Latitudes and longitudes

**What are latitudes ?Why are they called

lines of parallel?
• Latitudes are the angular distance of a place
from the equator. They give us an idea of the
distance of a place north and south of the
equator
• These line run east to west and are parallel to
each other therefore they are called lines of
parallels
• Each latitude is located at a distance of 111km
from the other latitude
**Important parallels of latitudes
NP

SP
 **Important parallels of latitudes
• EQUATOR- It is the 0 deg. latitude that divides the earth
into northern and southern hemisphere .The direct rays
of the Sun throughout the year falls on this latitude.
• TROPIC OF CANCER AND TROPIC OF CAPRICORN-They
are the northern and southern limits of the apparent
movement of the Sun.
• ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC CIRCLE-They are the northern
and southern limits of the Sun rays reaching a place
during winter
• NORTH AND SOUTH POLES- They are the 90 deg
latitudes' which acts as the end points of the earths axis
 **IMPORTANCE OF LATITUDES
• Latitudes are the angular distance of a place
north or south of the equator .
• 1) It tells the distance of a place north or south
of the equator
• 2)Equator divides the earth into northern and
southern hemisphere
• 3)It gives us an idea of the heat zones of the
earth
• 4)It along with longitudes helps us to know the
location of a place on the globe
 Features of latitudes**
• Latitude is the angular distance of a place north
or south of the Equator.
• There are 181 parallels of latitudes including the
Equator.
• Each parallel of latitude is a circle.
• Only the Equator is a Great Circle, all the rest of
the latitudes are Small Circles.
• The distance between two latitudes is always
equal. ie 111km
**HEAT ZONES
 IMPORTANT HEAT ZONES
• The Torrid Zone
• Places on the equator or those very close to it
get direct rays of the sun for all or most of the
year. Thus these areas are called torrid zone.
These areas have a hot and humid climate The
torrid zone lies between the Tropic of Cancer
and the Tropic of Capricorn due to which it is
also called tropical zone.
 The Temperate Zone

• The temperate zone are not very hot because sun

rays falling in these zones are slanted and cause less
heat than in the torrid zone. There are two
temperate zone. The north temperate zone lies
between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle.
The south temperate zone lies between the Tropic of
Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle.  In the temperate
zones the four seasons spring, summer, autumn and
winter are clearly felt.
 The Frigid Zone

• The frigid zone are very cold because rays of the sun
fall at a great slant. So, these zones get very little heat
and are always cold covered by snow.
• They have six month day and six month night. The
summers are cool and the winters are freezing cold.
There are two frigid zones. The north frigid zones lies
between the Arctic Circle and the North Pole. The
south frigid zones lies between the Antarctic Circle
and the South Pole.