# 120th meridian west

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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 the border between British Columbia and Alberta is defined by the meridian north of where it intersects the Continental Divide of the Americas, and in the United States part of the border between California and Nevada 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 two-thirds of the year.

## From Pole to Pole

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 90°0′N 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿90.000°N 120.000°W﻿ / 90.000; -120.000﻿ (Arctic Ocean) Arctic Ocean 77°1′N 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿77.017°N 120.000°W﻿ / 77.017; -120.000﻿ (Canada)  Canada Northwest Territories — Prince Patrick Island 75°50′N 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿75.833°N 120.000°W﻿ / 75.833; -120.000﻿ (M'Clure Strait) M'Clure Strait 74°17′N 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿74.283°N 120.000°W﻿ / 74.283; -120.000﻿ (Canada)  Canada Northwest Territories — Banks Island 72°14′N 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿72.233°N 120.000°W﻿ / 72.233; -120.000﻿ (Prince of Wales Strait) Prince of Wales Strait 71°32′N 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿71.533°N 120.000°W﻿ / 71.533; -120.000﻿ (Amundsen Gulf) Amundsen Gulf 69°21′N 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿69.350°N 120.000°W﻿ / 69.350; -120.000﻿ (Canada)  Canada Nunavut Northwest Territories — passing through Great Bear Lake British Columbia / Alberta border — from 60°0′N 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿60.000°N 120.000°W﻿ / 60.000; -120.000﻿ (British Columbia/Alberta border) British Columbia — from Intersection Mountain at 53°48′N 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿53.800°N 120.000°W﻿ / 53.800; -120.000﻿ (British Columbia); at this point the meridian meets the Continental Divide, and the boundary with Alberta diverts southeast 49°0′N 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿49.000°N 120.000°W﻿ / 49.000; -120.000﻿ (United States)  United States Washington Oregon — from 45°49′N 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿45.817°N 120.000°W﻿ / 45.817; -120.000﻿ (Oregon) California / Nevada border — from 42°0′N 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿42.000°N 120.000°W﻿ / 42.000; -120.000﻿ (Oregon) California — from 39°0′N 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿39.000°N 120.000°W﻿ / 39.000; -120.000﻿ (California), through South Lake Tahoe and just east of Madera 34°27′N 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿34.450°N 120.000°W﻿ / 34.450; -120.000﻿ (Pacific Ocean) Pacific Ocean Santa Barbara Channel 33°59′N 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿33.983°N 120.000°W﻿ / 33.983; -120.000﻿ (United States)  United States California — Santa Rosa Island 33°57′N 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿33.950°N 120.000°W﻿ / 33.950; -120.000﻿ (Pacific Ocean) Pacific Ocean 60°0′S 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿60.000°S 120.000°W﻿ / -60.000; -120.000﻿ (Southern Ocean) Southern Ocean 73°44′S 120°0′W﻿ / ﻿73.733°S 120.000°W﻿ / -73.733; -120.000﻿ (Antarctica) Antarctica Unclaimed territory

## Discrepancies at the California–Nevada border

When California attained statehood in 1850, it adopted 120th meridian west as its eastern border. Between 1855 and 1900 there were six surveys to locate 120 degrees, with each locating the line of longitude differently. In 1872, Alexey W. Von Schmidt undertook the survey of the state line. He marked his survey line with stones, wood, and iron markers; the only one who placed such markers A new survey in 1893 showed that the Von Schmidt line was 1,600 to 1,800 feet west of the actual 120 degrees. However, California and Nevada both recognize the 1872 Von Schmidt survey and the 1893 survey as the state line. Google maps shows that the Verdi, Nevada California–Nevada boundary marker, located at 39°31′28″N 120°00′07″W﻿ / ﻿39.52451°N 120.00186°W﻿ / 39.52451; -120.00186, is approximately 525 feet (160 m) west of 120 degrees longitude, with a similar deviation along the length of the line from Oregon to Lake Tahoe.