98th meridian west
# 98th meridian west

The meridian 98° 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 98th meridian west forms a great circle with the 82nd meridian east.

## From Pole to Pole

Starting at the North Pole and heading south to the South Pole, the 98th meridian west passes through:

    Co-ordinates Country, territory or sea Notes 90°0′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿90.000°N 98.000°W﻿ / 90.000; -98.000﻿ (Arctic Ocean) Arctic Ocean Passing just west of the Fay Islands, Nunavut, Canada (at 79°35′N 97°40′W﻿ / ﻿79.583°N 97.667°W﻿ / 79.583; -97.667﻿ (Fay Islands)) 78°49′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿78.817°N 98.000°W﻿ / 78.817; -98.000﻿ (Canada)  Canada Nunavut — Amund Ringnes Island 78°17′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿78.283°N 98.000°W﻿ / 78.283; -98.000﻿ (Hassel Sound) Hassel Sound 77°50′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿77.833°N 98.000°W﻿ / 77.833; -98.000 Unnamed waterbody 76°34′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿76.567°N 98.000°W﻿ / 76.567; -98.000﻿ (Canada)  Canada Nunavut — Loney Island and Bathurst Island 75°1′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿75.017°N 98.000°W﻿ / 75.017; -98.000﻿ (Parry Channel) Parry Channel Passing just east of Garrett Island, Nunavut, Canada (at 74°45′N 98°8′W﻿ / ﻿74.750°N 98.133°W﻿ / 74.750; -98.133﻿ (Garrett Island)) Passing just west of Lowther Island, Nunavut, Canada (at 74°29′N 97°47′W﻿ / ﻿74.483°N 97.783°W﻿ / 74.483; -97.783﻿ (Lowther Island)) 74°7′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿74.117°N 98.000°W﻿ / 74.117; -98.000﻿ (Canada)  Canada Nunavut — Russell Island and Prince of Wales Island 71°40′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿71.667°N 98.000°W﻿ / 71.667; -98.000﻿ (Larsen Sound) Larsen Sound 69°54′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿69.900°N 98.000°W﻿ / 69.900; -98.000﻿ (Canada)  Canada Nunavut — King William Island 68°42′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿68.700°N 98.000°W﻿ / 68.700; -98.000﻿ (Simpson Strait) Simpson Strait 68°32′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿68.533°N 98.000°W﻿ / 68.533; -98.000﻿ (Canada)  Canada Nunavut Manitoba — from 60°0′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿60.000°N 98.000°W﻿ / 60.000; -98.000﻿ (Manitoba), passing through Lake Winnipeg 49°0′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿49.000°N 98.000°W﻿ / 49.000; -98.000﻿ (United States)  United States North Dakota South Dakota — from 45°56′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿45.933°N 98.000°W﻿ / 45.933; -98.000﻿ (South Dakota) Nebraska — from 42°46′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿42.767°N 98.000°W﻿ / 42.767; -98.000﻿ (Nebraska) Kansas — from 40°0′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿40.000°N 98.000°W﻿ / 40.000; -98.000﻿ (Kansas) Oklahoma — from 37°0′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿37.000°N 98.000°W﻿ / 37.000; -98.000﻿ (Oklahoma) Texas — from 34°0′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿34.000°N 98.000°W﻿ / 34.000; -98.000﻿ (Texas), passing through the West Pole in Bee Cave, Texas 26°3′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿26.050°N 98.000°W﻿ / 26.050; -98.000﻿ (Mexico)  Mexico Tamaulipas Veracruz — from 22°21′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿22.350°N 98.000°W﻿ / 22.350; -98.000﻿ (Veracruz) Hidalgo — from 20°36′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿20.600°N 98.000°W﻿ / 20.600; -98.000﻿ (Hidalgo) Puebla — from 20°28′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿20.467°N 98.000°W﻿ / 20.467; -98.000﻿ (Puebla) Tlaxcala — from 19°38′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿19.633°N 98.000°W﻿ / 19.633; -98.000﻿ (Tlaxcala) Puebla — from 19°13′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿19.217°N 98.000°W﻿ / 19.217; -98.000﻿ (Puebla) Oaxaca — from 17°59′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿17.983°N 98.000°W﻿ / 17.983; -98.000﻿ (Oaxaca) 16°7′N 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿16.117°N 98.000°W﻿ / 16.117; -98.000﻿ (Pacific Ocean) Pacific Ocean 60°0′S 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿60.000°S 98.000°W﻿ / -60.000; -98.000﻿ (Southern Ocean) Southern Ocean 71°48′S 98°0′W﻿ / ﻿71.800°S 98.000°W﻿ / -71.800; -98.000﻿ (Antarctica) Antarctica Unclaimed territory

## United States

In his classic study of the Great Plains, Walter Prescott Webb described the 98th meridian as the dividing line between the arid western United States and the humid eastern United States:

   As one contrasts the civilization of the Great Plains with that of the eastern timberland, one sees what may be called an institutional fault (comparable to a geological fault) running from middle Texas to Illinois or Dakota, roughly following the ninety-eighth meridian. At this fault the ways of life and of living changed. Practically every institution that was carried across it was either broken and remade or else greatly altered.

More commonly, the 100th meridian is cited as the approximate dividing line, following the earlier observations of John Wesley Powell in the late 1800s.

