
The Milion was a marker from which all distances across the Roman Empire were measured. Erected by Septimus Severus in the 3rd century AD in Byzantium, it was the Byzantine zero-mile marker, the starting-place for the measurement of distances for all the roads leading to the cities of the Byzantine Empire. It thus served the same function as the Golden Milestone in Rome's forum. The domed building of the Milion rested on four large arches, and it was expanded and decorated with several statues and paintings. It survived the sack of Constantinople in 1204 and the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 but had disappeared by the start of the 16th century. During excavations in the 1960s, some partial fragments of it were discovered under houses in the area.
A river mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometers is the river kilometer. They are analogous to vehicle roadway mile markers, except that river miles are rarely marked on the physical river; instead they are marked on navigation charts, and topographic maps. Riverfront properties are sometimes partially legally described by their river mile.
Road signs in Thailand are standardized road signs similar to those used in other nations but much of it resembles road signage systems used in South American countries with certain differences, such as using a blue circle instead of a red-bordered white circle to indicate mandatory actions. Until the early 1980s, Thailand closely followed American, European, Australian, and Japanese practices in road sign design, with diamond-shaped warning signs and circular restrictive signs to regulate traffic. The Department of Railway maintains a standard on the typeface used in the sign, with custom made type for Thai text, unofficially named “Thang Luang”(อักษรทางหลวง) and a small derivation of FHWA Series fonts typeface, which is used on American road signage, for Latin text. In most Bangkok Metropolitan Area's routes, TS Lopburi is still used.
A highway location marker is the modern-day equivalent of a milestone. Unlike traditional milestones, however, which were originally carved from stone and sited at one-mile intervals, modern highway location markers are made from a variety of materials and are almost invariably spaced at intervals of a kilometre or a fraction thereof. In some countries they may be known as driver location signs, milestones or kilometre stones.
Kyengera is a town in the Central Region of Uganda. It is one of the urban centers in Wakiso District.
Ichirizuka (一里塚) are historic Japanese distance markers akin to milestones. Comprising a pair of earthen mounds covered in trees and flanking the road, they denoted the distance in ri to Nihonbashi, the "Bridge of Japan", erected in Edo in 1603. Ichirizuka were encountered and described by Engelbert Kaempfer, c.1690: "serving as a milestone are two hills, facing each other, which are raised up on both sides of the road, and planted with one or more trees."
↑ Kamala Ganesh, Usha Thakkar and Gita Chadha (Eds.). (2008). Zero Point Bombay: In and Around Horniman Circle. Lotus Collection, Roli Books. ISBN978-81-7436-659-7.
↑ "Weh Island: Diving the Untouched Edge". Archived from the original on July 11, 2015. Sabang is the capital city of Weh Island. Why not explore the town as well? You might want to take a picture of a sign bearing "Indonesia Nol Kilometer" (Zero Kilometre of Indonesia).
↑ Cai Weiqi (蔡偉祺) and Cai Wenju (蔡文居) (October 7, 2012). "台灣公路原點 就在監察院前人行道" (in Chinese). The Liberty Times. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014.
↑ "Chicago's Grid System". Chicago Studies. University of Chicago. August 26, 2020. Archived from the original on May 17, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
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