Antipodean Controllers

Antipodes.

late 14c., "persons who dwell on the opposite side of the globe;" 1540s as "place on the opposite side of the earth," from L. antipodes "those who dwell on the opposite side of the earth," from Gk. antipodes, pl. of antipous "with feet opposite (ours)," from anti- "opposite" + pous "foot" (see foot); thus, people who live on the opposite side of the world.

Yonde in Ethiopia ben the Antipodes, men that haue theyr fete ayenst our fete. ["De Proprietatibus Rerum Bartholomeus Anglicus," translated by John of Trevisa, 1398]

Not to be confused with antiscii "those who live on the same meridian on opposite side of the equator," whose shadows fall at noon in the opposite direction, from Gk. anti- + skia "shadow." Related: Antipodal (adj.); antipodean (1630s, n.; 1650s, adj.).

The Greek word is attested in Plato's dialogue Timaeus, already referring to a spherical Earth, explaining the relativity of the terms "above" and "below":

Quote

The term is taken up by Aristotle (De caelo 308a.20), Strabo, Plutarch and Diogenes Laertius, and was adopted into Latin as antipodes. The Latin word changed its sense from the original "under the feet, opposite side" to "those with the feet opposite", i.e. a bahuvrihi referring to hypothetical people living on the opposite side of the Earth. Medieval illustrations imagine them in some way "inverted", with their feet growing out of their heads, pointing upward.

Cities

Exact or almost exact antipodes:

• Christchurch (New Zealand) — A Coruña (Spain)
  
• Hamilton (New Zealand) — Córdoba (Spain)
  
• Hong Kong — La Quiaca (Argentina)
  
• Rafaela (Argentina) — Wuhu (China)
  
• Padang (Indonesia) — Esmeraldas (Ecuador)
  
• Palembang (Indonesia) — Neiva (Colombia)
  
• Tauranga (New Zealand) — Jaén (Spain)
  
• Valdivia (Chile) — Wuhai (China)
  
• Whangarei (New Zealand) — Tangier (Morocco)
  
• Ulan Ude (Russia) — Puerto Natales (Chile)
  
• Segovia (Spain) - Masterton (New Zealand)

To within 100 km, with at least one major city (population of at least 1 million):

• Xi'an (China) — Santiago, or more precisely Rancagua or San Bernardo (Chile)
  
• Auckland (New Zealand) — Seville and Málaga (Andalusia, Spain)
  
• Tianjin (China) — Bahía Blanca (Argentina)
  
• Shanghai (China)— Salto (Uruguay)
  
• Taipei (Taiwan) — Asunción (Paraguay)
  
• Nanjing (China) — Rosario (Argentina)
  
• Montpellier (France) — Waitangi (Chatham Islands, New Zealand)
  
• Beijing (China) — Bahía Blanca (Argentina)

Taiwan (formerly called Formosa) is partly antipodal to the province of Formosa in Argentina.
Other major cities or capitals close to being antipodes:

• Beijing (China) — Buenos Aires (Argentina); both cities have populations in the millions, and have been twinned since 1983, a few hundred km
  
• Shanghai (China) — Buenos Aires (Argentina); Buenos Aires is actually closer (~380 km) to the antipode of Shanghai (Salto, Uruguay) than to the antipode of Beijing (Bahía Blanca), the latter being located at ~540 km from Buenos Aires
  
• Bogotá (Colombia) — Jakarta (Indonesia), ~200 km
  
• Guayaquil (Ecuador) — Medan (Indonesia), ~220 km
  
• Phnom Penh (Cambodia) — Lima (Peru), ~220 km
  
• Dili (Timor-Leste) — Paramaribo (Suriname), ~310 km
  
• Irkutsk (Russia)— Punta Arenas (Chile)
  
• Tongchuan (China) — Licantén (Chile)
  
• Suva (Fiji) — Timbuktu (Mali)
  
• Jaisalmer (India)— Easter Island
  
• Cherbourg (France)— Antipodes Islands
  
• Pago Pago (American Samoa) — Zinder (Niger)
  
• Barranquilla (Colombia)— Christmas Island (Australia)
  
• Doha (Qatar) — Pitcairn Island
  
• Hué and Da Nang (Vietnam)— Arequipa (Peru)
  
• Manila (Philippines) — Cuiabá (Brazil)
  
• Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) — Cuenca (Ecuador)
  
• San Juan (Puerto Rico)— Karratha (Australia)
  
• Limerick (Ireland) — Campbell Islands (New Zealand)
  
• Arrecife, Lanzarote (Canary Islands) — Norfolk Island
  
• Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt) — Rapa Iti (French Polynesia)
  
• Bangkok (Thailand) — Lima (Peru)
  
• Quito (Ecuador) — Singapore
  
• Perth (Australia) — Bermuda
  
• Montevideo (Uruguay) — Seoul (South Korea)