In many countries, kilometre zero (also written km 0) or similar terms in other languages (also known as zero mile marker, zero milepost, control stations, or control points) denote a particular location (usually in the nation's capital city) from which distances are traditionally measured and some use this as their official country location or coordinates for faster search at space satellites, this is also used for measuring distances between different countries around the world. Historically, they were markers where drivers could set their odometers to follow the directions in early roaming guide books.
One such marker is the Milliarium Aureum ("Golden Milestone") of the Roman Empire, believed to be the literal origin for the maxim that "all roads lead to Rome".
Countries
Argentina
Argentina marks kilometre zero with a monolith in Plaza Congreso in Buenos Aires. The work of the brothers Máximo and José Fioravanti, the structure was placed on the north side of Plaza Lorea on October 2, 1935; it was moved to its present location on May 18, 1944. An image of Our Lady of Luján (honored on the monolith as "the patron saint of the national road network") appears on the monolith's north face, a relief map of Argentina is on the south face, plaques in honor of José de San Martín are west, and on its eastern side, the date of the decree and the name of the relevant authorities.
Australia
Highways in Australia are usually built and maintained by the states and territories.
In the state of New South Wales, highway distances (mileages) were traditionally measured from a sandstone obelisk in Macquarie Place in Sydney, designed by Francis Greenway in 1818. The obelisk lists the distances to various locations in New South Wales at the time. For the railway, it is at platform 1 of Sydney Central Station.
The General Post Office building in Melbourne traditionally serves this purpose in Victoria.
In Western Australia, road distances are measured from point zero, which is by the old Treasury Building on the corner of Cathedral Avenue and St George's Terrace in Perth.
Canada
The kilometre zero marker of the eastern origin of the Trans-Canada Highway is in St. John's, Newfoundland. Coordinates: Altitude: 14.02 m (46 ft) The western terminus of the Trans-Canada Highway in Victoria, British Columbia, is on the southern end of Vancouver Island. Mile zero of the Trans Canada Trail is adjacent to the Railway Coastal Museum in St. John's, Newfoundland. Coordinates: Altitude: Mile zero for the Alaska Highway is in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. Mile zero of the Old Cariboo Road is in Lillooet, British Columbia. This was the starting point of the Cariboo Gold Rush Trail, on which the communities 93 Mile House, 100 Mile House, and 150 Mile House are located. Coordinates: Altitude:
Chile
All national distances from Santiago, the capital of Chile, originate at the Km. 0 plaque at the Plaza de Armas main square in its downtown. (Coordinates: .)
Chile's Autopista Central – Eje Norte-Sur (the eastern segment of the Panamerican Highway that passes through Santiago) has its kilometre zero at the intersection with the Alameda del Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, the capital's main avenue. (Coordinates: .)
China
China Railway's kilometre zero is at the entrance to the Fengtai Yard on the Beijing–Guangzhou railway just outside its capital Beijing. This point was historically the start of the line; the marker is a simple concrete marker, with "0" painted on it. There is no ceremonial plaque.
The kilometre zero point for highways is at Tiananmen Square, just outside the Zhengyangmen Gate. It is marked with a plaque in the ground, with the four cardinal points, four animals, and "Zero Point of Highways, China" in English and Chinese.
Cuba
Cuba's kilometre zero is in its capital Havana in El Capitolio. Embedded in the floor in the centre of the main hall is a replica diamond, which marks kilometre zero. The original diamond, said to have belonged to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and have been sold to the Cuban state by a Turkish merchant, was stolen on March 25, 1946, and mysteriously returned to the President, Ramón Grau San Martín, on June 2, 1946. It was replaced in El Capitolio by a replica in 1973.