Which country spans all four hemispheres?

Kiribati is the only country whose territory extends into all four hemispheres. Its scattered islands lie both north and south of the Equator and on both sides of the 180th meridian.

Kiribati is made up of 32 atolls and one raised island, Banaba, spread across a huge area of the central Pacific Ocean. Its three main island groups are the Gilbert Islands, the Phoenix Islands, and the Line Islands. The Line Islands reach far eastward, while the Gilbert Islands lie much closer to the international date-line region.

The country’s unusual geography became especially notable when Kiribati moved the International Date Line eastward around its eastern islands in 1995. This helped the nation’s territory share the same calendar day, even though its islands remain widely separated.

Russia, Brazil, and Indonesia are large countries crossing important geographic lines, but none has land in every combination of northern, southern, eastern, and western hemispheres. Kiribati’s low-lying atolls also face serious risks from sea-level rise and coastal erosion.