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Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter Phi , , gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the Equator . Lines of Latitude are the horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps. Technically, Latitude is an Angular Measurement in Degrees (marked with °) ranging from 0° at the Equator (low latitude) to 90° at the poles (90° N for the North Pole or 90° S for the South Pole ; high latitude). The Complementary Angle of a latitude is called the ''' Colatitude '''. CIRCLES OF LATITUDE See Also: Circle of latitude All locations of a given latitude are collectively referred to as a '' Circle Of Latitude '' or ''line of latitude'' or ''parallel'', because they are Coplanar , and all such Plane s are Parallel to the Equator . Lines of latitude other than the Equator are approximately Small Circle s on the surface of the Earth; they are not Geodesic s since the shortest route between two points at the same latitude involves moving farther away from, then towards, the equator (see Great Circle ). .]] A specific latitude may then be combined with a specific Longitude to give a precise position on the Earth's surface (see Satellite Navigation System ). Important named circles of latitude Besides the equator, four other lines of latitude are named because of the role they play in the geometrical relationship with the Earth and the Sun:
Only at latitudes between the Tropics is it possible for the Sun to be at the Zenith . Only north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle is the Midnight Sun possible. The reason that these lines have the values that they do lies in the Axial Tilt of the Earth with respect to the sun, which is 23° 26′ 21.41″ . Note that the Arctic Circle and Tropic of Cancer and the Antarctic Circle and Tropic of Capricorn are colatitudes since the sum of their angles is 90°. SUBDIVISIONS As Earth is not a smooth Sphere , but slightly Oblate , a degree of latitude varies in length from about 111.3195 km at the equator to 110.9462 km at the poles. A ). EFFECT OF LATITUDE A region's latitude has a great effect on its Climate and Weather (see Effect Of Sun Angle On Climate ). Latitude more loosely determines tendencies in Polar Aurora s, Prevailing Wind s, and other physical characteristics of geographic locations. Researchers at Harvard 's Center for International Development (CID) found in 2001 that only three Tropical economies — Hong Kong , Singapore , and part of Taiwan — were classified as high-income by the World Bank , while all countries within regions zoned as Temperate had either middle- or high-income economies.[http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Location/ Location, Location, Location. The relationship of climate to, and the effect of disease and agricultural productivity on, the economic success of a city or region.] TYPES OF LATITUDE Because the Earth is slightly flattened by its rotation, cartographers refer to a variety of auxiliary latitudes to precisely adapt spherical projections according to their purpose. More generally, for other planets such as Mars , geographic and geocentric latitude are called "planetographic" and "planetocentric" latitude, respectively. Most maps of Mars since 2002 use planetocentric coordinates. Common "latitude"
The expressions following assume Elliptical polar sections with the Angular Eccentricity , (which equals , where and are the equatorial and polar radii), and that all sections parallel to the equatorial plane are circular. Geographic latitude (with longitude) then provides a Gauss Map . Utilized in some of these conversions is a common elliptic Integrand : :: Reduced latitude
:: Authalic latitude
:: :: Rectifying latitude
:: ::: Conformal latitude
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