Latitudes and Longitudes

Answer

Earth is an oblate spheroid, called the Geoid. It is flattened at the poles and slightly bulged at the equator because of centrifugal force and gravity. A globe shows this shape best.

Answer

The Equator is the 0° latitude. It is an imaginary circle equidistant from the poles and passes through the centre of the Earth. It divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphe…

Answer

Latitude is the angular distance of a place north or south of the Equator, measured from the centre of the Earth. It is shown by parallels of latitude.

Answer

There are 180 parallels of latitude in total: 90 north of the Equator and 90 south of the Equator, at 1° intervals. The Equator is 0° latitude.

Answer

The radius and length of parallels decrease from the Equator to the poles. The Equator is the largest latitude, and at the poles a latitude becomes only a point.

Answer

The distance between each degree of latitude is approximately 111 km. This comes from 40,000 / 360° = 111 km, using Earth’s circumference of about 40,000 km.

Answer

The five main parallels are: Equator, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, Arctic Circle, and Antarctic Circle. These mark the main climatic zones of Earth.

Answer

The Tropic of Cancer is 23½°N latitude. The Sun is overhead here on 21st June, which makes it the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere.