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Earth's graticule. The vertical lines from pole to pole are lines of constant longitude, or meridians. The circles parallel to the equator are lines of constant latitude, or parallels. The graticule shows the latitude and longitude of points on the surface. In this example meridians are spaced at 6° intervals and parallels at 4° intervals.
It divides the Earth into the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. Of the parallels or circles of latitude, it is the longest, and the only 'great circle' (a circle on the surface of the Earth, centered on Earth's center). All the other parallels are smaller and centered only on Earth's axis.
The latitude ϕ of a point on Earth's surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through (or close to) the center of the Earth. [note 2] Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the Equator and to each ...
The South Temperate Zone, between the Tropic of Capricorn at 23°26′09.9″ S and the Antarctic Circle at 66°33′50.1″ S, covers 25.99% of Earth's surface. The South Frigid Zone, from the Antarctic Circle at 66°33′50.1″ S and the South Pole at 90° S, covers 4.12% of Earth's surface. Earth's climatic zones
A geographical mile is defined to be the length of one minute of arc along the equator (one equatorial minute of longitude) therefore a degree of longitude along the equator is exactly 60 geographical miles or 111.3 kilometers, as there are 60 minutes in a degree. The length of 1 minute of longitude along the equator is 1 geographical mile or 1 ...
As there are 360 degrees in a circle, the meridian on the opposite side of the Earth from Greenwich, the antimeridian, forms the other half of a circle with the one through Greenwich, and is at 180° longitude near the International Date Line (with land mass and island deviations for boundary reasons).
This article contains a list of notable circles of latitude on Earth. Day length for any latitude, and sunrise and sunset times on any longitude, can be calculated for any date using, for example, the sunrise equation. Online calculators are also available, such as from NOAA. [1]
The Tropic of Capricorn is one of the five major circles of latitude marked on maps of Earth. Its latitude is currently 23°26′09.9″ (or 23.43607°) [ 1 ] south of the Equator , but it is very gradually moving northward, currently at the rate of 0.47 arcseconds , or 15 metres, per year.