This map shows the extent of the various datasets comprising the World Elevation dynamic (Terrain, TopoBathy) and tiled (Terrain 3D, TopoBathy 3D, World Hillshade, World Hillshade (Dark)) services.The tiled services (Terrain 3D, TopoBathy 3D, World Hillshade, World Hillshade (Dark)) also include an additional data source from Maxar's Precision3D covering parts of the globe.Topography sources listed in the table below are part of Terrain, TopoBathy, Terrain 3D, TopoBathy 3D, World Hillshade and World Hillshade (Dark), while bathymetry sources are part of TopoBathy and TopoBathy 3D only. Data Source Native Pixel Size Approximate Pixel Size (meters) Coverage Primary Source Country/Region

Topography

Australia 1m 1 meter 1 Partial areas of Australia Geoscience Australia Australia

Moreton Bay, Australia 1m 1 meter 1 Moreton Bay region, Australia Moreton Bay Regional Council Australia

New South Wales, Australia 5m 5 meters 5 New South Wales State, Australia DFSI Australia

SRTM 1 arc second DEM-S 0.0002777777777779 degrees 31 Australia Geoscience Australia Australia

Burgenland 50cm 0.5 meters 0.5 Burgenland State, Austria Land Burgenland Austria

Upper Austria 50cm 0.5 meters 0.5 Upper Austria State, Austria Land Oberosterreich Austria

Austria 1m 1 meter 1 Austria BEV Austria

Austria 10m 10 meters 10 Austria BEV Austria

Wallonie 50cm 0.5 meters 0.5 Wallonie state, Belgium Service public de Wallonie (SPW) Belgium

Vlaanderen 1m 1 meter 1 Vlaanderen state, Belgium agentschap Digitaal Vlaanderen Belgium

Canada HRDEM 1m 1 meter 1 Partial areas of Canada Natural Resources Canada Canada

Canada HRDEM 2m 2 meter 2 Partial areas of the southern part of Canada Natural Resources Canada Canada

Denmark 40cm 0.4 meters 0.4 Denmark KDS Denmark

Denmark 10m 10 meters 10 Denmark KDS Denmark

England 1m 1 meter 1 England Environment Agency England

Estonia 1m 1 meter 1 Estonia Estonian Land Board Estonia

Estonia 5m 5 meters 5 Estonia Estonian Land Board Estonia

Estonia 10m 10 meters 10 Estonia Estonian Land Board Estonia

Finland 2m 2 meters 2 Finland NLS Finland

Finland 10m 10 meters 10 Finland NLS Finland

France 1m 1 meter 1 France IGN-F France

Bavaria 1m 1 meter 1 Bavaria State, Germany Bayerische Vermessungsverwaltung Germany

Berlin 1m 1 meter 1 Berlin State, Germany Geoportal Berlin Germany

Brandenburg 1m 1 meter 1 Brandenburg State, Germany GeoBasis-DE/LGB Germany

Hamburg 1m 1 meter 1 Hamburg State, Germany LGV Hamburg Germany

Hesse 1m 1 meter 1 Hesse State, Germany HVBG Germany

Nordrhein-Westfalen 1m 1 meter 1 Nordrhein-Westfalen State, Germany Land NRW Germany

Saxony 1m 1 meter 1 Saxony State, Germany Landesamt für Geobasisinformation Sachsen (GeoSN) Germany

Sachsen-Anhalt 2m 2 meters 2 Sachsen-Anhalt State, Germany LVermGeo LSA Germany

Hong Kong 50cm 0.5 meters 0.5 Hong Kong CEDD Hong Kong SAR

Italy TINITALY 10m 10 meters 10 Italy INGV Italy

Japan DEM5A *, DEM5B * 0.000055555555 degrees 5 Partial areas of Japan GSI Japan

Japan DEM10B * 0.00011111111 degrees 10 Japan GSI Japan

Latvia 1m 1 meters 1 Latvia Latvian Geospatial Information Agency Latvia

Latvia 10m 10 meters 10 Latvia Latvian Geospatial Information Agency Latvia

Latvia 20m 20 meters 20 Latvia Latvian Geospatial Information Agency Latvia

Lithuania 1m 1 meters 1 Lithuania NZT Lithuania

Lithuania 10m 10 meters 10 Lithuania NZT Lithuania

Netherlands (AHN3/AHN4) 50cm 0.5 meters 0.5 Netherlands AHN Netherlands

Netherlands (AHN3/AHN4) 10m 10 meters 10 Netherlands AHN Netherlands

New Zealand 1m 1 meters 1 Partial areas of New Zealand Land Information New Zealand (Sourced from LINZ. CC BY 4.0) New Zealand

Northern Ireland 10m 10 meters 10 Northern Ireland OSNI Northern Ireland

Norway 10m 10 meters 10 Norway NMA Norway

Poland 1m 1 meter 1 Partial areas of Poland GUGIK Poland

Poland 5m 5 meters 5 Partial areas of Poland GUGIK Poland

Scotland 1m 1 meter 1 Partial areas of Scotland Scottish Government et.al Scotland

Slovakia 1m 1 meter 1 Slovakia ÚGKK SR Slovakia

Slovakia 10m 10 meters 10 Slovakia GKÚ Slovakia

Slovenia 1m 1 meter 1 Slovenia ARSO Slovenia

Madrid City 1m 1 meter 1 Madrid city, Spain Ayuntamiento de Madrid Spain

Spain 2m (MDT02 2019 CC-BY 4.0 scne.es) 2 meters 2 Partial areas of Spain IGN Spain

Spain 5m 5 meters 5 Spain IGN Spain

Spain 10m 10 meters 10 Spain IGN Spain

Varnamo 50cm 0.5 meters 0.5 Varnamo municipality, Sweden Värnamo Kommun Sweden

Canton of Basel-Landschaft 25cm 0.25 meters 0.25 Canton of Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland Geoinformation Kanton Basel-Landschaft Switzerland

Grand Geneva 50cm 0.5 meters 0.5 Grand Geneva metropolitan, France/Switzerland SITG Switzerland and France

Switzerland swissALTI3D 50cm 0.5 meters 0.5 Switzerland and Liechtenstein swisstopo Switzerland and Liechtenstein

Switzerland swissALTI3D 10m 10 meters 10 Switzerland and Liechtenstein swisstopo Switzerland and Liechtenstein

OS Terrain 50 50 meters 50 United Kingdom Ordnance Survey United Kingdom

Douglas County 1ft 1 foot 0.3048 Douglas County, Nebraska, USA Douglas County NE United States

Lancaster County 1ft 1 foot 0.3048 Lancaster County, Nebraska, USA Lancaster County NE United States

Sarpy County 1ft 1 foot 0.3048 Sarpy County, Nebraska, USA Sarpy County NE United States

Cook County 1.5 ft 1.5 foot 0.46 Cook County, Illinois, USA ISGS United States

3DEP 1m 1 meter 1 Partial areas of the conterminous United States, Puerto Rico USGS United States

NRCS 1m 1 meter 1 Partial areas of the conterminous United States NRCS USDA United States

San Mateo County 1m 1 meter 1 San Mateo County, California, USA San Mateo County CA United States

FEMA LiDAR DTM 3 meters 3 Partial areas of the conterminous United States FEMA United States

NED 1/9 arc second 0.000030864197530866 degrees 3 Partial areas of the conterminous United States USGS United States

3DEP 5m 5 meter 5 Alaska, United States USGS United States

NED 1/3 arc second 0.000092592592593 degrees 10 conterminous United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Territorial Islands of the United States USGS United States

NED 1 arc second 0.0002777777777779 degrees 31 conterminous United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Territorial Islands of the United States; Canada and Mexico USGS United States

NED 2 arc second 0.000555555555556 degrees 62 Alaska, United States USGS United States

Wales 1m 1 meter 1 Wales Welsh Government Wales

WorldDEM4Ortho 0.00022222222 degrees 24 Global (excluding the countries of Azerbaijan, DR Congo and Ukraine) Airbus Defense and Space GmbH World

SRTM 1 arc second 0.0002777777777779 degrees 31 all land areas between 60 degrees north and 56 degrees south except Australia NASA World

EarthEnv-DEM90 0.00083333333333333 degrees 93 Global N Robinson,NCEAS World

SRTM v4.1 0.00083333333333333 degrees 93 all land areas between 60 degrees north and 56 degrees south except Australia CGIAR-CSI World

GMTED2010 7.5 arc second 0.00208333333333333 degrees 232 Global USGS World

GMTED2010 15 arc second 0.00416666666666666 degrees 464 Global USGS World

GMTED2010 30 arc second 0.0083333333333333 degrees 928 Global USGS World

Bathymetry

Canada west coast 10 meters 10 Canada west coast Natural Resources Canada Canada

Gulf of Mexico 40 feet 12 Northern Gulf of Mexico BOEM Gulf of Mexico

MH370 150 meters 150 MH370 flight search area (Phase 1) of Indian Ocean Geoscience Australia Indian Ocean

Switzerland swissBATHY3D 1 - 3 meters 1, 2, 3 Lakes of Switzerland swisstopo Switzerland

NCEI 1/9 arc second 0.000030864197530866 degrees 3 Puerto Rico, U.S Virgin Islands and partial areas of eastern and western United States coast NOAA NCEI United States

NCEI 1/3 arc second 0.000092592592593 degrees 10 Partial areas of eastern and western United States coast NOAA NCEI United States

CRM 1 arc second (Version 2) 0.0002777777777779 degrees 31 Southern California coast of United States NOAA United States

NCEI 1 arc second 0.0002777777777779 degrees 31 Partial areas of northeastern United States coast NOAA NCEI United States

CRM 3 arc second 0.00083333333333333 degrees 93 United States Coast NOAA United States

NCEI 3 arc second 0.00083333333333333 degrees 93 Partial areas of northeastern United States coast NOAA NCEI United States

In the century between Napoleon's defeat and the outbreak of the First World War (known as the "Pax Britannica"), the British Empire grew to become the largest and most powerful empire in the world. At its peak in the 1910s and 1920s, it encompassed almost one quarter of both the world's population and its land surface, and was known as "the empire on which the sun never sets". The empire's influence could be felt across the globe, as Britain could use its position to affect trade and economies in all areas of the world, including many regions that were not part of the formal empire (for example, Britain was able to affect trading policy in China for over a century, due to its control of Hong Kong and the neighboring colonies of India and Burma). Some historians argue that because of its economic, military, political and cultural influence, nineteenth century Britain was the closest thing to a hegemonic superpower that the world ever had, and possibly ever will have. "Rule Britannia" Due to the technological and logistical restrictions of the past, we will never know the exact borders of the British Empire each year, nor the full extent of its power. However, by using historical sources in conjunction with modern political borders, we can gain new perspectives and insights on just how large and influential the British Empire actually was. If we transpose a map of all former British colonies, dominions, mandates, protectorates and territories, as well as secure territories of the East India Trading Company (EIC) (who acted as the precursor to the British Empire) onto a current map of the world, we can see that Britain had a significant presence in at least 94 present-day countries (approximately 48 percent). This included large territories such as Australia, the Indian subcontinent, most of North America and roughly one third of the African continent, as well as a strategic network of small enclaves (such as Gibraltar and Hong Kong) and islands around the globe that helped Britain to maintain and protect its trade routes. The sun sets... Although the data in this graph does not show the annual population or size of the British Empire, it does give some context to how Britain has impacted and controlled the development of the world over the past four centuries. From 1600 until 1920, Britain's Empire expanded from a small colony in Newfoundland, a failing conquest in Ireland, and early ventures by the EIC in India, to Britain having some level of formal control in almost half of all present-day countries. The English language is an official language in all inhabited continents, its political and bureaucratic systems are used all over the globe, and empirical expansion helped Christianity to become the most practiced major religion worldwide. In the second half of the twentieth century, imperial and colonial empires were eventually replaced by global enterprises. The United States and Soviet Union emerged from the Second World War as the new global superpowers, and the independence movements in longstanding colonies, particularly Britain, France and Portugal, gradually succeeded. The British Empire finally ended in 1997 when it seceded control of Hong Kong to China, after more than 150 years in charge. Today, the United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries, and it is responsible for three crown dependencies and fourteen overseas territories, although the legacy of the British Empire can still be seen, and it's impact will be felt for centuries to come.

In the past four centuries, the population of the United States has grown from a recorded 350 people around the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1610, to an estimated 331 million people in 2020. The pre-colonization populations of the indigenous peoples of the Americas have proven difficult for historians to estimate, as their numbers decreased rapidly following the introduction of European diseases (namely smallpox, plague and influenza). Native Americans were also omitted from most censuses conducted before the twentieth century, therefore the actual population of what we now know as the United States would have been much higher than the official census data from before 1800, but it is unclear by how much. Population growth in the colonies throughout the eighteenth century has primarily been attributed to migration from the British Isles and the Transatlantic slave trade; however it is also difficult to assert the ethnic-makeup of the population in these years as accurate migration records were not kept until after the 1820s, at which point the importation of slaves had also been illegalized. Nineteenth century In the year 1800, it is estimated that the population across the present-day United States was around six million people, with the population in the 16 admitted states numbering at 5.3 million. Migration to the United States began to happen on a large scale in the mid-nineteenth century, with the first major waves coming from Ireland, Britain and Germany. In some aspects, this wave of mass migration balanced out the demographic impacts of the American Civil War, which was the deadliest war in U.S. history with approximately 620 thousand fatalities between 1861 and 1865. The civil war also resulted in the emancipation of around four million slaves across the south; many of whose ancestors would take part in the Great Northern Migration in the early 1900s, which saw around six million black Americans migrate away from the south in one of the largest demographic shifts in U.S. history. By the end of the nineteenth century, improvements in transport technology and increasing economic opportunities saw migration to the United States increase further, particularly from southern and Eastern Europe, and in the first decade of the 1900s the number of migrants to the U.S. exceeded one million people in some years. Twentieth and twenty-first century The U.S. population has grown steadily throughout the past 120 years, reaching one hundred million in the 1910s, two hundred million in the 1960s, and three hundred million in 2007. In the past century, the U.S. established itself as a global superpower, with the world's largest economy (by nominal GDP) and most powerful military. Involvement in foreign wars has resulted in over 620,000 further U.S. fatalities since the Civil War, and migration fell drastically during the World Wars and Great Depression; however the population continuously grew in these years as the total fertility rate remained above two births per woman, and life expectancy increased (except during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918).

Since the Second World War, Latin America has replaced Europe as the most common point of origin for migrants, with Hispanic populations growing rapidly across the south and border states. Because of this, the proportion of non-Hispanic whites, which has been the most dominant ethnicity in the U.S. since records began, has dropped more rapidly in recent decades. Ethnic minorities also have a much higher birth rate than non-Hispanic whites, further contributing to this decline, and the share of non-Hispanic whites is expected to fall below fifty percent of the U.S. population by the mid-2000s. In 2020, the United States has the third-largest population in the world (after China and India), and the population is expected to reach four hundred million in the 2050s.

This map shows the extents of the various datasets comprising the World Elevation dynamic (Terrain, TopoBathy) and tiled (Terrain 3D, TopoBathy 3D, World Hillshade, World Hillshade (Dark)) services.The map has pop-ups defined. Click anywhere on the map to reveal details about the data sources.Topography sources listed in the table below are part of Terrain, TopoBathy, Terrain 3D, TopoBathy 3D, World Hillshade and World Hillshade (Dark), while bathymetry sources are part of TopoBathy and TopoBathy 3D only. Data Source Native Pixel Size Approximate Pixel Size (meters) Coverage Primary Source Country/Region

Topography

Australia 1m 1 meter 1 Partial areas of Australia Geoscience Australia Australia

Moreton Bay, Australia 1m 1 meter 1 Moreton Bay region, Australia Moreton Bay Regional Council Australia

New South Wales, Australia 5m 5 meters 5 New South Wales State, Australia DFSI Australia

SRTM 1 arc second DEM-S 0.0002777777777779 degrees 31 Australia Geoscience Australia Australia

Burgenland 50cm 0.5 meter 0.5 Burgenland State, Austria Land Burgenland Austria

Upper Austria 50cm 0.5 meter 0.5 Upper Austria State, Austria Land Oberosterreich Austria

Austria 1m 1 meter 1 Austria BEV Austria

Austria 10m 10 meters 10 Austria Geoland Austria

Canada HRDEM 1m 1 meter 1 Partial areas of the southern part of Canada Natural Resources Canada Canada

Canada HRDEM 2m 2 meters 2 Partial areas of the southern part of Canada Natural Resources Canada Canada

Denmark 40cm 0.4 meter 0.4 Denmark SDFE Denmark

Denmark 10m 10 meters 10 Denmark SDFE Denmark

England 2m 2 meters 2 70 % of England Environment Agency England

Estonia 1m 1 meter 1 Estonia Estonian Land Board Estonia

Estonia 5m 5 meters 5 Estonia Estonian Land Board Estonia

Estonia 10m 10 meters 10 Estonia Estonian Land Board Estonia

Finland 2m 2 meters 2 Finland NLS Finland

Finland 10m 10 meters 10 Finland NLS Finland

Berlin 1m 1 meter 1 Berlin State, Germany Geoportal Berlin Germany

Hamburg 1m 1 meter 1 Hamburg State, Germany LGV Hamburg Germany

Nordrhein-Westfalen 1m 1 meter 1 Nordrhein-Westfalen State, Germany Land NRW Germany

Sachsen-Anhalt 2m 2 meters 2 Sachsen-Anhalt State, Germany LVermGeo LSA Germany

Hong Kong 50cm 0.5 meter 0.5 Hong Kong CEDD Hong Kong SAR

Italy TINITALY 10m 10 meters 10 Italy INGV Italy

Japan DEM5A *, DEM5B * 0.000055555555 degrees 5 Partial areas of Japan GSI Japan

Japan DEM10B * 0.00011111111 degrees 10 Japan GSI Japan

Latvia 1m 1 meter 1 Latvia Latvian Geospatial Information Agency Latvia

Latvia 10m 10 meters 10 Latvia Latvian Geospatial Information Agency Latvia

Latvia 20m 20 meters 20 Latvia Latvian Geospatial Information Agency Latvia

Lithuania 1m 1 meter 1 Lithuania NZT Lithuania

Lithuania 10m 10 meters 10 Lithuania NZT Lithuania

Netherlands (AHN3/AHN4) 50cm 0.5 meter 0.5 Netherlands AHN Netherlands

Netherlands (AHN3/AHN4) 10m 10 meters 10 Netherlands AHN Netherlands

New Zealand 1m 1 meter 1 Partial areas of New Zealand Land Infromation New Zealand (Sourced from LINZ. CC BY 4.0) New Zealand

Northern Ireland 10m 10 meters 10 Northern Ireland OSNI Northern Ireland

Norway 10m 10 meters 10 Norway NMA Norway

Poland 1m 1 meter 1 Partial areas of Poland GUGIK Poland

Poland 5m 5 meters 5 Partial areas of Poland GUGIK Poland

Scotland 1m 1 meter 1 Partial areas of Scotland Scottish Government et.al Scotland

Slovakia 10m 10 meters 10 Slovakia GKÚ Slovakia

Slovenia 1m 1 meter 1 Slovenia ARSO Slovenia

Madrid City 1m 1 meter 1 Madrid city, Spain Ayuntamiento de Madrid Spain

Spain 2m (MDT02 2019 CC-BY 4.0 scne.es) 2 meters 2 Partial areas of Spain IGN Spain

Spain 5m 5 meters 5 Spain IGN Spain

Spain 10m 10 meters 10 Spain IGN Spain

Varnamo 50cm 0.5 meter 0.5 Varnamo municipality, Sweden Värnamo Kommun Sweden

Canton of Basel-Landschaft 25cm 0.25 meter 0.25 Canton of Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland Geoinformation Kanton Basel-Landschaft Switzerland

Grand Geneva 50cm 0.5 meter 0.5 Grand Geneva metropolitan, France/Switzerland SITG Switzerland and France

Switzerland swissALTI3D 50cm 0.5 meter 0.5 Switzerland and Liechtenstein swisstopo Switzerland and Liechtenstein

Switzerland swissALTI3D 10m 10 meters 10 Switzerland and Liechtenstein swisstopo Switzerland and Liechtenstein

OS Terrain 50 50 meters 50 United Kingdom Ordnance Survey United Kingdom

3DEP 1m 1 meter 1 Partial areas of the conterminous United States, Puerto Rico USGS United States

NRCS 1m 1 meter 1 Partial areas of the conterminous United States NRCS USDA United States

FEMA LiDAR DTM 3 meters 3 Partial areas of the conterminous United States FEMA United States

NED 1/9 arc second 0.000030864197530866 degrees 3 Partial areas of the conterminous United States USGS United States

3DEP 5m 5 meters 5 Alaska, United States USGS United States

NED 1/3 arc second 0.000092592592593 degrees 10 conterminous United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Territorial Islands of the United States USGS United States

NED 1 arc second 0.0002777777777779 degrees 31 conterminous United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Territorial Islands of the United States; Canada and Mexico USGS United States

NED 2 arc second 0.000555555555556 degrees 62 Alaska, United States USGS United States

Wales 2m 2 meters 2 70 % of Wales Natural Resources Wales Wales

WorldDEM4Ortho 0.00022222222 degrees 24 Global (excluding the countries of Azerbaijan, DR Congo and Ukraine) Airbus Defense and Space GmbH World

SRTM 1 arc second 0.0002777777777779 degrees 31 all land areas between 60 degrees north and 56 degrees south except Australia NASA World

EarthEnv-DEM90 0.00083333333333333 degrees 93 Global N Robinson,NCEAS World

SRTM v4.1 0.00083333333333333 degrees 93 all land areas between 60 degrees north and 56 degrees south except Australia CGIAR-CSI World

GMTED2010 7.5 arc second 0.00208333333333333 degrees 232 Global USGS World

GMTED2010 15 arc second 0.00416666666666666 degrees 464 Global USGS World

GMTED2010 30 arc second 0.0083333333333333 degrees 928 Global USGS World

Bathymetry

Canada west coast 10 meters 10 Canada west coast Natural Resources Canada Canada

Gulf of Mexico 40 feet 12 Northern Gulf of Mexico BOEM Gulf of Mexico

MH370 150 meters 150 MH370 flight search area (Phase 1) of Indian Ocean Geoscience Australia Indian Ocean

Switzerland swissBATHY3D 1 - 3 meters 1, 2, 3 Lakes of Switzerland swisstopo Switzerland

NCEI 1/9 arc second 0.000030864197530866 degrees 3 Puerto Rico, U.S Virgin Islands and partial areas of eastern and western United States coast NOAA NCEI United States

NCEI 1/3 arc second 0.000092592592593 degrees 10 Partial areas of eastern and western United States coast NOAA NCEI United States

CRM 1 arc second (Version 2) 0.0002777777777779 degrees 31 Southern California coast of United States NOAA United States

NCEI 1 arc second 0.0002777777777779 degrees 31 Partial areas of northeastern United States coast NOAA NCEI United States

CRM 3 arc second 0.00083333333333333 degrees 93 United States Coast NOAA United States

NCEI 3 arc second 0.00083333333333333 degrees 93 Partial areas of northeastern United States coast NOAA NCEI United States

USGS CoNED 1 - 3 meters 1, 2, 3 Partial coastal areas of eastern and western United States USGS United States

GEBCO 2021 ** 0.00416666666666666 degrees 464 Global GEBCO World

GEBCO 2014 0.0083333333333333 degrees 928 Global GEBCO World * Fundamental Geospatial Data provided by GSI with Approval Number JYOU-SHI No.1239 2016. ** GEBCO Compilation Group (2021) GEBCO 2021 Grid (doi:10.5285/c6612cbe-50b3-0cff-e053-6c86abc09f8f) *** Bathymetry datasets are part of TopoBathy and TopoBathy3D services only.Disclaimer: Data sources are not to be used for navigation/safety at sea and in air.

In the late 19th century and into the early 20th century, the world globalized. New technology and more accessible transportation, such as trains, allowed people, ideas, and goods to travel faster and more easily around the world. Time standardization was greatly needed in a world becoming increasingly interconnected.For example, in the United States, the railroad system faced big problems by the late 1800s. Each town and city went by their own time, which was usually regulated by a clock in the town center. Many towns used natural time markers, so whenever they saw the sun highest in the sky, was “high noon.” This caused confusion and some collisions among trains, as different communities were not following the same local time.To prevent further damage, Canadian railway engineer Sir Sandford Fleming devised a globally standardized time system. He proposed to regulate time by dividing the earth into 24 one-hour time zones utilizing longitude lines, each 15 degrees apart. Longitude lines mark the distance east or west of the prime meridian. Fleming’s recommendations led to an international conference held in 1884 to select a common prime meridian, otherwise known as zero degrees longitude, on which to base time zones. Previously, different countries had different prime meridians. However, at the conference, the committee decided that the world should identify an official meridian, and they chose the Greenwich meridian. Although much has changed since the conference in 1884, Fleming’s design has stayed intact, with variations based on political and geographic decisions. For example, China, a very large country, only uses one time zone, while many places in the Middle East use half-hour time zones. This map layer shows the 24 time zones commonly used in the Greenwich Mean Time model. The hours added or subtracted from the time in Greenwich are marked on the map. For example, if it is 1:00 p.m. in London, England, United Kingdom, it is 6:30 pm in New Delhi, Delhi, India (+5.50), and 5:00 a.m. in Los Angeles, California, United States (-8.00). Use this layer to see how time is regulated around the world.

In 2022, London had a gross domestic product of over 508 billion British pounds, by far the most of any region of the United Kingdom. The region of South East England which surrounds London had the second-highest GDP in this year, at over 341 billion pounds. North West England, which includes the major cities of Manchester and Liverpool, had the third-largest GDP among UK regions, at approximately 223.5 billion pounds. Levelling Up the UK London’s economic dominance of the UK can clearly be seen when compared to the other regions of the country. In terms of GDP per capita, the gap between London and the rest of the country is striking, standing at 57,338 pounds per person in the UK capital, compared with just over 33,593 pounds in the rest of the country. To address the economic imbalance, successive UK governments have tried to implement "levelling-up policies", which aim to boost investment and productivity in neglected areas of the country. The success of these programs going forward may depend on their scale, as it will likely take high levels of investment to reverse economic neglect regions have faced in the recent past. Overall UK GDP The gross domestic product for the whole of the United Kingdom amounted to 2.56 trillion British pounds in 2024. During this year, GDP grew by 0.9 percent, following a growth rate of 0.4 percent in 2023. Due to the overall population of the UK growing faster than the economy, however, GDP per capita in the UK fell in both 2023 and 2024. Nevertheless, the UK remains one of the world’s biggest economies, with just five countries (the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and India) having larger economies. It is it likely that several other countries will overtake the UK economy in the coming years, with Indonesia, Brazil, Russia, and Mexico all expected to have larger economies than Britain by 2050.