Latitude and Longitude: Understanding Location Identification

In geography, to describe the location of a place, the latitude and longitude of that place are told. The latitude of a place tells the 'north-south position' of that place on the ground.

What is Latitude?

Latitude, also called parallel lines, is an imaginary line that divides the Earth. All the imaginary lines drawn from West to East on the globe are called Latitude Lines. If you look at the globe, you will find that all the latitude lines on it are parallel to each other. The longest Latitude is known as the Equator. The Equator divides the earth into Northern and Southern Hemisphere.

What is the distance between two latitudes?

Latitude measures the distance in degrees and the equator is at zero degrees. It goes from the Equator to the north direction from 1 to 90° while going down i.e. towards the south pole from the Equator it is in negative numbers such as -1 degree to -90 degrees. All latitude lines are drawn at the same distance approximately 111 km at an interval of 1°. That means, the distance between two Latitudes is 111 kilometers.

1 Degree is Equal to How Many Minutes?

In 24 hours, the Earth completes a rotation of 360° along its axis. Then by applying a mathematical formula, the Earth rotate 15° degrees (360/24) in 1 hour. So, in this way, 1 degree longitude is equal to 4 minutes.

So, in the same way, one degree of latitude is equal to approximately 364,000 feet (69 miles), one minute is equal to 6,068 feet (1.15 miles), and one second is equal to almost 101 feet.

What is the total number of latitudes on Earth?

In the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, it is found from 0 degrees to 90 degrees. So, there are 180 latitude lines.

Important Latitudes

Apart from the Equator, which is the longest Latitude there are few important Latitudes. These latitudes help to identify the different climate zones across the globe. Those Latitudes are:

• Tropic of Cancer
• Tropic of Capricorn
• The Arctic Circle
• Antartic Circle

The area between Tropical zones is generally hot and has a good amount of humidity. This is because this area gets the most sunlight.

What is Longitude?

Longitudes are the angular distances of a place measured in degrees. The Longitudes start from the north pole and go down to the south pole. The line in the centre is known as Prime Meridian. Prime Meridian divides the earth into the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. Longitudes are equal in length on the other hand Latitudes vary in length. The center Longitude line or the Prime Meridian is at zero degrees. It goes up to +180 degrees towards the East and -180 degrees towards the West. The Longitudes help to determine the time zone across the globe.

How many longitude lines are there on Earth?

The total number of longitudes is 360, consisting of 179 west longitudes, 179 east longitudes, 1 GMT line and 1 (0°) longitude line.

How many longitudes pass through India?

The range of longitude of India is from 68 degrees 7" to 97° 25" East and from 8 degrees 4" North to 37° 6" North. This means it is approximately 30° longitude and 30 degrees latitude. This means 30 latitude and 30 longitude.

Why are Latitude and Longitude important?

Longitude and latitude allow us to measure distance from the Earth's equator. These 2 lines are very important as they enable us to locate any point on Earth. These are the coordinates that the Global Positioning System (GPS) uses. Latitude and longitude help us identify the climate zone and time zone around the globe.

How to Calculate Time Zone using Longitude?

As we know Longitude helps us to determine the Time Zone across the globe, but How?

We know that our Earth is round in shape and takes 24 hours to complete one rotation of axis. So, it means that Earth will rotate by 360 degrees in 24 hours. We have already calculated that the Earth rotates 15 degrees (360/24) in 1 hour. Now, in 1 hour the Earth will rotate by 15 degrees and to complete the rotation of 360 degrees it requires 24 rotations. This is the reason there are 24 Time zones around the globe.

The rotation of the Earth is from West to East. So the time of East will be always ahead of the West. In this way, The USA is in the West of Prime Meridian so its time zone is GMT-4 and India is in the East of Prime Meridian so here the Time Zone is GMT+5:30.

Let's take an example to calculate the Time Zone. Suppose there is City A which is at 75 degrees east and other city B which is at 90 degrees east. If in City A, the time is 6:00 PM then what will be the time in City B?

To calculate the time zone, we will first identify the direction whether it is East or West. If both the direction is same then we subtract the value of the degree else we add them. In Our case it is East, so we will subtract the value of the degree. In this way, 90° - 75° = 15°. And we know that the difference of 1° is 4 minutes. By this calculation, the difference between City A and City B is 15 Degrees so the time difference will be 15*4 which is equal to 60 minutes. So,if the time in City A is 6:00 PM and then time in City B will be 7:00 PM

In this article, we learnt about What is Latitudes and Longitudes. Also, we now know how Latitudes help identify Climate Zone and how Longitudes help us to identify Time Zone. Hope we covered the Latitude and Longitude in an easy way. Also, by using this article you will be able to identify the time zones and time differences between two places. If this article helps you to understand the Latitude and Longitude then please share this article among your friends and family members.

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