The 

Philippines is located at a latitude of 14° 34' 59.99" N and a longitude of 121° 00' 0.00" E.
(14° N latitude and 121° E longitude) The latitude of the Philippines expresses the
country's location relative to the equator. That said, the Philippines is above the equator and part of
the northern hemisphere. The location is described using the coordinate system.

To help us locate places on the earth's surface, we use a coordinate system. This coordinate
system is like placing a giant grid over the earth. This grid has lines extending from east to west
called lines of latitude and lines extending from north to south called lines of longitude.
When outlining the coordinates of a location, the line of latitude is always given first
followed by the line of longitude. The line of latitude of the Philippines is read as 14 degrees
(14°), 34 minutes (34′), 59.99 seconds (59.99”) North. The line of longitude of the Philippines is
read as 121 degrees (121 0) E.
Or simply, 140 N Latitude , 1210E Longitude.

 Identifying the imaginary reference lines: latitude, longitude, equator and prime meridian
will helped you in locating places.
Refer on figure 1. The imaginary reference lines
 Equator is an imaginary line dividing the Earth’s surface into two hemispheres; Northern
Hemisphere (half of the globe from equator to North pole) and Southern Hemisphere (half of the
globe from equator to South pole).
Equator is located at zero degree (0°) with the equator as the reference point, the North pole lies
at 90°N and the South Pole lies at 90°S.
 Prime meridian is an imaginary line dividing the earth’s surface into two hemispheres; Western
Hemisphere and Easter hemisphere. Prime meridian serves as a reference point for measuring
the distance east or west, located
at zero degree (0°) at Greenwich, England. The farthest point eastwards from Prime Meridian is
expressed as
180° E and the farthest point westward is expressed as 180°W.
 Longitude are vertical lines; it gives the measurements east or west of the Prime meridian.
Longitudes are
imaginary lines running from the North Pole to the South Pole. Lines of longitudes are often
referred to as
meridians. Meridians are important for setting time zones. Longitudes are measured in equal
degrees per line.
 Latitudes are horizontal lines; it is a progressive angular measurements north or south of the
equator. Latitudes are imaginary lines running from east to west on the earth’s surface. Lines of
latitudes are often referred to as parallels, this is because latitude is a line that runs parallel to the
equator and never intersects. Parallels get smaller towards the poles than closer to the equator.
Latitude is measured in degrees.
• Lines of latitude start at 0 degrees at the equator and end at 90 degrees at the North and
South Poles (for a total to 180 degrees of latitude). Therefore, the higher the value of degree of
latitude, the closer it is to the North or South Pole.