Latitude & Longitude
Social Studies
6th Grade 2009/10
Developed by
Elin Richmond
using illustrations from
National Geographic’s
Journey Through Time
Hemispheres
The earth is divided into 4 hemispheres
as shown (with grey shading) in the pictures below.
•
The Equator at 0° degrees latitude (horizontal), divides the earth into the
Northern and Southern hemispheres.
•
The Prime Meridian at 0° degrees longitude (vertical), and at 180° degrees,
divides the earth into the Western and Eastern hemispheres.
Hemispheres
Examples
•
•
•
Phoenix, Arizona, USA, North America: North Western Hemisphere
Galveston, Texas, USA, North America: North Western Hemisphere
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, North America: North Western Hemisphere
•
•
•
Malmö, Sweden, Europe: North Eastern Hemisphere
Ceylon, Sri Lanka, Asia: North Eastern Hemisphere
Tokyo, Japan, Asia: North Eastern Hemisphere
•
•
Cape Town, South Africa, Africa: South Eastern Hemisphere
Sydney, Australia, Australia: South Eastern Hemisphere
Latitude & Longitude
Latitude and longitude are the imaginary lines
that tell us the distance from the Equator
and the Prime Meridian.
Both are measured in degrees.
• Latitude measure the
distance from the Equator,
and are horizontal lines.
• For example: To find 45°N,
you’d start from the Equator
(which is 0°) and go up (because
North is up) until you find 45°N.
• Remember: North is up on a
map, and South is down on a
map.
Latitude

Latitude & Longitude
Latitude and longitude are the imaginary lines
that tell us the distance from the Equator
and the Prime Meridian.
Both are measured in degrees.
• Longitude measure the
distance from the Prime
Meridian and are vertical lines.
Longitude
• For example: To find 30°W, you’d
start from the Prime Meridian (which is
0°) and go left (because West is left) until
you find 30°W.
• Remember: West is left on a map,
and east is right on a map.

Latitude & Longitude
Examples
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Phoenix, Arizona, USA, North America: 33°N,112°W
Flagstaff, Arizona, USA, North America: 35°N,111°W
Galveston, Texas, USA, North America: 29°N, 94°W
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, North America: 21°N, 157°W
Malmö, Sweden, Europe: 55°N, 13°E
Tokyo, Japan, Asia: 35°N, 139°E
Ceylon, Sri Lanka, Asia: 7°N, 81°E
Sydney, Australia, Australia: 33°S, 151°E
Cape Town, South Africa, Africa: 33°S, 18°E
Please see the Journey Across Time
Geography Handbook for more details.