latitude

Parallels of latitude are circles on the surface of the Earth, parallel to the equator and labeled according to their angular distance from the equator. The position of a place on the surface of the Earth can be specified by citing the parallel of latitude and the meridian of longitude which intercept at that place. Here, the coordinates of P are 40°N 60°W, a position in the North Atlantic Ocean some 1,200 km east of New York

Simplified diagram of latitude and longitude. Image: NASA

The angular distance north or south from the equator. Assuming the Earth to be a sphere (although it is more nearly an oblate spheroid), we can think of the latitude of a point as the angle between a line from the center of the Earth to the point and a line from the center to the equator at the same longitude. Each pole, then, has a latitude of 90°, and so latitude is measured from 0° to 90° north and south of the equator, lines of latitude being circles parallel to the equator that get progressively smaller toward the poles.

For celestial latitude see celestial sphere.

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