There are 180 degrees of east longitude and 180 degrees of west longitude,
for a grand total of 360 degrees of longitude around the Earth. You're free to
draw as few or as many 'lines' through that range on your map or globe as you
feel will make you comfortable. There is no standard set of 'lines' that everone
is required to use.
Those are called latitude and longitude lines. Latitude lines run east-west, measuring north and south of the Equator. Longitude lines run north-south, measuring east and west of the Prime Meridian. Together, they help determine specific locations on a map.
longitude goes from north to south =]and a way to remember latitude [ i read it from yahoo answers x3 ]latty fatty because latitude goes around the earth and usually if u can remember thatyou can remember that longitude goes from the north and south poles :Di hope i helped :P i somtimes dont make sense xD
Lines of longitude and latitude cross each other and denote the absolute location of the area crossed by the coordinates. Each area on earth has it own absolute location.
For the same reason there are numbers on the front doors of houses. The system of latitude and longitude angles gives every point on Earth an 'address' of two numbers. They tell exactly where the spot is, and make it possible to find that exact spot, even if there's nothing there, and nothing but water for a thousand miles around it in every direction.
Those are the 'meridians of longitude'. Each one joins the North Pole and South Pole. They are farthest apart at the equator, and they all converge at the poles. Since there's no obvious place to start numbering, somebody had to make the decision of where to put the 'zero'. The British were the big guys in the navy business at the time, so they needed a standard system more than anyone else did, and they set the standard: The 'zero' of longitude measurement ... the line called the "Prime Meridian", was (and still is) defined as the meridian that passes through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England. All longitude on the earth is measured as so many degrees east or west of that meridian. (That's why Egypt is the "Near East", Iran is the "Middle East", China is the "Far East", and the US and Canada are the "Western" world.)
Those are called latitude and longitude lines. Latitude lines run east-west, measuring north and south of the Equator. Longitude lines run north-south, measuring east and west of the Prime Meridian. Together, they help determine specific locations on a map.
grid system
Because they make big circles around the Earth.
longitude goes from north to south =]and a way to remember latitude [ i read it from yahoo answers x3 ]latty fatty because latitude goes around the earth and usually if u can remember thatyou can remember that longitude goes from the north and south poles :Di hope i helped :P i somtimes dont make sense xD
Lines of longitude and latitude cross each other and denote the absolute location of the area crossed by the coordinates. Each area on earth has it own absolute location.
Longitude gives an east or west co-ordinate when getting the position of somewhere on Earth.
Lines of latitude and the lines of longitude.
For the same reason there are numbers on the front doors of houses. The system of latitude and longitude angles gives every point on Earth an 'address' of two numbers. They tell exactly where the spot is, and make it possible to find that exact spot, even if there's nothing there, and nothing but water for a thousand miles around it in every direction.
Lines of latitude and the lines of longitude.
a location.
Those are the 'meridians of longitude'. Each one joins the North Pole and South Pole. They are farthest apart at the equator, and they all converge at the poles. Since there's no obvious place to start numbering, somebody had to make the decision of where to put the 'zero'. The British were the big guys in the navy business at the time, so they needed a standard system more than anyone else did, and they set the standard: The 'zero' of longitude measurement ... the line called the "Prime Meridian", was (and still is) defined as the meridian that passes through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England. All longitude on the earth is measured as so many degrees east or west of that meridian. (That's why Egypt is the "Near East", Iran is the "Middle East", China is the "Far East", and the US and Canada are the "Western" world.)
Lines of latitude and the lines of longitude.