title: 161st meridian west
text: # 161st meridian west
  
  The meridian 161° 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 161st meridian west forms a great circle with the 19th meridian east.
  
  ## From Pole to Pole
  
  Starting at the North Pole and heading south to the South Pole, the 161st meridian west passes through:
  
      Co-ordinates Country, territory or sea Notes 90°0′N 161°0′W﻿ / ﻿90.000°N 161.000°W﻿ / 90.000; -161.000﻿ (Arctic Ocean) Arctic Ocean 71°37′N 161°0′W﻿ / ﻿71.617°N 161.000°W﻿ / 71.617; -161.000﻿ (Chukchi Sea) Chukchi Sea 70°21′N 161°0′W﻿ / ﻿70.350°N 161.000°W﻿ / 70.350; -161.000﻿ (United States)  United States Alaska 64°51′N 161°0′W﻿ / ﻿64.850°N 161.000°W﻿ / 64.850; -161.000﻿ (Bering Sea) Bering Sea Norton Bay 64°33′N 161°0′W﻿ / ﻿64.550°N 161.000°W﻿ / 64.550; -161.000﻿ (United States)  United States Alaska 64°15′N 161°0′W﻿ / ﻿64.250°N 161.000°W﻿ / 64.250; -161.000﻿ (Bering Sea) Bering Sea Norton Sound - passing just east of Besboro Island, Alaska, United States (at 64°7′N 161°17′W﻿ / ﻿64.117°N 161.283°W﻿ / 64.117; -161.283﻿ (Besboro Island)) 63°37′N 161°0′W﻿ / ﻿63.617°N 161.000°W﻿ / 63.617; -161.000﻿ (United States)  United States Alaska — mainland and Hagemeister Island 58°33′N 161°0′W﻿ / ﻿58.550°N 161.000°W﻿ / 58.550; -161.000﻿ (Bering Sea) Bering Sea Bristol Bay 56°1′N 161°0′W﻿ / ﻿56.017°N 161.000°W﻿ / 56.017; -161.000﻿ (United States)  United States Alaska — Kudobin Islands and Alaska Peninsula 55°26′N 161°0′W﻿ / ﻿55.433°N 161.000°W﻿ / 55.433; -161.000﻿ (Pacific Ocean) Pacific Ocean Passing just west of Unga Island, Alaska, United States (at 55°19′N 160°51′W﻿ / ﻿55.317°N 160.850°W﻿ / 55.317; -160.850﻿ (Unga Island)) Passing just east of Rakahanga atoll, Cook Islands (at 10°1′S 161°4′W﻿ / ﻿10.017°S 161.067°W﻿ / -10.017; -161.067﻿ (Rakahanga)) 10°22′S 161°0′W﻿ / ﻿10.367°S 161.000°W﻿ / -10.367; -161.000﻿ (Cook Islands)  Cook Islands Manihiki atoll 10°26′S 161°0′W﻿ / ﻿10.433°S 161.000°W﻿ / -10.433; -161.000﻿ (Pacific Ocean) Pacific Ocean 60°0′S 161°0′W﻿ / ﻿60.000°S 161.000°W﻿ / -60.000; -161.000﻿ (Southern Ocean) Southern Ocean 78°2′S 161°0′W﻿ / ﻿78.033°S 161.000°W﻿ / -78.033; -161.000﻿ (Antarctica) Antarctica Ross Dependency, claimed by New Zealand
  