EncyclopedicEntry
latitude
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LatitudeisthemeasurementofdistancenorthorsouthoftheEquator.Itismeasuredwith180imaginary
linesthatformcirclesaroundtheEartheast-west,paralleltotheEquator.Theselinesareknownas
parallels.Acircleoflatitudeisanimaginaryringlinkingallpointssharingaparallel.
TheEquatoristhelineof0degreeslatitude.Eachparallelmeasuresonedegreenorthorsouthofthe
Equator,with90degreesnorthoftheEquatorand90degreessouthoftheEquator.Thelatitudeofthe
NorthPoleis90degreesN,andthelatitudeoftheSouthPoleis90degreesS.
Likethepoles,somecirclesoflatitudearenamed.TheTropicofCancer,forinstance,is23degrees26
minutes21secondsN—23°26'21''N.Itstwin,theTropicofCapricorn,is23°26'21''S.Thetropicsare
importantgeographiclocationsthatmarkthenorthernmostandsouthernmostlatitudeswherethesun
canbeseendirectlyoverheadduringasolstice.
Onedegreeoflatitude,calledanarcdegree,coversabout111kilometers(69miles).Becauseofthe
Earth'scurvature,thefartherthecirclesarefromtheEquator,thesmallertheyare.AttheNorthand
SouthPoles,arcdegreesaresimplypoints.
Degreesoflatitudearedividedinto60minutes.Tobeevenmoreprecise,thoseminutesaredividedinto
60seconds.Oneminuteoflatitudecoversabout1.8kilometers(1.1miles)andonesecondoflatitude
coversabout32meters(105feet).
Forexample,thelatitudeforCairo,Egypt,indegreesandminuteswouldbewrittenas29°52'N,because
thecityis29degrees,52minutesnorthoftheEquator.ThelatitudeforCapeTown,SouthAfrica,would
be33°56'S,becausethecityis33degrees,56minutessouthoftheEquator.Usingsecondsoflatitude,
globalpositioningsystem(GPS)devicescanpinpointschools,houses,evenroomsineitherofthese
towns.
Similartolatitude,thecorrespondingmeasurementofdistancearoundtheEarthiscalledlongitude.The
imaginarylinesoflatitudeandlongitudeintersecteachother,formingagridthatcoverstheEarth.The
pointsoflatitudeandlongitudearecalledcoordinates,andcanbeusedtogethertolocateanypointon
Earth.
Vocabulary
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Term
arc
Term
coordinates
curvature
degreeof
latitude
Equator
Global
Positioning
System(GPS)
latitude
longitude
minuteof
latitude
parallel
precision
secondof
latitude
solstice
Partof
Speech
Partof
partoftheoutlineofacircle.
noun
Speech
noun
noun
noun
Definition
Definition
asetofnumbersgivingthepreciselocationofapoint,oftenitslatitudeand
longitude.
shapeofabentorcurvedobjectorform.
measurementofdistancefromtheequator.Thefirstdegreeoflatitudeis111
kilometers(69miles),decreasinginsizetopointsattheNorthandSouth
Poles.
noun
imaginarylinearoundtheEarth,anotherplanet,orstarrunningeast-west,0
degreeslatitude.
noun
systemofsatellitesandreceivingdevicesusedtodeterminethelocationof
somethingonEarth.
noun
noun
noun
distancenorthorsouthoftheEquator,measuredindegrees.
distanceeastorwestoftheprimemeridian,measuredindegrees.
measurementofabout1.8kilometersoflatitudenorthorsouthofthe
equator.
adjectiveequaldistanceapart,andnevermeeting.
noun
noun
noun
exactness.
measurementofabout32metersoflatitudenorthorsouthoftheequator.
astronomicaleventthatoccurstwiceayear,whenthesunappearsdirectly
overheadtoobserversattheTropicofCancerortheTropicofCapricorn.
Articles&Profiles
NASA:LatitudeandLongitude
Websites
GeographyforKids:LatitudeandLongitudeMapMatchGame
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