Latitude and longitude is a system of geometrical coordinates used in designating the location of places on the surface of the earth. Latitude, which gives the location of a place north or south of the equator, is expressed by angular measurements ranging from zero degrees at the equator to 90 degrees at the poles. For example, the north pole is latitude 90 degrees north. You can imagine the latitude lines as slices of an orange cut at the same distance from each other. Every degree of latitude is approximately 110.57 km in every place on earth. For instance, the distance between 10 and 20 degrees north is about the same distance than between 50 and 60 degrees south.
Longitude
Longitude is determined by a system of imaginary lines that run from pole to pole which are called meridians. Longitude indicates a position east or west of the prime meridian, with a maximum of 180 degrees. The prime meridian passes through London's Greenwich Observatory, in England, where a metallic marker indicates its exact location. Unlike latitude lines, longitude ones are at a different distance depending how far north or south from the equator you are. For example, at the equator, one degree of longitude is equal to 112.09 km, while at 40 degrees north or south one degree of longitude is only 85.99 km.
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