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What are the lines of latitude and longitude?
What are lines of latitude and longitude?
Which latitude lines run parallel to the equator?
Apr 13, 2018 · Learn what the five major lines of latitude are and how they mark specific points on a globe or map of Earth. Find out the names, locations and characteristics of the equator, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, and the Arctic and Antarctic Circles.
- What Is The Equator's Latitude
Whereas lines of latitude run from east to west...
- Different Parts of a Globe
Globes also display other types of water bodies, such as...
- Tundra Characteristics
The climate of the tundra is very similar to that of a...
- What Is The Geographic Grid
The geographic grid is a set of imaginary lines placed at...
- What Are Latitude & Longitude
Lines of latitude are also called parallels. Parallels are...
- How to Calculate a Circular Area
A circle is a two-dimensional object, which means that area...
- What Is The Equator's Latitude
There are five major circles of latitude, listed below from north to south. The position of the Equator is fixed (90 degrees from Earth's axis of rotation) but the latitudes of the other circles depend on the tilt of this axis relative to the plane of Earth's orbit, and so are not perfectly fixed.
Apr 27, 2024 · Learn about the five major lines of latitude (or parallels) that run east-west across the world: Arctic Circle, Tropic of Cancer, Equator, Tropic of Capricorn, and Antarctic Circle. Find out their locations, meanings, and how they relate to the sun, seasons, and navigation.
- Overview
- A framework for describing locations
- Technical considerations
Latitude is a measurement on a globe or map of location north or south of the Equator. Technically, there are different kinds of latitude, which are geocentric, astronomical, and geographic (or geodetic), but there are only minor differences between them.
What is the length of a degree of latitude?
The length of a degree of arc of latitude is approximately 111 km (69 miles), varying, because of the nonuniformity of Earth’s curvature, from 110.567 km (68.706 miles) at the Equator to 111.699 km (69.41 miles) at the poles.
What is longitude?
Longitude is a measurement of location east or west of the prime meridian at Greenwich, London, England, the specially designated imaginary north-south line that passes through both geographic poles and Greenwich. Longitude is measured 180° both east and west of the prime meridian.
What is the distance per degree of longitude?
Lines of latitude (also called parallels) are imaginary lines that circle Earth’s surface, running east and west parallel to the Equator. Lines of longitude (also called meridians) run between the geographic North Pole and the geographic South Pole and are used to measure distances from the prime meridian. Both latitude and longitude are measured in degrees (°), which may be broken down into smaller units called minutes (′) and seconds (″). (Or they may be expressed in decimal degrees; negative values of decimal degrees represent latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere and longitudes in the Western Hemisphere.) The latitudes of the North Pole and South Pole are 90° north (N) and 90° south (S), respectively. Lines of latitude north of the Equator (the line that marks 0° latitude) are numbered from 1° to 89° N, and those south of the Equator are numbered from 1° to 89° S. Lines of longitude east of the prime meridian (the line that marks 0° longitude) are numbered from 1° to 179° east (E). Lines of longitude west of the prime meridian are numbered from 1° to 179° west (W). The 180th meridian, or 180°—which can be drawn north-south from pole to pole across the middle of the Pacific Ocean—is the line of longitude exactly opposite the prime meridian.
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The combination of meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude establishes a framework or grid that can be used to locate exact positions on a map or globe. For example, a point made up of the coordinates 40° N 30° W is located at latitude 40° north of the Equator and longitude 30° west of the Greenwich meridian (which is expressed in decimal degrees as latitude 40 and longitude –30). The location of Washington, D.C., which lies 39 degrees north of the Equator and 77 degrees west of the prime meridian, can be described using the coordinates 39° N 77° W. (In decimal degree formatting, the approximate location of Washington, D.C., is latitude 39 and longitude –77.)
Technically speaking, there are different kinds of latitude—geocentric, astronomical, and geographic (or geodetic)—but there are only minor differences between them. In most common references, geocentric latitude is implied. Given in degrees, minutes, and seconds, geocentric latitude is the arc (a curved line) that can be drawn along Earth’s surface, created by an imaginary plane that passes through Earth’s center, whose angle diverges from that of the equatorial plane (that is, the imaginary plane that cuts through Earth and includes all points along the Equator). Thus, a point at 30°15′20″ N is the arc that results from an angle of 30°15′20″ at the center of the globe. Astronomical latitude is the angle created by the equatorial plane and a line created by the direction of gravity (that is, the plumb line) occurring at a given point on Earth’s surface.
Geographic latitude, which is the kind used in mapping, is calculated using a slightly different process. Because Earth is not a perfect sphere—the planet’s curvature is flatter at the poles—geographic latitude is the arc resulting from an angle created by the equatorial plane and the normal line that can be drawn from a given point on Earth’s surface to Earth’s center. (The normal line is perpendicular to a tangent line touching Earth’s curvature at that point on the surface.) Different methods are used to determine geographic latitude, as by taking angle-sights on certain polar stars or by measuring with a sextant the angle of the noon Sun above the horizon. The length of a degree of arc of latitude is approximately 111 km (69 miles), varying, because of the nonuniformity of Earth’s curvature, from 110.567 km (68.703 miles) at the Equator to 111.699 km (69.41 miles) at the poles. Geographic latitude is also given in degrees, minutes, and seconds.
In contrast, longitude is the amount of arc created by drawing first a line from Earth’s center to the intersection of the Equator and the prime meridian and then another line drawn from Earth’s center to any point elsewhere along the Equator. Since lines of longitude are not parallel to one another, the distance between one degree of longitude and the next will vary significantly depending upon how close to the poles the measurement is taken. The distance per degree of longitude at the Equator is about 111.32 km (69.17 miles) and at the poles, 0.
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- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Arctic Circle. The very first one in my list of five major circles of latitude is the Arctic Circle that currently runs at 66.56 degrees north of the equator.
- Tropic of Cancer. The next one in my list of top 5 major lines of latitude is the Tropic of Cancer that currently runs at 23.43 degrees north of the equator.
- Equator. Located at 0 degrees latitude, the Equator divides the earth into the northern and southern hemispheres. In fact, the higher the value of the degree of latitude from the equator, the closer you are to the north or south pole.
- Tropic of Capricorn. The tropic of Capricorn currently runs at 23.43 degrees south of the equator. During December solstice i.e summer solstice in the southern hemisphere, the tropic of Capricorn marks the southernmost area of the earth at which the sun can be directly overhead.
We use lines of latitude to find out how far north or south a place is. These lines run parallel to the Equator. There are five major lines of latitude: the Arctic Circle (the North...
Jan 26, 2020 · Learn about the equator, the Tropic of Cancer, the Tropic of Capricorn, and the prime meridian, and how they relate to Earth and the sun. Find out their locations, lengths, and significance for seasons, hemispheres, and daylight hours.
