n.
The parallel of latitude 23°27′ north of the equator, the northern boundary of the Torrid Zone, and the most northerly latitude at which the sun can shine directly overhead.
tropic of Cancer
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The parallel of latitude about 23½° (23.45°) north of the Equator. The importance of this line lies in the fact that its degree of angle from the Equator is the same as the inclination of the Earth's axis from the vertical to the plane of the ecliptic. Because of this inclination of the axis and the revolution of the Earth in its orbit, the vertical overhead rays of the Sun may progress as far north as 23½°. At no place north of the Tropic of Cancer will the Sun, at noon, be 90° overhead.
On June 21, the summer solstice (Northern Hemisphere), the Sun is vertical above the Tropic of Cancer. On this same day the Sun is 47° above the horizon at noon at the Arctic Circle, and at the Tropic of Capricorn, only 43° above the horizon. The Tropic of Cancer is the northern boundary of the equatorial zone called the tropics, which lies between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. See also Latitude and longitude; Mathematical geography; Solstice.
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Tropic of Cancer, parallel of latitude at 23°30′ north of the equator; it is the northern boundary of the tropics. This parallel marks the farthest point north at which the sun can be seen directly overhead at noon; north of the parallel the sun appears less than 90° from the southern horizon at any day of the year. The sun reaches its vertical position over the Tropic of Cancer at about June 22, the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. When the Tropic of Cancer was named, the sun was in the constellation Cancer at the time of the summer solstice.
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Coordinates: 23°26′22″N 0°0′0″W / 23.43944°N 0°E
- For the novel by Henry Miller, see Tropic of Cancer (novel).
The Tropic of Cancer, or Northern tropic, is one of five major degree measures or major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. It is the northernmost latitude at which the Sun can appear directly overhead at noon. This event occurs at the June solstice, when the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun to its maximum extent.
The Tropic of Cancer currently lies 23° 26′ 22″ north of the equator. North of this latitude are the subtropics and Northern Temperate Zone. The equivalent line of latitude south of the equator is called the Tropic of Capricorn, and the region between the two, centered on the equator, is known as the tropics.
The imaginary line is called the Tropic of Cancer because when it was named the sun was in the direction of the constellation Cancer (Latin for crab) at the June solstice. However, this is no longer true due to the precession of the equinoxes. According to IAU boundaries, the sun now is in Taurus at the June solstice, and according to sidereal astrology, which divides the zodiac into twelve equal parts, the sun is in Gemini at that time. The word "tropic" itself comes from the Greek tropos, meaning turn, referring to the fact that the sun appears to "turn back" at the solstices.
The position of the Tropic of Cancer is not fixed, but varies in a complex manner over time; see under circles of latitude for information.
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Geography
Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the Tropic of Cancer passes through:
-
Country, territory or sea Notes 
Algeria
Niger
LibyaThe Tropic touches on the northernmost point of 
Chad
EgyptRed Sea 
Saudi Arabia
United Arab EmiratesAbu Dhabi emirate only 
OmanIndian Ocean Arabian Sea 
IndiaStates of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh. Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal 
BangladeshKhulna Division, Dhaka Division, Chittagong Division IndiaState of Tripura BangladeshChittagong Division IndiaState of Mizoram 
Myanmar (Burma)
ChinaTaiwan Strait 
Republic of ChinaTaiwan Pacific Ocean 
United StatesHawaii — sea area only, misses every island, passing between Nihoa and Necker Island 
MexicoBaja California peninsula Gulf of California MexicoStates of Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas Gulf of Mexico Straits of Florida 
BahamasExuma Islands and Long Island Atlantic Ocean Western Sahara Claimed by 
Morocco
Mauritania
Mali Algeria
Circumnavigation
According to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale's rules, for a flight to compete for a round-the-world speed record, it must cover a distance no less than the length of the Tropic of Cancer as well as cross all meridians and end on the same airfield where it started. This length is set to be 36787.559 kilometres - a number implying a precision which does not exist, considering the variations of the tropic described above.
For an ordinary circumnavigation the rules are somewhat relaxed and the distance is set to a rounded value of 37000 kilometres.
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 | north temperate zone (climatology) |
| Torrid Zone (latitude zone of the earth) |
| Miller, Henry Valentine (American writer) |
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Sci-Tech Encyclopedia. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more |
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| Geography. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved. Read more |
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Mentioned in
- north temperate zone (climatology)
- Torrid Zone (latitude zone of the earth)
- Miller, Henry Valentine (American writer)
- Temperate Zone (intermediate latitude zones of the earth)
- Neotropics (biogeographic region of the New World)
- subtropical
- Tropic of Cancer (1970 Drama Film)
- Tropic of Capricorn (physical geography, geomorphology)
- Henry Miller Odyssey (1974 Film)
- Tropic (1979 TV Series)
- solstice
- Cancer (in astronomy)
- tropics
- Ginette Leclerc (Actor, Drama/Comedy)
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