The International Date Line (IDL), running roughly along the 180° meridian, demarcates where each calendar day begins and ends, creating a temporal boundary that can separate geographically proximate places by an entire day.
The IDL is not a straight line; it deviates around land masses and island groups to avoid splitting nations into two calendar days. It passes through the Pacific Ocean, keeping most inhabited territories on a single calendar date. The 180° meridian serves as its approximate axis, directly opposite the Prime Meridian at Greenwich.
Anadyr (Russia) lies just west of the IDL, while Nome (Alaska, USA) lies to its east. Though geographically close — separated by a narrow stretch of the Bering Sea — they fall on opposite sides of the line. When it is Monday in Nome, it is already Tuesday in Anadyr, because Anadyr is a full day ahead, not behind. Statement II in the question reverses this relationship and is therefore incorrect.
Russia uses a single far-eastern time zone that places Anadyr significantly ahead of UTC, while Alaska Standard Time is behind UTC. This combination means the calendar-day difference across the IDL in this region is real and operationally significant for aviation, shipping, and telecommunications.
Nations periodically shift which side of the IDL they observe — Samoa did so in 2011 to align trade with Australia and New Zealand. Such decisions illustrate that the IDL is a geopolitical instrument as much as a geographical one, with direct consequences for commerce and governance.
The IDL exemplifies how human conventions overlay physical geography to organise global time. Accurate understanding of its eastward-day-gain principle is essential for navigation, international scheduling, and appreciating sovereignty over maritime zones.
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