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latitude and longitude
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A globe highlighting the location of Washington, D.C. at the intersection of 39 degrees north latitude and 77 degrees west longitude, with labeled latitude and longitude lines, continents, and oceans for global context. A globe showing lines of latitude, labeled as parallels, with the equator highlighted in red and labeled, and the prime meridian shown crossing at right angles. Continents including North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia are visible. To the right, a list summarizes key facts about lines of latitude, such as their direction, relationship to the equator and prime meridian, and their decreasing length toward the poles. A diagram of Earth showing lines of longitude, or meridians, running from the North Pole to the South Pole and spaced widest at the equator. The prime meridian is highlighted in red, passing through Europe and Africa. To the right, a list summarizes key facts about lines of longitude, including their direction, measurement, spacing, and relationship to the equator and Earth's axis. Diagram showing the difference between geocentric latitude, measured from Earth's center, and geographic latitude, measured from the surface normal, with labeled tangent, normal, pole, and equator lines.
Latitude, longitude, and the prime meridian explained
Cutaway illustration of a globe showing how latitude and longitude are measured as angles from the center of the Earth. The diagram highlights New Orleans at 30 degrees north latitude and 90 degrees west longitude, with labeled lines for the equator, prime meridian, axis, and key continents for reference. A three-dimensional globe featuring a grid of latitude and longitude lines, with labeled parallels, meridians, the Equator, Prime Meridian, and North Pole. A specific point at 40 degrees north, 30 degrees west is marked, and directional arrows indicate north, south, east, and west. navigator's cross-staff
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A globe highlighting the location of Washington, D.C. at the intersection of 39 degrees north latitude and 77 degrees west longitude, with labeled latitude and longitude lines, continents, and oceans for global context.
latitude and longitude of Washington, D.C. As shown on the small-scale globe perspective, Washington, D.C., is located at the crossing of the 39th east-west line north of the Equator (39° N latitude) and the 77th north-south line west of the prime meridian (77° W longitude).

latitude and longitude

geography
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History

latitude and longitude, in cartography, a coordinate system used to determine and describe the position of any place on Earth’s surface. Latitude is a measurement of a location north or south of the Equator. In contrast, longitude is a measurement of location east or west of the prime meridian at Greenwich (an imaginary north-south line that passes through both geographic poles and Greenwich, London, England, U.K.). Latitude and longitude together can describe the exact location...

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