Overview of Latitude and Longitude
Latitude and longitude are a precise way of locating a person, place, or thing without the
need for any other reference point. Criss-crossing the globe, these lines form a very
specific grid that can be seen on maps and globes, and defines the absolute location in
a series of numbered degrees that can be understood worldwide.
Lines of Longitude
Running long ways, from the North Pole to the South Pole, lines of longitude, also
known as meridians, measure location East and West of the Prime Meridian. One way
to remember their distinction is by thinking long-itude. Located in Greenwich England,
the Prime Meridian is 0°, from there lines of longitude are drawn to 180° East and 180°
West. Lines of Longitude measure how far something is EAST or West of the Prime
Meridian.
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Lines of Latitude
Running horizontal around the Earth, lines of latitude, also known as parallels for being
parallel to the Equator, measure distance North and South of the equator, but run East
to West. Lines of latitude measure from 90° N which is at the North Pole and 90° South
which is at the South Pole, with the equator in the geographic center of the Earth at 0°.
For latitude, one degree is equivalent to just about 69 miles. For longitude, one degree
is equivalent to 69 miles at the equator, but as the lines converge toward the poles, the
separation distance decreases.
To get an absolute location, each degree is broken down into minutes and seconds;
there are 60 minutes in a degree and 60 seconds in a minutes. With this information,
everything on Earth can be located. For instance the Eiffel Tower is 40°51’N of the
Equator and 2°17’E of the Prime Meridian and the Sydney Opera House is at 33°51’S
and 151°12’E.
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Hemispheres
The Hemispheres of the Earth in geography and cartography refer to any division of the
globe into two hemispheres.
The most common such divisions are by latitudinal or longitudinal markers:
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North-South
o Northern Hemisphere, the half that is north of the equator
o Southern Hemisphere, the half that lies south of the equator
East-West
o Eastern Hemisphere, the half that is east of the prime meridian and west
of the 180th meridian
o Western Hemisphere, the half that lies west of the prime meridian and
east of the 180th meridian
The East-West division can also be seen in a cultural sense, as a division into two
cultural hemispheres.
High, Middle and Low Latitudes
Geographers divide the Earth into latitude zones. There are three latitude zones:
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Low Latitude
Middle Latitude
High Latitude
There are 90 degrees of latitude. Each zone of latitude is 30 degrees wide. The Equator
is 0 degrees. 0 to 30 are low numbers, 30-60 are middle numbers, and 60 to 90 are high
numbers. This chart shows the arrangement of the zones in the Northern Hemisphere.