We explain what latitude and longitude are, how they are used and represented. Also, examples of parallels and meridians and the coordinates of different cities.
What are latitude and longitude?
The latitude and longitude are the two types of angular geographic coordinates that make up the planetary reference system and that allow any point to be located on the surface of planet Earth. This system is used by technologies such as GPS (Global Positioning System).
Its main features are:
- Latitude. It is the imaginary angle that determines the distance between any point and the equator (the imaginary horizontal line that divides the world into two hemispheres: North and South). In other words, it is about how far or how close a reference point is to the equator and the tropics that are parallel to it: the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Latitude is symbolized by the Greek letter phi, ϕ.
- Length. It is the imaginary angle that determines the distance between a point and the Greenwich meridian or meridian 0, which runs through the town of the same name in London, England. This meridian is vertical and divides the world into two regions, the western (West) and the eastern (East), and serves to trace the other meridians that imaginary cross the globe parallel to the Greenwich meridian. Length is symbolized by the Greek letter lambda, λ.
The system of coordinates that make up latitude and longitude, known as the Geographic Coordinate System, has as its imaginary center the center of the Earth and expresses its values in degrees, minutes and seconds, accompanied by a letter that indicates the cardinal orientation within the globe: North, South, East or West. This information is usually written down in parentheses and the latitude data is written first and then the longitude data.
For example: Coordinates of point X: (66° 33' 9'' N; 11° 04' 13'' E)
That is, point X is at 66 degrees, 33 minutes, 9 seconds north latitude, 11 degrees, 4 minutes, 13 seconds east longitude. It is possible to find in some cases the letter W instead of O for west, since it is the term in English (West).
Absolute and relative position
If you have the latitude and longitude coordinates of a point, can be located geographically on the grid that make up the meridians and parallels. This results in the absolute position, which is the location of a point according to its geographical coordinates. For example: Mexico City is located at (19° 25' 42'' N; 99° 07' 40'' W).
Instead, it is known as relative position to the location that a geographical point has with respect to another or others. Relative position takes into account variables such as distance or orientation. For example: Mexico is located south of the United States and north of Guatemala and Belize.
Meridians and parallels
The meridians and parallels are the imaginary lines used to understand and orient yourself on the earth's surface and be able to capture geographical points.
Meridians are those that are represented vertically and start from the center of the Earth (at degree 0) and go from west to east. The 0th degree meridian is known as the Greenwich meridian and divides the planet into the eastern hemisphere and the western hemisphere. It is from this meridian that longitude is measured.
For its part, parallels are imaginary lines that run horizontally on the Earth's surface. The parallel used to measure latitude is the equator which is the parallel of degree 0 that divides the planet into the northern and southern hemisphere. In addition to the equator there are also:
- Arctic Circle. It is an imaginary line located north of the Earth in the Arctic area. It passes through regions such as Alaska, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Russia.
- Tropic of Cancer. It is an imaginary line located in the north of the Earth and parallel to the equator. It passes through countries such as Mexico, Egypt, India and China.
- Tropic of Capricorn. It is an imaginary line located south of the equator and that crosses countries such as Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Madagascar and Australia.
- Antarctic Circle. It is an imaginary line located to the south of the Earth, it is parallel to the equator and crosses the area of the Antarctic continent.
Continue in: Meridians and parallels
Examples of geographic coordinates
The geographical coordinates of the main cities in the world are:
- London, England (51° 30' 30'' N; 0° 7' 32'' W)
- Berlin, Germany (52° 31' 28'' N; 13° 24' 38'' E)
- Paris, France (48° 51' 12'' N; 02° 20' 56'' E)
- Madrid, Spain (40° 24' 59'' N; 03° 42' 09'' W)
- Rome, Italy (41° 53' 30'' N; 12° 29' 39'' E)
- Amsterdam, Netherlands (52° 22' 26'' N; 4° 53' 27'' E)
- Washington DC, United States (38º 53' 42'' N; 77º 2' 11'' W)
- New York, United States (40º 52' 51'' N; 73° 56' 19'' W)
- Buenos Aires, Argentina (34° 36' 47'' S; 58° 22' 38'' W)
- Lima, Peru (12° 02' 35'' S; 77° 01' 42'' W)
- Mexico City, Mexico (19° 25' 42'' N; 99° 07' 40'' W)
- Cairo, Egypt (30° 03' 45'' N; 31° 14' 59'' E)
- Cape Town, South Africa (33° 55' 33'' S; 18° 25' 30” E)
- Istanbul, Türkiye (41° 0' 44'' N; 28° 58' 34'' E)
- New Delhi, India (28° 38' 8'' N; 77° 13' 48'' E)
- Wellington, New Zealand (41° 17' 20'' S; 174° 46' 37” E)
- Sydney, Australia (33° 52' 0'' S; 151° 12' 0'' E)
- Moscow, Russia (55° 45' 8'' N; 37° 36' 56'' E)
- Tokyo, Japan (35° 36' 54'' N; 139° 41' 30'' E)
- Hong Kong, China (22° 15' 00'' N; 114° 10' 00'' E)
Continue with: Time zones
References
- “Latitude and longitude” at NASA.
- “Latitude and longitude” in Educaplus.
- “Latitude and Longitude” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- “Longitude” in National Geographic.
- “Atlas skills” on BBC.
