where is equator is located? write the definition
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The Equator is the invisible line that runs around the center of the Earth at 0 degrees latitude. An equator is an imaginary line around the middle of a planet or other celestial body. It is halfway between the North Pole and the South Pole, at 0 degrees latitude.
The Equator is the invisible line that runs around the center of the Earth at 0 degrees latitude. An equator is an imaginary line around the middle of a planet or other celestial body. It is halfway between the North Pole and the South Pole, at 0 degrees latitude.
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Latitude is a measurement on a globe or map of location north or south of the Equator. Technically, there are different kinds of latitude—geocentric, astronomical, and geographic (or geodetic)—but there are only minor differences between them. In most common references, geocentric latitude is implied. Given in degrees, minutes, and seconds, geocentric latitude is the arc subtended by an angle at Earth’s centre and measured in a north-south plane poleward from the Equator. Thus, a point at 30°15′20″ N subtends an angle of 30°15′20″at the centre of the globe; similarly, the arc between the Equator and either geographic pole is 90° (one-fourth the circumference of Earth, or 1/4 × 360°), and thus the greatest possible latitudes are 90° N and 90° S. As aids to indicate different latitudinal positions on maps or globes, equidistant circles are plotted and drawn parallel to the Equator and each other; they are known as parallels, or parallels of latitude.
latitude and longitude
latitude and longitude
This cutaway drawing shows that the latitude and longitude of any place are based on the sizes of two angles that originate at the centre of Earth.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
facts about lines of latitude
facts about lines of latitude
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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In contrast, geographic latitude, which is the kind used in mapping, is calculated using a slightly different process. Because Earth is not a perfect sphere—the planet’s curvature is flatter at the poles—geographic latitude is the arc subtended by the equatorial plane and the normal line that can be drawn at a given point on Earth’s surface. (The normal line is perpendicular to a tangent line touching Earth’s curvature at that point on the surface.) Different methods are used to determine geographic latitude, as by taking angle-sights on certain polar stars or by measuring with a sextant the angle of the noon Sun above the horizon. 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. Geographic latitude is also given in degrees, minutes, and seconds.