Consider the following statements: 1. International Date Line is drawn zig-zag to avoid landmass. 2. International Date Line is 180° W as well as 180° E of Greenwich. 3. A ship sailing westward from Greenwich when crossing International Date Line would put back the date by a day. Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

Statement 1 is correct as the International Date Line (IDL) is drawn in a zig-zag manner to avoid landmasses and island groups, preventing the confusion of having two different dates within the same country [c2, c3, t1]. Statement 2 is correct because the 180° meridian is the same line whether measured east or west from Greenwich, serving as the basis for the IDL [t3, t9]. Statement 3 is incorrect. When a ship sails westward from Greenwich and crosses the IDL (moving from the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western Hemisphere/American side), it actually adds a day or moves the calendar forward, not back [c4, t5, t9]. Conversely, traveling eastward across the line involves subtracting a day [c4, t10]. Therefore, only statements 1 and 2 are accurate.

Sources

1. [1] Certificate Physical and Human Geography , GC Leong (Oxford University press 3rd ed.) > Chapter 2: The Earth's Crust > The International Date Line > p. 14
2. [2] Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 18: Latitudes and Longitudes > UPSC Prelims 2008] Which of the following straits is nearest to the International Date Line? > p. 250
3. [3] Exploring Society:India and Beyond. Social Science-Class VI . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 1: Locating Places on the Earth > DON'T MISS OUT > p. 23
4. [4] https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/international-date-line.html