Latitude/Longitude

LATITUDE & LONGITUDE

wpe2.jpg (12322 bytes)

WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE WE ANYWAY?

Latitude and Longitude, help us to identify the location of places on the earth's surface.

Latitude gives the location of a place north or south of the Equator by angular measurements ranging from 0° at the equator to 90° at the poles.

The sideways - horizontal red lines are lines of latitude

wpe5.jpg (6505 bytes) wpeB.jpg (24287 bytes)

LATITUDE LINES ARE THOSE LINES ON MAPS THAT GO SIDEWAYS (HORIZONTAL LINES).THEY TELL US HOW MANY DEGREES WE ARE NORTH OR SOUTH OF THE EQUATOR.

Note:

The Equator is an imaginary circle on the surface of the earth, that's the same distance from the North and South Poles, and divides the earth into the northern and southern hemispheres.

The sideways - imaginary horizontal red line

cutting the world map in half is the Equator.

wpeE.jpg (11358 bytes)

Longitude lines are made by circles that intersect with both the North and the South Poles. Each longitude can be thought of as dividing the Earth in half. Longitudes are measured in half circles of 0° to 180° East and from 0° to 180° West from the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Greenwich, England, and are measured in angles ranging from 0° at the Prime Meridian to 180° at the International Date Line.

The imaginary red line is the Prime Meridian (0° degrees longitude).

. wpeD.jpg (11469 bytes)

Note:The Royal Greenwich Observatory was established in 1675 to advance the art of navigation.

The up & down - imaginary vertical red lines are lines of longitude

wpe3.jpg (6188 bytes) wpeC.jpg (20215 bytes)

The Easy Explaination:

Longitude LINES ARE THOSE LINES ON MAPS THAT GO UP & DOWN (VERTICAL LINES).

THEY TELL US THE MEASURE OF DEGREES (0° to 180°) THAT YOU ARE WEST OR EAST FROM AN IMAGINARY LINE ( PRIME MERIDAN) THAT CROSSES OVER THE ROYAL GREENWICH OBSERVATORY IN GREENWICH, ENGLAND. WE ALL AGREE TO PRETEND THAT THIS UP AND DOWN (VERTICAL-IMAGINARY) LINE SHOULD BE CALLED THE PRIME MERIDAN.

How did Greenwich, England get to be the Prime Meridian (0° degrees longitude)?

When the system was devised, the equator was an obvious choice as the prime parallel, but no one meridian was uniquely qualified as prime. Each nation chose its own prime meridian, resulting in a lack of standardization in maps. The problem was resolved in 1884, when an international prime meridian, passing through London's Greenwich Observatory, was officially designated.

The Easy Explaination:

IN 1884 A BUNCH OF INTERNATIONAL MAP MAKERS GOT TOGETHER AND DECIDED THAT EVERYONE WOULD AGREE TO CALL THIS IMAGINARY LINE THE PRIME MERIDAN AND LABEL IT ON MAPS AS 0° DEGREES LONGITUDE.

Latitudes & Longitudes in the USA