IMAGINARY LINES

Globes and maps often have lines that help explain where places are. These lines are
often called the imaginary lines because they don’t really exist on earth. But they are
helpful for navigation or describing where things are. Navigation refers to finding your
way.
Some of these lines includes the lines of latitude (the parallels of latitude), lines of
longitude (the meridian of longitude), time zones, Equator, International Date Lines, the
Polar Circle and The Tropics.

Lines of Latitudes
• Straight line across the Earth that runs from East-West direction and they are known
as “parallels” because it distance the north or south of the equator.

Line of Longitude
• Also called meridians, it runs between the geographic North Pole and the geographic
South Pole and are used to measure distances from the prime meridian.
The Equator
•An imaginary line around the middle of a planet or other celestial body and halfway
between the north pole and the south pole, at 0 degrees latitude.
•An equator divides the planet into a northern hemisphere and a southern hemisphere.

International Date Lines

• The line that is on the opposite side of the Earth to the Prime Meridian is the
International Date Line.
•It divides the Earth into Eastern and Western Hemispheres and for about 180 degrees.
• Can’t be a straight line.

Time Zones
• A zone on the terrestrial globe that is approximately 15° longitude wide and extends
from pole to pole and within which a uniform clock time is used.
• Time zones are the functional basis of standard time and were introduced in the late
19th century as railways connected places that had differing local times.

-UTC (Coordinated Universal Time)

• All time zones are defined by their offset from UTC either UTC- or UTC+ and the
number of hours and minutes.
•Two time components are added together to translate mean solar time to Coordinated
Universal Time (UTC): International Atomic Time (TAI) measured by atomic clocks and
Universal Time (UT1), the actual length of a day on Earth.

-GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)

• Can be calculated by using the sun. When the sun is at its highest point, exactly above
the Prime Meridian, this means that it is 12:00 noon at Greenwich.
•Was originally created to help with naval navigation as travel around the world
increased. This was especially prompted by the discovery of America in the fifteenth
century.
The Polar Circle
•The polar circles are located near the poles of the earth, at 66.6° N and S latitude.
These are called the Arctic Polar Circle and the Antarctic Polar Circle.
• These circles denote the most northern and southern locations where, at least once a
year, the sun remains continuously above the horizon for 24 hrs.

The Tropics
•Is an area that goes around the middle portion of the Earth.
•The tropics between the latitude lines of the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of
Capricorn. The tropics include the Equator and parts of North America, South America,
Africa, Asia, and Australia.
• The tropics are warm all year, averaging 25 to 28°C (77 to 82°F).