The Grand Line

The Grand Line:
is an ocean where much of the story takes place in the anime and manga of One Piece.

The Grand Line is the ocean current that follows an imaginary line that runs east to west across the middle of the world and perpendicular to the Red Line. In effect, it's the equator in the world of One Piece. The Red Line is a vast continent that circles the globe from north to south and functions as a Prime Meridian. These two Lines divide the two oceans of the world into four seas or Blues: North Blue, East Blue, West Blue, and South Blue. This stretch of ocean is said to be the most dangerous place in the world, and is sometimes referred to as the Pirates' Graveyard because of this reputation. Most believe that it is impossible to safely leave the Grand Line save at its beginning and end; however, the World Government regularly sends ships across the Calm Belts by coating their hulls with Seastone - this renders them invisible to the Sea Kings.

Calm Belt:
To the north and south of the Grand Line are strips of ocean known as the "Calm Belts". The true entrance to Grand Line is usually marred by storms; the waters of the Calm Belts remain static year round, and there are virtually no winds or waves (this makes it difficult to cross without propulsion). Extremely large sea monsters called Sea Kings live in the Calm Belts; in fact, the monsters found in the Calm Belts are the largest shown thus far in all of One Piece. The combination of no currents, no wind, and the presence of the Sea Kings makes these belts perfect barriers to any traveler trying to directly go into the Grand Line.

Without using seastone-lined ships (which repels the Sea kings) and some propulsion, the Grand Line can only be accessed at two points on the Red Line: Reverse Mountain and the Holy Land of Mariejois. The first is where the four major currents of the Blues merge together to form the Grand Line, while the second is the site of the World Government.

New World:
The Grand Line is divided by Red Line into two halves. While the first half (stretching from Reverse Mountain to the polar opposite point of the Red Line) is unnamed, the Second Half (beyond the second Red Line point to the backside of Reverse Mountain) is known as the "New World". This half has not been fully explored, save for by the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, himself. This area is also where the Yonkou reign.

Climate:
The weather is unusual on the Grand Line. The currents and weather are extremely volatile, as they can change in an instant; this includes water spouts, storms, blizzards, and other such things. Islands and the surrounding waters are the only areas where weather and currents are stabilized in a predictable manner. The reason for this is that islands on the Grand Line fall into four basic categories: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. These types of islands each have four seasons of their own, giving the Grand Line a total of 16 different seasons. This may reflect the various climates of the Blues where the currents that form the Grand Line originate.


Navigation:
Normal compasses do not work on the Grand Line because of the nature of its magnetic fields. In order to navigate the Grand Line a special compass called a 'Log Pose' must be used. The Log Pose works by locking on to one island's magnetic field and then locking on to another island's magnetic field. The Log Pose can do this for a total of seven different routes that diverge from Reverse Mountain and travel east before merging again to the last island, Raftel. The time for a pose to set depends on the island. One island may take a few hours to set to the next island, while another can take a year to set. This process can be bypassed by obtaining an 'Eternal Pose'. This version of the Log Pose is permanently set to a specific island and can never change. This makes it easier for a crew to get to a specific island rather than going through a trail of islands.

Places in the Grand Line:
Reverse Mountain (Type: winter island)
Cactus Island (Log change: Less than a day)
Whiskey Peak
Little Garden (Type: Prehistoric Island. Log change: 1 year)
Cukhor Vacation Resort
Drum Island (Type: winter island)
Bighorn
Drum Rockies (a group of tall tower-like mountains)
Robelle town
Arabasta (Type: summer Island):
Rainbase
Yuba
Erumalu
Nanohana
Katorea
Spiders Cafe
Alubarna
Jaya (Type: spring island, Log change: 4 days):
Mock Town
Skypiea:
White Sea
White-White Sea
Angel Island
Upper Yard
Milky Road
Navarone Island (anime only)
G-8 Marine Base
Long Ring Long Land Island
Sea Train Zone
Water 7 (Log change: 7 days )
Enies Lobby
San Faldo
Pucci
St. Poplar
Impel Down
Marine Headquarters
Mariejoa
The Florian Triangle Area
Sabaody Archipelago
Fishman Island
Elbaf
Raftel
Holliday Island

Characters from the Grand Line:
Tony Tony Chopper
Nefertari Vivi
Wiper
Aokiji
Arlong
Hiruluk