Puzzle | One Mile on the Globe (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 11 Apr, 2026

Find out the number of points on the globe (Earth) where if we move one mile south, then one mile east, and finally one mile north, we arrive at the starting point.

Check if you were right - full answer with solution below.

**Solution:

Moving one mile east or west corresponds to traversing one mile along a latitude circle.

The North Pole cannot go further North and the South Pole cannot go further South. Completing a full loop along any latitude circle will not alter the position if we are on either Pole.

One such point is the North Pole. The South Pole is excluded because going South from it is undefined.

Now consider the latitude at 1/(2π) miles from the South Pole, whose circumference is exactly one mile:

• Go one mile South → land on this latitude circle
• Go one mile East → complete exactly one full loop, returning to the same point
• Go one mile North → back to the starting point

This is true for all infinite points on this latitude.

More generally, for a circle of circumference 1/n miles (any positive integer n), going one mile East loops around it exactly n times and still returns you to the same point. Each such circle, at 1/(2πn) miles from the South Pole, contributes another infinite family of valid starting points.