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What is latitude and longitude?
Latitude and longitude form an (imaginary) grid of lines on the Earth's surface, and enable the identification of any point by its geographic coordinates. Latitude lines ar…e circles around the globe connecting points that are the same distance from the equator (which is a latitude line itself, 0°) Longitude lines connect the North Pole to the South Pole, and represent distance from an arbitrary line called the Prime Meridian. They are used to determine a location's position measured around the globe east or west. The degrees represent an angle from the plane of the equator. Longitude lines mark angles east and west of the arbitrary Prime Meridian, that runs through Greenwich, England. They converge at the poles and are closer together the closer one gets to a pole. Latitude lines (called parallels, because they are parallel on globes) are formed from points on a circle around the globe, equidistant from the midline (the equator) and expressed as angles from the equator (i.e. a line from the Earth's center to a corresponding point on the equator). Latitude lines are parallel to the equator, and each 1° difference is the same distance (about 111 km or 69 miles). Longitude lines (meridians) represent the division of the (nominally) spherical Earth into its component 360 degrees of arc. Longitude lines intersect at each pole, and the distance between lines is greatest at the equator (where it is approximately equal to a degree of latitude). They are numbered as degrees east or west of an arbitrary meridian, which is set at Greenwich, England, and longitudes can number up to 180° E or W (where they are the same, at approximately the International Date Line). The Simple Principle of Latitude and Longitude Assume you want to locate a place on a globe. You need two referents : how close is it to one of the poles and how far around the world it is from you. .
Draw a line from pole to pole. That's a longitude line. Drawn through an arbitrary spot (Greenwich, England) it is designated 0° longitude. .
Now draw 360 such lines, all equidistant from one another at the equator, and you have LONGITUDE. .
Draw a line equidistant from each pole, and call it the equator, or 0° latitude. .
Now divide the distance from the equator to the pole into 90 equal parts. Draw lines parallel to the equator through those points and you have LATITUDE. By knowing how far a point is north or south of the equator, and how far east or west from the Prime Meridian, you can determine its unique location on the planet. The basis for Latitude and Longitude Latitude and longitude are angles between planes formed that are parallel to either the equatorial plane (latitude lines) or to Earth's axis (longitude lines) in order to exactly describe the location of any point on Earth. The starting line for latitude is the imaginary line around the middle of the Earth, exactly halfway between the north and south poles, the line called the equator. The starting line for longitude is the Prime Meridian, a line connecting the poles that passes through Greenwich, England. The plane of the Prime Meridian includes the opposite line at 180 degrees (halfway around the planet), which forms the basis for the International Date Line. The longitude angles are expressed either east or west of the Prime Meridian, and 180° east is the same as 180° west. Latitude and longitude are used by mapmakers and navigators to determine the location of any given point on the earth. Lines of latitude run east-west around the globe parallel to each other, with the equator being zero latitude and the north and south poles being 90 degree latitude north and south respectively. Lines of longitude run north-south between the poles and are used to compute locations east and west. Because the converge at the poles, longitudes are not parallel. Latitude and longitude are angles measured along the surface of the Earth, in order to exactly describe the location of any point on Earth. Latitude is the angle, north or south, between the starting line for latitude and the place you're describing. The starting line for latitude is the imaginary line around the middle of the Earth, exactly half way between the north and south poles. The line is called the "equator". Longitude is the angle, east or west, between the starting line for longitude and the place you're describing. The starting line for longitude is the imaginary line between the north and south poles that passes through a certain place in a certain suburb of London. The line is called the "Prime Meridian". Latitudes are imaginary lines that go east to west while longitudes go north to south. Longitude refers to a north to south coordinate. Latitude refers toa east to west coordinate. These terms are for pinpointinggeographic locations on a map.Latitudes are imaginary lines that run horizontally across theearth. Longitudes on the other hand are imaginary lines that runvertically across the earth. The latitude of a point on the Earth's surface is the north or south angular distance between the point and the equator. The longitude of a point is the east or west angular distance between the point and the Prime Meridian. (MORE)
