NOAA National Ocean Service
oceanservice.noaa.gov › facts › latitude.html
What is latitude?
Latitude measures the distance north or south from the Earth’s equator.
Encyclopedia Britannica
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Latitude and longitude | Definition, Examples, Diagrams, & Facts | Britannica
3 weeks ago - Latitude and longitude, coordinate system by means of which the position or location of any place on Earth’s surface can be determined and described. Latitude is a measurement of location north or south of the Equator. Longitude is a similar ...
Which way is latitude?
Latitude lines run around the world parallel to the Equator. They are contrasted with longitude lines, which are parallel with the Prime Meridian.
study.com
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Latitude Definition & Examples - Lesson | Study.com
What are latitude and longitude?
Latitude and longitude are navigational tools. Lines of latitude run parallel to the Equator, while lines of longitude run perpendicular to it. Together, they can be used to describe the position of any location on Earth.
study.com
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Latitude Definition & Examples - Lesson | Study.com
What is the length of a degree of latitude?
The length of a degree of arc of latitude is approximately 111 km (69 miles), varying, because of the nonuniformity of Earth’s curvature, from 110.567 km (68.706 miles) at the Equator to 111.699 km (69.41 miles) at the poles.
britannica.com
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Latitude and longitude | Definition, Examples, Diagrams, & Facts ...
Videos
Caliper
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What is a Latitude - Latitude Definition
In geography, latitude is the distance on the earth’s surface, north or south of the Equator, expressed in angular measurements from 0° at the Equator to 90° (North or South). Southern latitudes can also be expressed as negative number where -90° is at the South Pole.
YouTube
youtube.com › peekaboo kidz
What Are Latitude & Longitude? | Locating Places On Earth | The Dr Binocs Show | Peekaboo Kidz - YouTube
What Are Latitude & Longitude? | How To Locate Places On A Map | Finding Places On Earth | Time Zones | Why Do We Have Different Time Zones? | What Is Equato...
Published June 21, 2022 Views 1M
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Latitude
Latitude - Wikipedia
March 22, 2026 - In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at the south pole to 90° at the ...
HERE
here.com › learn › blog › longitude-vs-latitude
What is the difference between longitude and latitude?
October 13, 2023 - The best-known latitude line is the one in the very middle — the equator — that separates the world into the northern and southern hemispheres.
Study.com
study.com › science courses › earth science 101: earth science
Latitude Definition & Examples - Video | Study.com
September 5, 2015 - Latitude is one of two coordinates that pinpoint your exact location on Earth.
National Geographic
education.nationalgeographic.org › resource › latitude
Latitude
May 30, 2025 - Latitude is the measurement of distance north or south of the Equator.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/askscience › what is the correct definition of latitude and longitude?
r/askscience on Reddit: What is the correct definition of latitude and longitude?
October 30, 2021 -
I was taught that latitude and longitude are coordinates, those two words essentially mean two numbers for each point on the planet, or two set of measurements as national geographic puts it. Then, in addition to these words, there are two more: "parallels" - lines of *equal* latitude, and "meridians" - lines of *equal* longitude.
Now the kids are in school and I was surprised to see how latitude and longitude are introduced and explained. They say that "latitude is a line" that divides the Earth horizontally, and "longitude is a line" that divides the Earth vertically. Essentially confusing latitude for a "parallel" and longitude for a "meridian". Additionally, youtube is full of similar explanations.
What I see especially confusing is that latitude is a measure of how far from the equator, measured "vertically", but explanations say it is a horizontal line, so the kids' brains get short-circuited.
So what is right, is there a mix in terminology?
Top answer 1 of 3
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I would say both descriptions are lacking, but the second description of latitude and longitude (i.e., the "new" way) is maybe slightly better than the first (i.e., the "old" way), but the introduction of "horizontal" and "vertical" are problematic and imprecise. Neither description is wrong, but both are missing key elements. The way I would describe them are that latitude and longitude are a spherical coordinate system (i.e., a way of slicing up a spherical shell) allowing you to uniquely define a position on the surface of the sphere with a set of two coordinates. In terms of the orientation of the lines of latitude or longitude, it's more correct (and maybe easier) to consider them with respect to the rotational axis and the equator of the planet. The equator is a line that marks the intersection of the surface of the planet with a plane perpendicular to the rotational axis that goes through the center of the planet. Lines of latitude (other than 0 degrees, i.e., the equator) are the intersection with the surface of the planet of planes that do not go through the center of the planet, but are parallel to the equator. For this reason, lines of latitude are sometimes referred to as "parallels". Line of longitude, or meridians, are the intersection with the surface of the planet of a series of planes that go through both the center of the planet and the axis of rotation. So if you were to cut the sphere along any line of longitude, you would divide the sphere into two equal hemispheres, but if you were to cut the sphere along any line of latitude but the equator, you would divide the sphere in two unequal halves. Then, in relating the coordinates to the lines of latitude and longitude, because we are on a sphere, we measure these in degrees. The angles between lines of longitude are a little easier to visualize since these all intersect at the poles. The angle between lines of latitude are a little more difficult to picture since by definition lines of latitude to not intersect. Here, it's useful to consider a hemispherical slice along a meridian, i.e., we slice the sphere in half perpendicular to the equatorial plane, bisecting the poles. Then, on this hemispherical slice if we draw two radii between any two lines of latitude and the center of the sphere, the angle between those two radii is the angle between the two lines of latitude. The final piece of the puzzle is the origin of the coordinate system. For latitude, this is not arbitrary and it's fixed to the equator, i.e., to define the degree of latitude we measure the angle between the equator and that line of latitude per above. For longitude, it is arbitrary and we have to pick some meridian from which to measure our angles. Once we have a set of lines, ways of measuring angular distance between those lines, and origins for the two sets of lines, we now have all the pieces to define a unique coordinate for any place on the surface of the sphere.
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It may help to understand that these 'lines' are actually curves along a surface. The circle of the equator and the Arctic Circle are called 'parallels' but are nowhere in the same plane on Earth. Represented on a flat map (in some projections) latitudes are parallel to each other and are shown to be in the same plane. In the usual 'world map' projection, all 'lines' appear to be in the same plane, latitudes appear to be parallel, as do longitudes, which is why the north and south poles are left out (because the longitudes converge there).
BBC
bbc.co.uk › bitesize › articles › zd4rmfr
What is longitude and latitude? - BBC Bitesize
January 20, 2025 - But I also need to find out how far around the Earth he is, and how far down. To do that, I’ll use what’s called latitude and longitude.Lines of latitude run around the Earth like imaginary hoops and have numbers to show how many degrees north or south they are from the Equator.
Sketchplanations
sketchplanations.com › latitude-longitude
Latitude and Longitude: How to Remember Which is Which - Sketchplanations
December 7, 2025 - Latitude and longitude together give you your position on the globe. They are the two types of lines that wrap the planet on globes and our world maps. One set is the horizontal lines, and the other vertical, but for the longest time I struggled to remember which was which.
Latitude Festival
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Latitude Festival | Line Up
Latitude - Home · Klarna presents Latitude Festival the twentieth edition · Artist A-Z · Tempted by the line up?
Instagram
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What is Latitude? Explained Simply ...
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Time and Date
timeanddate.com › sun, moon & space › what are longitudes and latitudes?
What Is Longitude and Latitude?
Together, they form the Earth’s geographical coordinates, and represent the angular distance of any location from the center of the Earth. Both latitudes and longitudes are measured in degrees (°) and minutes (′). Astronomical terms & definitions · The Earth is, almost, but not quite, a sphere that rotates around its axis.
LocationIQ
locationiq.com › glossary › latitude
What is Latitude?
It is the northernmost point on the Earth's surface and is located in the Arctic Ocean. Latitude is usually expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds, with each degree being divided into 60 minutes and each minute being divided into 60 seconds.
Journeynorth
archive.journeynorth.org › tm › LongitudeIntro.html
Understanding Latitude and Longitude
Latitude lines are a numerical way to measure how far north or south of the equator a place is located. The equator is the starting point for measuring latitude--that's why it's marked as 0 degrees latitude. The number of latitude degrees will be larger the further away from the equator the ...
Merriam-Webster
merriam-webster.com › dictionary › latitude
LATITUDE Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
1 week ago - The meaning of LATITUDE is angular distance from some specified circle or plane of reference. How to use latitude in a sentence.
Geography Realm
geographyrealm.com › home › articles › what is at zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude?
What is at Zero Degrees Latitude and Zero Degrees Longitude? - Geography Realm
April 29, 2025 - Zero degrees latitude is the line designating the Equator and divides the Earth into two equal hemispheres (north and south). The equator is the longest line of latitude, encircling the Earth horizontally at an equal distance from the North and South Poles.