Latitude and longitude Latitude and longitude are imaginary (unreal) lines drawn on maps to easily locate places on the Earth. Latitude is distance north or south of the equator (an imaginary circle around the Earth halfway between the North Pole and the South Pole). One degree of latitude covers about 69 miles (111 kilometers).
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The Tropic of Cancer and The Tropic of Capricorn€¦ · Web viewThe Tropic of Capricorn lies at 23.5° South of the equator and runs through Australia, Chile, southern Brazil (Brazil
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Latitude and longitude
Latitude and longitude are imaginary (unreal) lines drawn on maps to
easily locate places on the Earth.
Latitude is distance north or south of the equator (an imaginary circle around the Earth halfway between the North Pole and the South Pole). One degree of latitude covers about 69 miles (111 kilometers).
Longitude is measured in degrees east or west of the prime meridian. This means one half of the world is measured in degrees of
east longitude up to 180°, and the other half in degrees of west longitude up to 180°.
The Equator is the line of 0° latitudes, the starting point for measuring
latitude. The latitude of the North Pole is 90° N, and that of the South
Pole is 90° S. The latitude of every point in between must be some
degree north or south, from 0° to 90°.
Prime meridian
Prime Meridian is an imaginary line that, similar to the Equator,
divides the earth into eastern and western hemispheres. This meridian
passes through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England and
sometimes it is referred to as the Greenwich Meridian.
History of the Prime MeridianLet's take a look at the history of the Prime Meridian, beginning in the 1800's. At the time, railroads had become a major mode of transportation in the United States and Canada. In 1883, the two nations established a standard time system for North America to make
railroad travel more dependable. It was rather successful and in October 1884, the International Meridian Conference in Washington DC was held so that a global standardized time system could be established.
Part of the challenge in establishing a global time system was deciding where it's starting point would be. While the Equator is obviously the starting point for lines of latitude, the Prime Meridian's location had to be chosen. At the time of the conference, each country had their own line of longitude that they considered to be the meridian line, or starting line from which longitude was measured. After lots of debate, the meridian that passes through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, was chosen. The reason was simple and practical: over 43 of the world's shipping lines used it as a navigational base.
See the diagrams to understand latitudes and
longitudes.
The Tropic of Cancer and The Tropic of Capricorn
The Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn each lie at 23.5
degrees latitude.
Tropic of Cancer
The Tropic of Cancer is located at 23.5° North of the equator and runs
through Mexico, the Bahamas, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India, and southern
The sun is directly overhead at noon on the Tropic of Cancer on June
21 (the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and the
beginning of winter in the Southern Hemisphere)
Tropic of Capricorn
The Tropic of Capricorn lies at 23.5° South of the equator and runs through Australia, Chile, southern Brazil (Brazil is the only country that passes through both the equator and a tropic), and northern South Africa. The sun is directly overhead at noon on the Tropic of Capricorn on December 21 (the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of summer in the Southern
Map of world time zones. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
• Why do we need time zones?• Are the time zones related to latitude and longitude?• How many degrees complete a rotation of the Earth?• How many time zones are there in the world?• How many time zones are there in Canada?• What time difference generally exists between two adjacent time zones?• Is it earlier or later as you travel west? East?• Where is the dividing line between east and west longitude?• Is it the same date everywhere in the world?
Equator• North Pole• South Pole• Prime Meridian• Tropic of Cancer• Tropic of Capricorn• Arctic Circle• Antarctic Circle• Prime Meridian