The meridian 56° east of Greenwich

Prime Meridian

The Prime Meridian is the meridian at which the longitude is defined to be 0°.The Prime Meridian and its opposite the 180th meridian , which the International Date Line generally follows, form a great circle that divides the Earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.An international...

is a line of longitude

Longitude

Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....

 that extends from the North Pole

North Pole

The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...

 across the Arctic Ocean

Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...

, Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

, the Southern Ocean

Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60°S latitude and encircling Antarctica. It is usually regarded as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions...

, and Antarctica to the South Pole

South Pole

The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...

.

The westernmost part of the border between Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

 and Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....

 is defined by the meridian.

The 56th meridian east forms a great circle

Great circle

A great circle, also known as a Riemannian circle, of a sphere is the intersection of the sphere and a plane which passes through the center point of the sphere, as opposed to a general circle of a sphere where the plane is not required to pass through the center...

 with the 124th meridian west

124th meridian west

The meridian 124° 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....

.

Starting at the North Pole

North Pole

The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...

 and heading south to the South Pole

South Pole

The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...

, the 56th meridian east passes through:

Co-ordinates	Country, territory or sea	Notes
90°0′N 56°0′E	Arctic Ocean Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
81°18′N 56°0′E		Islands of Jackson Jackson Island Jackson Island or Frederick Jackson Island is an island located in Franz Josef Land, Russia. This island is part of the Zichy Land subgroup of the central part of the archipelago.... , Salisbury Salisbury Island (Russia) Salisbury Island, is an island located in the central area of Franz Josef Land, Russia.Salisbury Island is relatively large and long, having a surface of 960 km²... , Champ Champ Island Champ Island is an island in the central area of Franz Josef Land, Russia.Champ Island has a surface of and there is a wide unglacierized zone in the southwest of the island. The highest point of the island is .... , Alger Alger Island, Russia Alger Island is an island in Franz Josef Land, Russia. Lat 80° 22′ N, long 56° 03′ E.The length of Alger Island is and its maximum width . Its highest point is . This island is mostly unglaciated, having only a relatively small ice cap in its northern end...  and MacKlintok MacKlintok Island MacKlintok Island or MacClintok Island is an island in Franz Josef Land, Russia.This island is roughly square-shaped and its maximum length is . Its area is and it is largely glaciated. Its highest point is .... , Franz Josef Land Franz Josef Land Franz Josef Land, Franz Joseph Land, or Francis Joseph's Land is an archipelago located in the far north of Russia. It is found in the Arctic Ocean north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard, and is administered by Arkhangelsk Oblast. Franz Josef Land consists of 191 ice-covered islands with a...
80°4′N 56°0′E	Barents Sea Barents Sea The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...
75°11′N 56°0′E		Severny Island Severny Island Severny Island is the northern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, lying north of Russia. It has an area of , making it one of the largest islands in the world. It is separated from Yuzhny Island by the narrow Matochkin Strait...  and Yuzhny Island Yuzhny Island Yuzhny is the southern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, lying north of Russia. It has an area of , which while smaller than the northern island of Severny, makes it one of the largest islands in the world.-Ecology:... , Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...
72°46′N 56°0′E	Kara Sea Kara Sea The Kara Sea is part of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. It is separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya....
71°21′N 56°0′E		Yuzhny Island Yuzhny Island Yuzhny is the southern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, lying north of Russia. It has an area of , which while smaller than the northern island of Severny, makes it one of the largest islands in the world.-Ecology:... , Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...
70°34′N 56°0′E	Barents Sea Barents Sea The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...	Pechora Sea Pechora Sea Pechora Sea , is a sea at the northwest of Russia, the southeastern part of the Barents Sea. The western border of the sea is off Kolguyev Island, while the eastern border is the western coasts of Vaygach Island and the Yugorsky Peninsula, and the northern border the southern end of Novaya...
68°38′N 56°0′E
50°42′N 56°0′E
45°0′N 56°0′E	/ border
41°19′N 56°0′E
38°4′N 56°0′E
27°5′N 56°0′E	Persian Gulf Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...	Clarence Strait Clarence Strait (Iran) The Clarence Strait is a narrow strait separating the Iranian island of Qeshm from the Iranian mainland. It is the much smaller counterpart to the Strait of Hormuz. The native name for the strait is Khuran....
26°57′N 56°0′E		Island of Qeshm Qeshm Qeshm Qeshm Qeshm (Persian: قشم - pronounced kē´shm is an Iranian island situated in the Strait of Hormuz, and separated from the mainland by the Clarence Strait/Khuran in the Persian Gulf .-Geography:...
26°45′N 56°0′E	Persian Gulf Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...	Strait of Hormuz Strait of Hormuz The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow, strategically important waterway between the Gulf of Oman in the southeast and the Persian Gulf. On the north coast is Iran and on the south coast is the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman....
25°52′N 56°0′E
24°58′N 56°0′E		For about 9km
24°53′N 56°0′E		For about 4km
24°51′N 56°0′E
24°7′N 56°0′E		For about 6km
24°4′N 56°0′E
17°55′N 56°0′E	Indian Ocean Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...	Khuriya Muriya Bay
17°31′N 56°0′E		Island of Al-Hallaniyah Al-Hallaniyah Al Hallaniyah is the largest and only inhabited of the Khuriya Muriya Islands, which belong to Oman. It is located in the center of the group, eight kilometers east of Al-Sawda, the closest island, and the second largest of the group. The area is 56 km². The only village is located on the flat...
17°29′N 56°0′E	Indian Ocean Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...	Passing just east of the islands of La Digue La Digue La Digue is the fourth largest inhabited island of the Seychelles, lying east of Praslin and west of Felicite Island. It has a population of about 2,000 people, who mostly live in the west coast villages of La Passe and La Réunion. It has an area of 10 km²...  and Frégate Fregate Island Frégate Island or sometimes Frigate Island is a private island and is the easternmost of the granitic Inner Islands of the Seychelles. It is only and is primarily known as a secluded, private luxury resort and its Anse Victorin beach was voted "The World's Best Beach" by The Times. It was named... , > Passing just west of the island of Coëtivy Coëtivy Island Coëtivy Island is a small coral island in the Seychelles 290 km south of Mahe, at . Along with Île Platte, the nearest neighbor 171 km northwest, it comprises the Southern Coral Group and therefore belongs to the Outer Islands . Its area is 9.31 km² and it has a population of 252. It was named... , > Passing just east of the island of Réunion Réunion Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France... ,
60°0′S 56°0′E	Southern Ocean Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60°S latitude and encircling Antarctica. It is usually regarded as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions...
66°10′S 56°0′E	Antarctica	Australian Antarctic Territory Australian Antarctic Territory The Australian Antarctic Territory is a part of Antarctica. It was claimed by the United Kingdom and placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1933. It is the largest territory of Antarctica claimed by any nation... , claimed by

See also

• 55th meridian east
  55th meridian east
  The meridian 55° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Europe, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
  
  
• 57th meridian east
  57th meridian east
  The meridian 57° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Europe, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....