Latitude (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what latitude is and what longitude consists of. Also, what latitude is for, its relationship with climate and some examples.

Latitude - longitude - Ecuador — Latitude can be classified into northern latitude and southern latitude.

What is latitude?

The latitude is the angular distance between any point on our planet Earth and the line that divides it in the middle, that is, the equator. This distance is measured along the meridian where said point is located and is classified into two, according to the Earth's hemisphere: northern latitude and southern latitude, correspondingly.

Latitude and longitude are the planetary angular distances that determine the global coordinates of a point and are measured in sexagesimal degrees (°), while their subdivisions or fractions of degrees are measured in sexagesimal minutes (') and seconds ('). In this way, the equator is considered the zero degree (0°) and each of the poles is considered the ninetieth degree (90°N for the north pole and 90°S for the south pole). It is also common to represent the degrees of the northern hemisphere as positive (+90°) and those of the southern hemisphere as negative (-90°).

Thus, the location of a specific point on the globe with respect to the equator can be expressed in these terms: 19° 29' 52” N is the expression of the latitude of Mexico City, for example. To have its complete location (its coordinates, understanding the world map as a grid) we would need its longitude.

Latitude and longitude

Latitude - Longitude — The longitude conventionally coincides with the Greenwich meridian.

If latitude expresses the location of a point on the globe with respect to the imaginary line of the equator, longitude will be understood to be the value that indicates the location of any point on the globe with respect to an imaginary axis which extends over the surface of the Earth and unites the two poles, and which conventionally coincides with the 0 meridian or Greenwich meridian.

As with the equator for latitude, this meridian (which crosses the town of the same name in London, England) determines 0° longitude, dividing the planet into two hemispheres: east and west, which is expressed in the time to determine the longitude of a point: 99° 7' 37” Or is that of Mexico City.

Longitude is expressed in the language of maritime navigation with the Greek letter Lambda (λ).

What is latitude for?

Navigation - latitude - longitude — Latitude and longitude are useful criteria for air, sea and land navigation.

Latitude and longitude are quantities that allow us to have a form of global location of a point with respect to certain imaginary lines with which we geographically divide our planet in two: the equator and the Greenwich meridian.

Both criteria, latitudinal and longitudinal, make up a grid that we know as the Coordinate System and that serves as a model for satellite location, such as GPS. In this way, latitude and longitude are useful criteria for navigation (air, sea and land) and for geolocation.

The latitude allows the terrestrial globe to be divided into more or less homogeneous climatic regions according to the incidence of sunlight on each one.

Relationship between latitude and climate

Latitude - Longitude - climate — The equatorial zone is characterized by a warm and constant climate, without seasons.

The Earth, given its almost spherical shape and its rotational movement around an axis inclined with respect to the plane of the path around the Sun, has different regions that receive solar radiation in a similar way, depending on its latitudinal location.

So, The regions closest to the equator receive sunlight in a more constant and homogeneous way throughout the year always direct, while the most distant regions receive it more or less intensely depending on how close or far they are from the Sun, depending on the inclination of the Earth's axis.

This is the reason why the seasons exist, which are precisely opposite in the northern and southern hemispheres, and why in the regions close to the poles there are nights and days of almost six continuous months; This is the time it takes for a pole that was closest to the Sun to reach the point furthest from it.

Latitude allows us to divide the planet into the following three climatic zones:

Equatorial or intertropical zone It is the region around the equator, in each hemisphere, that extends to the imaginary lines of the Tropics: Cancer in the northern hemisphere (23°N) and Capricorn in the southern hemisphere (23°S). It is characterized by a warm and constant climate, without seasons (or less pronounced seasons, increasing as southern latitude is gained). Jungle, savannah or desert ecosystems predominate.
temperate zone It is the next in latitude after the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, which extends to the respective polar circles (66° 33' 46” N and 66° 33' 46” S). It is characterized by a climate of greater thermal variety, with pronounced seasons and two climatic bands: the subtropical, close to the tropics, and the subpolar, close to the poles. Forests, grasslands and deserts predominate.
Polar or cold zone It is the last climatic region, which extends from the polar circle of each hemisphere (Arctic in the north and Antarctic in the south) to the imaginary axis of the Earth: the north pole and the south pole. It is characterized by a frigid, windy climate, with large layers of ice and life adapted to harsh winters and cold summers.