latitude and longitude

Geographic

2022

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.

Parallels and meridians allow you to calculate latitude and longitude coordinates.

What are latitude and longitude?

Latitude and longitude are the two types of angular geographic coordinates that make up the planetary reference system and that allow locating any point on the surface of the planet. planet Earth. This system is used by technologies like GPS (Global Positioning System).

Its main characteristics 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 the Tropics of 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 passes 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. Longitude is symbolized by the Greek letter lambda, λ.

The coordinate system that makes up latitude and longitude, known as the Geographic Coordinate System, has the center of the Earth as its imaginary center 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 noted in parentheses and the latitude data is entered 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 English term (West).

Absolute and relative position

If you have the latitude and longitude coordinates of a point, you can geographically locate it on the grid that make up the meridians and parallels. Thus, the absolute position is obtained, 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 geographic point has with respect to another or others. The relative position takes into account variables such as distance or orientation. For example: Mexico is located to the south of the United States and to the north of Guatemala and Belize.

Meridians and parallels

The meridians and parallels are the imaginary lines that are used to understand and orient oneself in the land surface and to be able to capture geographical points.

The 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 meridian of degree 0 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.

On the other hand, the parallels are the imaginary lines that run horizontally on the earth's surface. The parallel used to measure latitude is the equator, which is the 0 degree parallel that divides the planet into the northern and southern hemispheres. 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 runs through regions like 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 goes through countries like 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 polar circle. It is an imaginary line located south of the Earth, it is parallel to the equator and crosses the area of ​​the Antarctic Continent.

Examples of geographic coordinates

The geographic coordinates of the main cities of 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, The Netherlands (52 ° 22 ’26’ ’N; 4 ° 53’ 27 ’’ E)
  • Washington DC, United States (38º 53 ’42’ ’N; 77º 2’ 11 ’’ O)
  • 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, Turkey (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)
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