User:Reza1615/testr3

@@@ ^^^^42nd parallel north^^^^

The 42nd parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 42 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean.

At this latitude the sun is visible for 15 hours, 15 minutes during the summer solstice and 9 hours, 7 minutes during the winter solstice.

Geography
Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 42° north passes through:


 * {| class="wikitable"

! width="125" | Co-ordinates ! Country, territory or sea ! Notes > Gansu  Inner Mongolia > Hebei Inner Mongolia Hebei Inner Mongolia  Hebei  Inner Mongolia  Liaoning  Inner Mongolia  Liaoning  Jilin > Oregon / Nevada border Idaho / Nevada border Idaho / Utah border Wyoming Nebraska Iowa Illinois - passing through Chicago > New York / Pennsylvania border<br/ > New York<br/ > Connecticut - running just south of the border with Massachusetts<br/ > Rhode Island - running just south of the border with Massachusetts<br/ > Massachusetts
 * 42°N, °W
 * Passing just north of Girona
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, 3.18333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Mediterranean Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, 8.65°W
 * Island of Corsica
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, 9.45°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Mediterranean Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Tyrrhenian Sea
 * 42°N, 11.96667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, 15°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Adriatic Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, 19.15°W
 * 42°N, 19.38333°W
 * -valign="top"
 * 42°N, 20.61667°W
 * Kosovo
 * Partially recognised as an independent state - claimed by 🇷🇸
 * 42°N, 20.76667°W
 * Passing through Skopje
 * 42°N, 22.86667°W
 * 42°N, 26.93333°W
 * 42°N, 27.41667°W
 * 42°N, 27.85°W
 * For about 3km
 * 42°N, 27.88333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, 28.03333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Black Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, 33.28333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, 33.56667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Black Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, 34.86667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, 35.11667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Black Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, 41.75°W
 * 42°N, 46.08333°W
 * Dagestan - For about 2km
 * 42°N, 46.11667°W
 * For about 3km
 * 42°N, 46.15°W
 * Dagestan
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, 48.33333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Caspian Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, 52.45°W
 * 42°N, 52.8°W
 * 42°N, 54.85°W
 * 42°N, 56°W
 * 42°N, 57.16667°W
 * 42°N, 60°W
 * 42°N, 66°W
 * 42°N, 70.33333°W
 * 42°N, 70.83333°W
 * -valign="top"
 * 42°N, 79.83333°W
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, 28.03333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Black Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, 33.28333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, 33.56667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Black Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, 34.86667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, 35.11667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Black Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, 41.75°W
 * 42°N, 46.08333°W
 * Dagestan - For about 2km
 * 42°N, 46.11667°W
 * For about 3km
 * 42°N, 46.15°W
 * Dagestan
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, 48.33333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Caspian Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, 52.45°W
 * 42°N, 52.8°W
 * 42°N, 54.85°W
 * 42°N, 56°W
 * 42°N, 57.16667°W
 * 42°N, 60°W
 * 42°N, 66°W
 * 42°N, 70.33333°W
 * 42°N, 70.83333°W
 * -valign="top"
 * 42°N, 79.83333°W
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * Dagestan
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, 48.33333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Caspian Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, 52.45°W
 * 42°N, 52.8°W
 * 42°N, 54.85°W
 * 42°N, 56°W
 * 42°N, 57.16667°W
 * 42°N, 60°W
 * 42°N, 66°W
 * 42°N, 70.33333°W
 * 42°N, 70.83333°W
 * -valign="top"
 * 42°N, 79.83333°W
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * 42°N, 56°W
 * 42°N, 57.16667°W
 * 42°N, 60°W
 * 42°N, 66°W
 * 42°N, 70.33333°W
 * 42°N, 70.83333°W
 * -valign="top"
 * 42°N, 79.83333°W
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * 42°N, 60°W
 * 42°N, 66°W
 * 42°N, 70.33333°W
 * 42°N, 70.83333°W
 * -valign="top"
 * 42°N, 79.83333°W
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * 42°N, 70.33333°W
 * 42°N, 70.83333°W
 * -valign="top"
 * 42°N, 79.83333°W
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * 42°N, 70.83333°W
 * -valign="top"
 * 42°N, 79.83333°W
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * -valign="top"
 * 42°N, 79.83333°W
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * 42°N, 103.05°W
 * -valign="top"
 * 42°N, 105.93333°W
 * Inner Mongolia<br/
 * -valign="top"
 * 42°N, 105.93333°W
 * Inner Mongolia<br/
 * Inner Mongolia<br/
 * 42°N, 128.05°W
 * Passing through Baekdu Mountain
 * 42°N, 128.48333°W
 * Jilin (for about 8 km)
 * 42°N, 128.56667°W
 * -valign="top"
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, 130.03333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Sea of Japan
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Passing just south of Okushiri Island, 🇯🇵
 * 42°N, 140.11667°W
 * Island of Hokkaidō
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, 140.88333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Pacific Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, 143.15°W
 * Island of Hokkaidō
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, 143.25°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Pacific Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * -valign="top"
 * 42°N, -124.21667°W
 * Oregon / California border<br/
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Pacific Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, 143.15°W
 * Island of Hokkaidō
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, 143.25°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Pacific Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * -valign="top"
 * 42°N, -124.21667°W
 * Oregon / California border<br/
 * -valign="top"
 * 42°N, -124.21667°W
 * Oregon / California border<br/
 * Oregon / California border<br/
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, -87.65°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Lake Michigan
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, -86.55°W
 * Michigan
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, -83.18333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Lake Erie
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, -82.96667°W
 * Ontario
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, -82.48333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Lake Erie
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * -valign="top"
 * 42°N, -80.43333°W
 * Pennsylvania (Erie County)<br/
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, -82.48333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Lake Erie
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * -valign="top"
 * 42°N, -80.43333°W
 * Pennsylvania (Erie County)<br/
 * Pennsylvania (Erie County)<br/
 * Pennsylvania (Erie County)<br/
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, -70.7°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Cape Cod Bay
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, -70.08333°W
 * Massachusetts (Cape Cod)
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 42°N, -70.03333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Atlantic Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 42°N, -8.88333°W
 * 42°N, -8.65°W
 * 42°N, -8.11667°W
 * }
 * 42°N, -8.88333°W
 * 42°N, -8.65°W
 * 42°N, -8.11667°W
 * }
 * 42°N, -8.65°W
 * 42°N, -8.11667°W
 * }
 * 42°N, -8.11667°W
 * }
 * 42°N, -8.11667°W
 * }
 * }
 * }

United States
The parallel 42° north forms most of the New York-Pennsylvania border, although due to imperfect surveying in 1785–1786, this boundary wanders around on both sides of the true parallel. The area around the parallel in this region is known as the Twin Tiers.

The 42nd parallel became agreed upon as the northward limit of the Spanish Empire by the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819 with the United States, which established the parallel as the border between the Viceroyality of New Spain of the Kingdom of Spain and the western territory of the United States of America from the meridian of the headwaters of the Arkansas River west to the Pacific Ocean. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848 then ceded much of what was then northern Mexico to the United States; as a result, the northernmost U.S. states which were created from Mexican territory (California, Nevada, and Utah) have the parallel 42° north as their northern border, and the adjoining U.S. states of Oregon and Idaho have the parallel as their southern border.

The parallel passes through the states of Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and passes through (or near - within one-half degree of latitude) the following cities in the United States:
 * Crescent City, California
 * Medford, Oregon
 * Yreka, California
 * Des Moines, Iowa
 * Chicago, Illinois
 * Toledo, Ohio
 * Detroit, Michigan
 * Cleveland, Ohio
 * Erie, Pennsylvania
 * Binghamton, New York
 * Hartford, Connecticut
 * Springfield, Massachusetts
 * Providence, Rhode Island
 * Boston, Massachusetts.

Canada
The parallel 42° north passes through the southern end of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie. Part of the water boundary between Canada and the United States passes south of the 42nd parallel, and the southern tip of the Canadian province of Ontario just barely goes south of it - this is located at Point Pelee and Pelee Island.

As a border
The border between Ghana and what was then French Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) was fixed by treaty between the French and British at the Conference of Paris in 1898, to be the 11th parallel. The border does not follow the boundary exactly, but follows it approximately, crossing over it several times.

History
The Russo-American Treaty of 1824 established the boundary between Russian Alaska and overlapping British and US claims at the parallel 54°40′ north effective January 12, 1825, a delineation which was repeated in the terms of the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1825 between the Empire of Russia and the United Kingdom. Specifically, it was agreed, in the 1824 treaty, that no American settlement would be established on the coast or adjacent island north of 54°40′, and no Russian settlement to the south (Russian Fort Ross was in Mexican California and was outside the purview of the treaty). The treaty did not make any explicit statements about sovereignty or territorial claims. The 1825 treaty with Britain was more strongly worded and defined the boundary between Russian and British possessions in North America, which ran north from 54°40′ through what is now the Alaska Panhandle to the 141st meridian west, then along that line north to the Arctic Ocean.

The Colony of British Columbia was established on August 2, 1858. The United States purchased Alaska from the Empire of Russia for $7,200,000 in 1867. Russian America became the United States Department of Alaska on October 18, 1867.

The Province of British Columbia joined the Confederation of Canada on July 21, 1871.

The United States created the District of Alaska on May 17, 1884, and the Territory of Alaska on August 24, 1912. The State of Alaska was admitted to the Union on January 3, 1959.

Major circles of latitude


There are five major circles of latitude, listed below from north to south. The position of the Equator is fixed (90 degrees from the Earth's axis of rotation) but the other circles depends on the tilt of this axis relative to the plane of the Earth's orbit, and therefore are not perfectly fixed. The values below are for Epoch 2011. :
 * Arctic Circle (&amp;nbsp;N)
 * Tropic of Cancer (&amp;nbsp;N)
 * Equator (0°&amp;nbsp;latitude)
 * Tropic of Capricorn (&amp;nbsp;S)
 * Antarctic Circle (&amp;nbsp;S)

These circles of latitude, excluding the Equator, mark the divisions between the five principal geographical zones.

Equator
The equator is the circle that is equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole. It divides the Earth into the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. Of the parallels or circles of latitude, it is longest, and the only 'great circle' (in that it is a circle on the surface of the earth, centered on the center of the earth). All the other parallels are smaller and centered only on the earth's axis.

Polar Circles
The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude (in the Northern Hemisphere) at which the sun can remain continuously above or below the horizon for 24 hours. Similarly, the Antarctic Circle marks the northernmost latitude (in the Southern Hemisphere) at which the sun can remain continuously above or below the horizon for 24 hours.

The latitude of these circles plus the Earth's axial tilt is equal to 90°.

Tropical Circles
The Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn respectively mark the northernmost and southernmost latitudes at which the sun may be seen directly overhead (at the June solstice and December solstice respectively).

The latitude of the tropical circles is equal to the Earth's axial tilt.

Movement of the Tropical and Polar circles
By definition, the positions of the Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle all depend on the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the plane of its orbit around the sun, known technically as the "obliquity of the ecliptic". If the Earth were completely 'upright' (its axis at right angles to the orbital plane) there would be no Arctic, Antarctic, or Tropics : at the poles the sun would permanently circle the horizon ; and at the equator the sun would always rise due east, pass directly overhead, and set due west.

The positions of the Tropical and Polar circles are not fixed because the axial tilt changes slowly - a complex motion determined by the superimposition of many different cycles with short to very long periods. As of 2000, the mean value of the tilt was about 23°&amp;nbsp;26′&amp;nbsp;21″.

The main long-term cycle causes the axial tilt to fluctuate between about 22.1° and 24.5° with a period of 41,000 years. Currently, the average value of the tilt is decreasing by about 0.47″ per year. As a result (approximately, and on average) the Tropical Circles are drifting towards the equator (and the Polar Circles towards the poles) by 15 metres per year, and the area of the Tropics is decreasing by 1100 square km per year.

The Earth's axial tilt has additional shorter-term variations due to nutation, of which the main term, with a period of 18.7 years, has an amplitude of 9"&amp;nbsp;21 ''' (corresponding to almost 300 metres north and south). There are many still smaller terms, resulting in varying daily shifts of some metres in any direction.

Finally, the Earth's rotational axis is not exactly fixed with respect to the Earth, but undergoes small fluctuations (on the order of 15 meters) called polar motion, which have a small theoretical effect not only on the Tropics and Polar circles, but also on the Equator.

Short-term fluctuations over a matter of days do not directly affect the location of the extreme latitudes at which the sun may appear directly overhead, or at which 24-hour day or night is possible, except when they actually occur at the time of the solstices. Rather, they cause a theoretical shifting of the parallels, that would occur if the given axis tilt were maintained throughout the year.

Other notable parallels
A number of sub-national and international borders are defined by parallels.

Altitude
Altitude has an effect on a location's position relative to the plane formed by a circle of latitude. Since altitude is determined by the normal to the Earth's surface, locations sharing the same latitude&amp;mdash;but having different elevations (e.g., lying along this normal)&amp;mdash;no longer lie within this plane. Rather, all points sharing the same latitude and of varying elevation occupy a cone formed by the rotation of this normal around the Earth's axis.

Name
The imaginary line is called the Tropic of Cancer because when it was named, the Sun was in the direction of the constellation Cancer (Latin for crab) at the June solstice. However, this is no longer true due to the precession of the equinoxes. According to International Astronomical Union boundaries, the Sun now is in Taurus at the June solstice. According to sidereal astrology, which divides the zodiac into 12 equal parts, the Sun is in Gemini at that time. The word "tropic" itself comes from the Greek τροπή (tropi), meaning turn, referring to the fact that the Sun appears to "turn back" at the solstices.

Geography
The Tropic of Cancer currently (Epoch 2011) lies north of the Equator. Its position is not fixed, but varies in a complicated manner over time. It is presently drifting south at the rate of almost half a second (0.47&amp;Prime;) of latitude per year (it was at exactly 23º 27' in year 1917). See circles of latitude for further information.

North of Tropic of Cancer are the subtropics and the North Temperate Zone. The equivalent line of latitude south of the Equator is called the Tropic of Capricorn, and the region between the two, centered on the Equator, is the tropics.

Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the Tropic of Cancer passes through:

Circumnavigation
According to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale's rules, for a flight to compete for a round-the-world speed record, it must cover a distance no less than the length of the Tropic of Cancer, as well as cross all of the meridians, and end on the same airfield where it started.

To calculate the length of the Tropic:
 * At present (2011) the radius of the circle will be 6 378 x cos(23º 26′ 16″) which results in 5 851.77 km
 * Then, $$ \ell = \pi \cdot 2r $$ = 3.1416 x 2 x 5851.77 which amounts to 36 767.8413
 * Therefore, assuming the Earth to be a perfect sphere, the length of the circumference at the parallel of the Tropics would be 36 768 km

For an ordinary circumnavigation the rules are somewhat relaxed and the distance is set to a rounded value of at least 37,000 kilometers.

Korea
The 38th parallel was first suggested as a dividing line for Korea in 1896. Russia was attempting to pull Korea under its control, while Japan had just secured recognition of its rights in Korea from the British. In an attempt to prevent any conflict, Japan proposed to Russia that the two sides split Korea into separate spheres of influence along the 38th parallel. However, no formal agreement was ever reached, and Japan later took full control of Korea.



After the surrender of Japan in 1945, the parallel was established as the boundary by Dean Rusk and Charles Bonesteel of the US State-War Navy Coordinating Committee in Washington during the night of 10–11 August 1945, four days before the complete liberation of Korea. The parallel divided the peninsula roughly in the middle. In 1948, the dividing line became the boundary between the newly independent countries of North and South Korea. On 25 June 1950, North Korean forces crossed the parallel and invaded South Korea, sparking the Korean War.

After the Armistice ended the Korean War in 1953, a demarcation line was established through the middle of the Demilitarized Zone. This line crosses the 38th parallel at an acute angle, from southwest to northeast, now serves as the Military Demarcation Line between the two Koreas.

Geography
Starting at the Prime Meridian heading eastwards, the 38th parallel north passes through:
 * {| class="wikitable"

! width="125" | Co-ordinates ! Country, territory or sea ! Notes > Qinghai <br/ > Gansu <br/ > Inner Mongolia <br/ > Ningxia <br/ > Inner Mongolia <br/ > Shaanxi − for around 5 km <br/ > Inner Mongolia − for around 14 km <br/ > Shaanxi <br/ > Shanxi — passing just north of Taiyuan <br/ > Hebei — passing just south of Shijiazhuang <br/ > Shandong > Hwanghaebuk-do > Gangwon-do >— Niigata Prefecture >— Niigata Prefecture<br/ >— Yamagata Prefecture<br/ >— Miyagi Prefecture > Nevada<br/ > Utah<br/ > Colorado<br/ > Kansas<br/ > Missouri<br/ > Illinois<br/ > Indiana<br/ > Kentucky<br/ > West Virginia<br/ > Virginia > Virginia > Beja District - passing just south of Beja > Extremadura<br/ > Andalusia<br/ > Region of Murcia - passing just north of Murcia<br/ > Valencian Community
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 38°N, °W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Mediterranean Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Passing just north of the island of Marettimo, 🇮🇹 (at 37.99528°N, 12.02972°W)
 * 38°N, 12.31667°W
 * Islands of Levanzo and Sicily
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 38°N, 15.41667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Mediterranean Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Strait of Messina
 * 38°N, 15.63333°W
 * -valign="top"
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 38°N, 16.13333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Mediterranean Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Ionian Sea - passing between the islands of Kefalonia (at 38.06667°N, 20.71667°W) and Zakinthos (at 37.93333°N, 20.7°W), 🇬🇷
 * 38°N, 21.26667°W
 * Passing through Athens
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 38°N, 24.03333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Aegean Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 38°N, 24.23333°W
 * Islands of Petalioi and Euboea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 38°N, 24.56667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Aegean Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Passing just north of the island of Andros (at 37.99917°N, 24.78972°W), 🇬🇷
 * 38°N, 27.11667°W
 * 38°N, 44.28333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 38°N, 48.91667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Caspian Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 38°N, 53.81667°W
 * 38°N, 55.28333°W
 * 38°N, 57.36667°W
 * Passing just north of Ashgabat
 * 38°N, 66.63333°W
 * 38°N, 68.28333°W
 * 38°N, 70.31667°W
 * 38°N, 71.26667°W
 * -valign="top"
 * 38°N, 74.9°W
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * 38°N, 44.28333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 38°N, 48.91667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Caspian Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 38°N, 53.81667°W
 * 38°N, 55.28333°W
 * 38°N, 57.36667°W
 * Passing just north of Ashgabat
 * 38°N, 66.63333°W
 * 38°N, 68.28333°W
 * 38°N, 70.31667°W
 * 38°N, 71.26667°W
 * -valign="top"
 * 38°N, 74.9°W
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * 38°N, 57.36667°W
 * Passing just north of Ashgabat
 * 38°N, 66.63333°W
 * 38°N, 68.28333°W
 * 38°N, 70.31667°W
 * 38°N, 71.26667°W
 * -valign="top"
 * 38°N, 74.9°W
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * 38°N, 68.28333°W
 * 38°N, 70.31667°W
 * 38°N, 71.26667°W
 * -valign="top"
 * 38°N, 74.9°W
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * 38°N, 70.31667°W
 * 38°N, 71.26667°W
 * -valign="top"
 * 38°N, 74.9°W
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * -valign="top"
 * 38°N, 74.9°W
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * 38°N, 74.9°W
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * Xinjiang <br/
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 38°N, 118.96667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Yellow Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Passing just north of Baengnyeong Island (at 37.98333°N, 124.68333°W), 🇰🇷
 * 38°N, 125.11667°W
 * Ongjin Peninsula — Hwanghaenam-do
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 38°N, 125.58333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Yellow Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Ongjin Bay
 * -valign="top"
 * 38°N, 125.76667°W
 * Hwanghaenam-do<br /
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Ongjin Bay
 * -valign="top"
 * 38°N, 125.76667°W
 * Hwanghaenam-do<br /
 * Hwanghaenam-do<br /
 * -valign="top"
 * 38°N, 126.81667°W
 * Gyeonggi-do<br /
 * Gyeonggi-do<br /
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 38°N, 128.73333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Sea of Japan
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * -valign="top"
 * 38°N, 138.23333°W
 * Island of Sado:<br/
 * Island of Sado:<br/
 * Island of Sado:<br/
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 38°N, 138.55°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Sea of Japan
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * -valign="top"
 * 38°N, 139.23333°W
 * Island of Honshū:<br/
 * Island of Honshū:<br/
 * Island of Honshū:<br/
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 38°N, 140.91667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Pacific Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * -valign="top"
 * 38°N, -123.01667°W
 * California<br/
 * California<br/
 * California<br/
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 38°N, -76.46667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Chesapeake Bay
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * -valign="top"
 * 38°N, -75.88333°W
 * Maryland<br/
 * Maryland<br/
 * Maryland<br/
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 38°N, -75.26667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Atlantic Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Passing between Pico (at 38.38333°N, -28.23333°W) and São Miguel (at 37.91667°N, -25.78333°W) islands, Azores, 🇵🇹
 * -valign="top"
 * 38°N, -8.85°W
 * Setúbal District<br/
 * Setúbal District<br/
 * Setúbal District<br/
 * -valign="top"
 * 38°N, -7.2°W
 * Andalusia<br/
 * Andalusia<br/
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 38°N, -0.65°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Mediterranean Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * }
 * }

Etymology
A likely and documented explanation is that the term is derived from the "dead horse" ritual of seamen (see Beating a dead horse). In this practice, the seaman paraded a straw-stuffed effigy of a horse around the deck before throwing it overboard. Seamen were paid partly in advance before a long voyage, and they frequently spent their pay all at once, resulting in a period of time without income. If they got advances from the ship's paymaster, they would incur debt. This period was called the "dead horse" time, and it usually lasted a month or two. The seaman's ceremony was to celebrate having worked off the "dead horse" debt. As west-bound shipping from Europe usually reached the subtropics at about the time the "dead horse" was worked off, the latitude became associated with the ceremony.

One theory, of sufficient popularity as to be an example of folk etymology, is that the term horse latitudes originates from when the Spanish transported horses by ship to their colonies in the West Indies and Americas. Ships often became becalmed in mid-ocean in this latitude, thus severely prolonging the voyage; the resulting water shortages made it impossible for the crew to keep the horses alive, and they would throw the dead or dying animals overboard.

United States


Cities and landmarks close to the parallel include Kettleman City, California, Henderson, Nevada, Hoover Dam, South Rim of the Grand Canyon, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Nashville, Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, High Point, North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina, Durham, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and others.

The sixth standard parallel south of Mount Diablo at 35°48′ north, 13.8344 miles south of the 36th parallel, forms a continuous boundary between the California counties of Monterey, Kings, Tulare, and Inyo on the north and the counties of San Luis Obispo, Kern, and San Bernardino on the south. It is sometimes taken as the boundary between Northern California and Southern California, although definitions using the Tehachapi Mountains are also common.

The parallel 36° north approximately forms the southernmost boundary of the Missouri Bootheel with the State of Arkansas.

The 36th parallel passes through Duke University in several places. Its Campus Drive that connects the campuses crosses the parallel several times. The Duke Gardens has a "36th Parallel Club" although the garden itself is just north of the parallel.

United States
The parallel 43° north forms most of the boundary between the State of Nebraska and the State of South Dakota.

The parallel formed the northern border of the historic and extralegal Territory of Jefferson.

Geodesy of the Equator


The latitude of the Equator is 0° (zero degrees). The length of Earth's equator is about 40030.2 km. To calculate the actual length of the Equator would require taking into consideration that the Equator goes up and down various mountains and hills in South America, in Africa, and on various islands. The Equator is one of the five notable circles of latitude on Earth, with the others being the two Polar Circles and the two Tropical Circles: the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The Equator is the only line of latitude which is also a great circle. The imaginary circle obtained when the Earth's equator is projected onto the sky is called the celestial equator.

The Sun, in its seasonal apparent movement across the sky, passes directly over the Equator twice each year, at the March and September equinoxes. At the Equator, the rays of the sun are perpendicular to the surface of the earth on these dates.



Places on the Equator experience the quickest rates of sunrise and sunset in the world. They are also the only places in the world where the sun can go directly from the zenith to the nadir and from the nadir to the zenith. Such places also have a theoretical constant 12 hours of day and night throughout the year, though in practice there are variations of a few minutes due to the effects of atmospheric refraction and because sunrise and sunset are measured from the time that the edge of the Sun's disk is on the horizon, rather than the center of the disk.

The Earth bulges slightly at the Equator. It has an average diameter of 12750 km, but at the Equator the diameter is approximately 43 km greater than the polar diameter.



Locations near the Equator are theoretically good sites for spaceports, such as the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, as they are already moving faster than any other point on the Earth due to the Earth's rotation, and the added velocity reduces the amount of fuel needed to launch spacecraft. Spacecraft launched in this manner must launch to the east, southeast, or northeast to take advantage of this effect.

For high precision work, the Equator is not quite as fixed as the above discussion implies. The true equatorial plane must always be perpendicular to the Earth's spin axis. Although this axis is relatively stable, its position drifts about 9.0 m north-south over the course of a year. Thus, the true equator moves slightly, but this effect is only relevant in extremely precise geophysical measurements.

Equatorial seasons and climate
Near the Equator there is little distinction between summer, winter, autumn, or spring. The temperatures there are usually high year-round—with the distinct exception of parts of the Equator that cross high mountains in South America and in Africa. (See Andes Mountains and Mt. Kilimanjaro.) The temperature at the Equator can also plummet during the extensive rainstorms in many locations. In many tropical regions people identify two seasons: the wet season and the dry season. However, many places close to the Equator are on the oceans or rainy throughout the year. The seasons can vary depending on a variety of factors including elevation and proximity to an ocean. These oceanic, rainy, and mountainous locations mean that the equatorial climate is not the hottest in the world.

The surface of the Earth at the Equator lies mostly on three of the oceans: the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. The highest point on the Equator is at the elevation of 4690 m, at °N, -77.99194°W, found on the southern slopes of Volcán Cayambe [summit 5790 m] in Ecuador. This place is a short distance above the snow line, and this immediate vicinity forms the only section of the Equator where snow lies on the ground year-round.

Equatorial countries and territories
The Equator traverses the land and/or territorial waters of 14 countries. Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the Equator passes through:

Despite its name, no part of Equatorial Guinea's territory lies on the Equator. However, its island of Annobón is 155 km south of the Equator, and the rest of the country lies to the north.



Crossing the Equator
Certain navies, such as the Royal Navy and the US Navy, have a tradition of holding ceremonies on board ship to mark sailors' first crossing of the Equator. These rites of initiation have in the past been notorious for their brutality. Milder line-crossing ceremonies, typically featuring King Neptune, are also held for passengers' entertainment on some civilian ocean liners and cruise ships.

Exact length of the Equator
In two widely-used geodetic standards, the Equator is modeled as a circle whose radius is a whole number of metres. In 1976 the IAU standardized this radius as 6378140 m, subsequently refined by the IUGG to 6378137 m and adopted in WGS-84, though the yet more recent IAU-2000 has retained the old IAU-1976 value. In either case, the length of the Equator is by definition exactly 2π times the given standard, which to the nearest millimeter is 40075016.686 m in WGS-84 and 40075035.535 m in IAU-1976 and IAU-2000.

The geographical mile is defined as one arc minute of the Equator, and therefore has different values depending on which standard equator is used, namely 1855.3248 m or 1855.3257 m for respectively WGS-84 and IAU-2000, a difference of nearly a millimeter.

The earth is standardly modeled as a sphere flattened 0.336% along its axis. This makes the Equator 0.16% longer than a meridian (as a great circle passing through the two poles). The IUGG standard meridian is, to the nearest millimeter, 40007862.917 m, one arc minute of which is 1852.216 m, explaining the SI standardization of the nautical mile as 1852 m, more than 3 m short of the geographical mile.

Climate
The zone of the Equator has a tropical rainforest climate, also known as an equatorial climate. Usually, its average annual temperature is around 30 °C during the day and 23 °C at night. Rainfall is very high, usually from 2,500 to 3,500 mm per year. Average precipitation days are around 200 per year and average sunshine hours are around 2000 per year.

Geography
Relatively few people live north of the Arctic Circle due to the Arctic climate. The three largest communities above the Arctic Circle are situated in Russia: Murmansk (population 325,100), Norilsk (135,000), and Vorkuta (85,000). Tromsø (in Norway) has about 62,000 inhabitants. In contrast, the largest North American community north of the circle, Barrow, Alaska, has approximately 4,000 inhabitants. Rovaniemi (in Finland), which lies slightly south of the line, has a population of approximately 58,000, and is the largest settlement in the immediate vicinity of the Arctic Circle.

The Arctic Circle passes through the Arctic Ocean, the Scandinavian Peninsula, North Asia, Northern America and Greenland. The land on the Arctic Circle is divided among eight countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, the United States (i.e. Alaska), Canada, Denmark (i.e. Greenland), and Iceland (where it passes through the small offshore island of Grímsey).

Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the Arctic Circle passes through:

Geography
The northern hemisphere equivalent of the Tropic of Capricorn is the Tropic of Cancer. Latitudes south of the Tropic of Capricorn are in the Southern Temperate Zone. The region north of the Tropic of Capricorn and south of the Tropic of Cancer is known as the tropics.

The position of the Tropic of Capricorn is not fixed, but rather it varies in a complex manner over time; see under circles of latitude for information.

Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the Tropic of Capricorn passes through:


 * {| class="wikitable"

! Co-ordinates ! Country, territory or sea ! Notes
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | -23.43333°N, °W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Atlantic Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * -23.43333°N, 14.45°W
 * -23.43333°N, 20°W
 * Kgalagadi District, Kweneng District and Central District
 * -23.43333°N, 27.3°W
 * Limpopo Province
 * -valign="top"
 * -23.43333°N, 31.55°W
 * Gaza and Inhambane provinces
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | -23.43333°N, 35.43333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Indian Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Mozambique Channel
 * -valign="top"
 * -23.43333°N, 43.75°W
 * Toliara and Fianarantsoa provinces
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | -23.43333°N, 47.65°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Indian Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * -valign="top"
 * -23.43333°N, 113.78333°W
 * Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland
 * -valign="top"
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | -23.43333°N, 151.05°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Coral Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Passing just south of Cato Reef in 🇦🇺's Coral Sea Islands Territory
 * -valign="top"
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | -23.43333°N, 166.76667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Pacific Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Passing just north of the Minerva Reefs, and just south of Tubuai (🇵🇫)
 * -23.43333°N, -70.6°W
 * Antofagasta Region
 * -valign="top"
 * -23.43333°N, -67.11667°W
 * Jujuy, Salta, Jujuy (again) and Formosa provinces
 * -valign="top"
 * -23.43333°N, -61.38333°W
 * Boquerón, Presidente Hayes, Concepción, San Pedro and Amambay departments
 * -valign="top"
 * -23.43333°N, -55.63333°W
 * Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, and São Paulo states
 * -valign="top"
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | -23.43333°N, -45.03333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Atlantic Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * }
 * Antofagasta Region
 * -valign="top"
 * -23.43333°N, -67.11667°W
 * Jujuy, Salta, Jujuy (again) and Formosa provinces
 * -valign="top"
 * -23.43333°N, -61.38333°W
 * Boquerón, Presidente Hayes, Concepción, San Pedro and Amambay departments
 * -valign="top"
 * -23.43333°N, -55.63333°W
 * Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, and São Paulo states
 * -valign="top"
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | -23.43333°N, -45.03333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Atlantic Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * }
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Atlantic Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * }
 * }

Places located along the Tropic of Capricorn
The following cities and landmarks are either located near the Tropic of Capricorn, or the tropic passes through them.


 * Argentina
 * Andes Mountains
 * The Pampas
 * San Salvador de Jujuy


 * Australia
 * Paraburdoo, Western Australia
 * Newman, Western Australia
 * Lake Disappointment, Western Australia
 * Gibson Desert, Western Australia
 * Alice Springs, Northern Territory
 * Longreach, Queensland
 * Great Dividing Range, Queensland
 * Emerald, Queensland
 * Gracemere, Queensland
 * Rockhampton, Queensland
 * Haast Bluff, Northern Territory


 * Botswana
 * Kalahari Desert
 * Khutse Game Reserve
 * Kule
 * Mahalapye


 * Brazil
 * Itaquaquecetuba
 * Mogi das Cruzes
 * Maringá
 * São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport
 * São Paulo
 * Sorocaba
 * Taguaí
 * Ubatuba


 * Chile
 * Atacama Desert
 * Andes Mountains
 * Antofagasta


 * Madagascar
 * Toliara


 * Mozambique
 * Inhambane city
 * Morrumbene
 * Massinga


 * Namibia
 * Walvis Bay
 * Rehoboth
 * Kalahari Desert
 * Namib Desert
 * Luderitz


 * Paraguay
 * Concepción


 * South Africa
 * Kruger National Park
 * Polokwane
 * Capricorn District Municipality
 * Capricorn Archdeaconry in the Anglican Diocese of St Mark the Evangelist

List of countries entirely south of the Tropic of Capricorn
As the major portion of earth's land is located in the Northern Hemisphere there are only four countries entirely south of the Tropic of Capricorn:
 * 🇺🇾 Uruguay
 * 🇱🇸 Lesotho
 * 🇸🇿 Swaziland
 * 🇳🇿 New Zealand

Name
The Tropic of Capricorn is so named because about 2,000 years ago the sun was entering the constellation Capricornus (capricorn is Latin for goat horn) at the December solstice. In modern times the sun appears in the constellation Sagittarius during this time. The change is due to precession of the equinoxes. The word "tropic" itself comes from the Greek tropos, meaning turn, referring to the fact that the sun appears to "turn back" at the solstices.

Cultural significance
In India, the day of Sun entering the zodiacal belt Capricorn is celebrated as Makara Sankranti festival. Tropic of Capricorn is called Makara Vrutta in Indian languages. It should be noted here that the Indian astronomical calendar is not based on the Western sidereal system but has a differential lag. Hence, the festival is celebrated on either of 14th Jan or 15th Jan every year, when, as per the Indian astronomical calendar, the Sun enters the Capricorn sign.

Background
Maryland's charter granted the land north of the entire length of the Potomac River up to the 40th parallel. A problem arose when Charles II granted a charter for Pennsylvania. The grant defined Pennsylvania's southern border as identical to Maryland's northern border, the 40th parallel. But the terms of the grant clearly indicate that Charles II and William Penn assumed the 40th parallel would intersect the Twelve-Mile Circle around New Castle, Delaware when in fact it falls north of Philadelphia, the site of which Penn had already selected for his colony's capital city. Negotiations ensued after the problem was discovered in 1681. A compromise proposed by Charles II in 1682, which might have resolved the issue, was undermined by Penn receiving the additional grant of the 'Three Lower Counties' along Delaware Bay, which later became the Delaware Colony, a satellite of Pennsylvania. These lands had been part of Maryland's original grant.

In 1732 the proprietary governor of Maryland, Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, signed a provisional agreement with William Penn's sons, which drew a line somewhere in between and renounced the Calvert claim to Delaware. But later, Lord Baltimore claimed that the document he had signed did not contain the terms he had agreed to, and refused to put the agreement into effect. Beginning in the mid-1730s, violence erupted between settlers claiming various loyalties to Maryland and Pennsylvania. The border conflict would be known as Cresap's War.

The issue remained unresolved until the Crown intervened in 1760, ordering Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore to accept the 1732 agreement. Maryland's border with Delaware was to be based on the Transpeninsular Line and the Twelve-Mile Circle around New Castle. The Pennsylvania-Maryland border was defined as the line of latitude 15 miles south of the southernmost house in Philadelphia.

As part of the settlement, the Penns and Calverts commissioned the English team of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon to survey the newly established boundaries between the Province of Pennsylvania, the Province of Maryland, Delaware Colony, and parts of Colony and Old Dominion of Virginia.

After Pennsylvania abolished slavery in 1781, the western part of this line and the Ohio River became a border between slave and free states, although Delaware retained slavery until the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified in 1865.

Geography of the line


Mason and Dixon's actual survey line began to the south of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and extended from a benchmark east to the Delaware River and west to what was then the boundary with western Virginia.

The surveyors also fixed the boundary between Delaware and Pennsylvania and the approximately north–south portion of the boundary between Delaware and Maryland. Most of the Delaware–Pennsylvania boundary is an arc, and the Delaware–Maryland boundary does not run truly north-south because it was intended to bisect the Delmarva Peninsula rather than follow a meridian.

The Maryland–Pennsylvania boundary is an east-west line with an approximate mean latitude of 39°43′20″ N (Datum WGS 84). In reality, the east-west Mason-Dixon line is not a true line in the geometric sense, but is instead a series of many adjoining lines, following a path between latitude 39°43′15″ N and 39°43′23″ N. The surveyors also extended the boundary line to run between Pennsylvania and colonial western Virginia (which became West Virginia during the American Civil War, on June 20, 1863), though this was contrary to their original charter; this extension of the line was only confirmed later (see Yohogania County for details).

The Mason–Dixon Line was marked by stones every mile and "crownstones" every five miles, using stone shipped from England. The Maryland side says (M) and the Delaware and Pennsylvania sides say (P). Crownstones include the two coats-of-arms. Today, while a number of the original stones are missing or buried, many are still visible, resting on public land and protected by iron cages.

Mason and Dixon confirmed earlier survey work which delineated Delaware's southern boundary from the Atlantic Ocean to the ”Middle Point” stone (along what is today known as the Transpeninsular Line). They proceeded nearly due north from this to the Pennsylvania border.

Later the line was marked in places by additional benchmarks and survey markers. The lines have been resurveyed several times over the centuries without substantive changes to Mason and Dixon's work. The stones may be a few to a few hundred feet east or west of the point Mason and Dixon thought they were; in any event, the line drawn from stone to stone forms the legal boundary.

According to Dave Doyle at the National Geodetic Survey, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the common corner of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware, at The Wedge is marked by Boundary Monument #87. The marker ”MDP Corner” dates from 1935 and is offset on purpose.

Doyle said the Maryland–Pennsylvania Mason–Dixon Line is exactly:


 * 39°43′19.92216″ N

and Boundary Monument #87 is on that parallel, at:


 * 075°47′18.93851″ W.

Visitors to the tripoint are strongly encouraged to first obtain permission from the nearest landowner, or use the path from the arc corner monument which is bordered by Delaware parkland most of the way, and Pennsylvania parkland the entire way.

History


The line was established to end a boundary dispute between the British colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania/Delaware. Maryland had been granted the territory north of the Potomac River up to the fortieth parallel. Pennsylvania's grant defined the colony's southern boundary as following Twelve Mile Circle counter-clockwise from the Delaware River until it hit "the beginning of the fortieth degree of Northern latitude." From there the boundary was to follow the 40th parallel due west for five degrees of longitude. But the 40th parallel does not in fact intersect the Twelve Mile Circle, instead lying significantly farther north. Thus the Pennsylvania's southern boundary as defined in its charter was contradictory and unclear. The most serious problem was that the Maryland claim would put Philadelphia, which became the major city in Pennsylvania, within Maryland.

Appointed as Secretary of the Boundary Commission in 1750, Benjamin Chew, Esq. represented the Penn family for the following seventeen years in their boundary dispute with first Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore and then his son Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore of Maryland until it was peacefully resolved in 1767. The boundary was fixed as follows:


 * Between Pennsylvania and Maryland:
 * The parallel (latitude line) 15 mi south of the southernmost point in Philadelphia, measured to be at about 39°43′ N and agreed upon as the Maryland–Pennsylvania line.


 * Between Delaware and Maryland:
 * The existing east-west Transpeninsular Line from the Atlantic Ocean to the Chesapeake Bay, as far as its mid-point from the Atlantic.
 * A Twelve Mile (radius) Circle (12 mi) around the city of New Castle, Delaware.
 * A "Tangent Line" connecting the mid-point of the Transpeninsular Line to the western side of the Twelve-Mile Circle.
 * A "North Line" along the meridian (line of longitude) from the tangent point to the Maryland Pennsylvania border.
 * Should any land within the Twelve-Mile Circle fall west of the North Line, it would remain part of Delaware. (This was indeed the case, and this border is the "Arc Line".)

The disputants engaged an expert British team, astronomer Charles Mason and surveyor Jeremiah Dixon, to survey what became known as the Mason–Dixon Line. It cost the Calverts of Maryland and the Penns of Pennsylvania £3,512/9&amp;nbsp;s to have 244 mi surveyed with such accuracy. To them the money was well spent, for in a new country there was no other way of establishing ownership.

The Mason-Dixon line is made up of four segments corresponding to the terms of the settlement: The most difficult task was fixing the Tangent Line, as they had to confirm the accuracy of the Transpeninsular Line mid-point and the Twelve-Mile Circle, determine the tangent point along the circle, and then actually survey and monument the border. They then surveyed the North and Arc Lines. They did this work between 1763 and 1767. This actually left a small wedge of land in dispute between Delaware and Pennsylvania until 1921.
 * Tangent Line
 * North Line
 * Arc Line
 * the 39°43′ N parallel

In April 1765, Mason and Dixon began their survey of the more famous Maryland-Pennsylvania line. They were commissioned to run it for a distance of five degrees of longitude west from the Delaware River, fixing the western boundary of Pennsylvania (see the entry for Yohogania County). However, in October 1767, at Dunkard Creek near Mount Morris, Pennsylvania, nearly 244 mi west of the Delaware, a group of Native Americans forced them to quit their progress.

In 1784, surveyors David Rittenhouse and Andrew Ellicott and their crew completed the survey of the Mason-Dixon line to the southwest corner of Pennsylvania, five degrees from the Delaware River. Other surveyors continued west to the Ohio River. The section of the line between the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania and the river is the county line between Marshall and Wetzel counties, West Virginia.

The boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland was resurveyed in 1849, then again in 1900.

On 14 November 1963, during the bicentennial of the Mason–Dixon Line, U.S. President John F. Kennedy opened a newly completed section of Interstate 95 where it crossed the Maryland-Delaware border. It was one of his last public appearances before the one in Dallas, Texas, where he was assassinated. The Delaware Turnpike and the Maryland portion of the new road were later designated as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway.

Systematic errors and experiments to weigh the earth
Mason and Dixon could only do the work as accurately as they did due to the work of Nevil Maskelyne, some of whose instruments they used. There was keen interest in their work and much communication between the surveyors, Maskelyne and other members of the British Scientific establishment in the Royal Society in England, notably Henry Cavendish. During such survey work it is normal to survey from point to point along the line and then survey back to the starting point which with no errors would coincide. Normally the return errors would be random - i.e. the return survey errors compared to the intermediate points back to the start point would be spacially randomly distributed around the start point. Mason and Dixon found that there were larger than expected systematic errors, that is non random, that led the return survey consistently in one direction away from the starting point. When this information got back to the Royal Society members, Henry Cavendish realised that this may have been due to the gravitational pull of the Allegheny Mountains deflecting the theodolite plumb-bobs and spirit levels. Maskelyne proposed measuring the gravitational force deflection induced by the pull of a nearby mountain upon a plumb-bob in 1772 and sent Mason (who had returned to England) on a site survey through central England and Scotland to find a suitable location during the summer of 1773. Mason selected Schiehallion at which to conduct what became known as the Schiehallion experiment which was carried out primarily by Maskelyne and determined the density of the Scottish mountain. Several years later Cavendish used a very sensitive torsion balance to carry out the Cavendish experiment and determine the density of the Earth.

Geography
Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 45° north passes through:


 * {| class="wikitable" style="width: 67%;"

! width="125" | Co-ordinates ! Country, territory or sea ! Notes > Midi-Pyrénées<br/ > Limousin<br/ > Auvergne<br/ > Rhône-Alpes - passing just south of Grenoble<br/ > Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur > Lombardy<br/ > Emilia-Romagna - passing just south of Piacenza<br/ > Lombardy<br/ > Veneto - passing just south of Rovigo > South Kazakhstan Province<br/ > Zhambyl Province<br/ > Almaty Province > Bayankhongor Province<br/ > Övörkhangai Province<br/ > Dundgovi Province<br/ > Dornogovi Province > Jilin<br/ > Heilongjiang > Idaho<br/ > Montana<br/ > Montana / Wyoming border (approximate)<br/ > South Dakota<br/ > Minnesota<br/ > Wisconsin > Quebec - running just north of the border with New York, 🇺🇸 > Vermont - running just south of the border with Quebec, 🇨🇦<br/ > New Hampshire<br/ > Maine
 * -valign="top"
 * 45°N, °W
 * Aquitaine<br/
 * Aquitaine<br/
 * -valign="top"
 * 45°N, 6.73333°W
 * Piedmont - passing just south of Turin<br/
 * Piedmont - passing just south of Turin<br/
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, 12.45°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Adriatic Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Gulf of Venice
 * -valign="top"
 * 45°N, 13.73333°W
 * Istrian Peninsula, islands of Cres and Krk, and the mainland again
 * 45°N, 15.76667°W
 * 45°N, 18.73333°W
 * 45°N, 19.1°W
 * Passing just north of Belgrade
 * 45°N, 21.4°W
 * Passing just north of Ploieşti
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, 29.65°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Black Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * -valign="top"
 * 45°N, 33.6°W
 * Crimea - passing just north of Simferopol, and just south of Feodosiya
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, 35.4°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Black Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 45°N, 37.21667°W
 * Passing just south of Krasnodar, and just south of Stavropol
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, 47.25°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Caspian Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 45°N, 51.06667°W
 * Mangystau Province
 * 45°N, 56°W
 * Karakalpakstan (autonomous republic) - including Vozrozhdeniya Island in the Aral Sea
 * -valign="top"
 * 45°N, 59.83333°W
 * Kyzylorda Province<br/
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, 35.4°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Black Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 45°N, 37.21667°W
 * Passing just south of Krasnodar, and just south of Stavropol
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, 47.25°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Caspian Sea
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 45°N, 51.06667°W
 * Mangystau Province
 * 45°N, 56°W
 * Karakalpakstan (autonomous republic) - including Vozrozhdeniya Island in the Aral Sea
 * -valign="top"
 * 45°N, 59.83333°W
 * Kyzylorda Province<br/
 * 45°N, 56°W
 * Karakalpakstan (autonomous republic) - including Vozrozhdeniya Island in the Aral Sea
 * -valign="top"
 * 45°N, 59.83333°W
 * Kyzylorda Province<br/
 * 45°N, 59.83333°W
 * Kyzylorda Province<br/
 * Kyzylorda Province<br/
 * 45°N, 80.03333°W
 * Xinjiang (autonomous region)
 * -valign="top"
 * 45°N, 93.21667°W
 * Govi-Altai Province<br/
 * 45°N, 93.21667°W
 * Govi-Altai Province<br/
 * Govi-Altai Province<br/
 * 45°N, 111.76667°W
 * Inner Mongolia
 * 45°N, 112.51667°W
 * Sükhbaatar Province
 * -valign="top"
 * 45°N, 114.11667°W
 * Inner Mongolia<br/
 * Sükhbaatar Province
 * -valign="top"
 * 45°N, 114.11667°W
 * Inner Mongolia<br/
 * Inner Mongolia<br/
 * 45°N, 131.5°W
 * Primorsky Krai
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, 136.61667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Sea of Japan
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Passing just south of Rishiri Island, 🇯🇵
 * 45°N, 141.68333°W
 * Island of Hokkaidō
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, 142.53333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Sea of Okhotsk
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 45°N, 147.51667°W
 * Kuril Islands
 * Island of Iturup, administered by 🇷🇺, claimed by 🇯🇵
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, 147.98333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Pacific Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * - valign="top"
 * 45°N, -124.01667°W
 * Oregon<br/
 * Island of Iturup, administered by 🇷🇺, claimed by 🇯🇵
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, 147.98333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Pacific Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * - valign="top"
 * 45°N, -124.01667°W
 * Oregon<br/
 * Oregon<br/
 * Oregon<br/
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, -87.61667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Lake Michigan
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Green Bay - territorial waters of the United States
 * 45°N, -87.35°W
 * Wisconsin - Door Peninsula
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, -87.15°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Lake Michigan
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Territorial waters of the United States
 * 45°N, -86.15°W
 * Michigan - South Manitou Island
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, -86.08333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Lake Michigan
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Territorial waters of the United States
 * 45°N, -85.78333°W
 * Michigan
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, -83.43333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Lake Huron
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Territorial waters of the United States and Canada
 * 45°N, -81.45°W
 * Ontario - Bruce Peninsula
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, -81.18333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Lake Huron
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Georgian Bay - territorial waters of Canada
 * 45°N, -79.98333°W
 * Ontario
 * 45°N, -74.9°W
 * New York - for about 10&amp;nbsp;km
 * -valign="top"
 * 45°N, -74.76667°W
 * Ontario - Cornwall Island<br/
 * Ontario - Bruce Peninsula
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, -81.18333°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Lake Huron
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Georgian Bay - territorial waters of Canada
 * 45°N, -79.98333°W
 * Ontario
 * 45°N, -74.9°W
 * New York - for about 10&amp;nbsp;km
 * -valign="top"
 * 45°N, -74.76667°W
 * Ontario - Cornwall Island<br/
 * 45°N, -74.9°W
 * New York - for about 10&amp;nbsp;km
 * -valign="top"
 * 45°N, -74.76667°W
 * Ontario - Cornwall Island<br/
 * Ontario - Cornwall Island<br/
 * Ontario - Cornwall Island<br/
 * -valign="top"
 * 45°N, -73.9°W
 * New York - running just south of the border with Quebec, 🇨🇦<br/
 * New York - running just south of the border with Quebec, 🇨🇦<br/
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, -67.06667°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Passamaquoddy Bay
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 45°N, -67°W
 * Deer Island, New Brunswick
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, -66.95°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Bay of Fundy
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Territorial waters of Canada
 * 45°N, -65.16667°W
 * Nova Scotia
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, -61.95°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Atlantic Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 45°N, -1.2°W
 * Aquitaine - passing just north of Bordeaux
 * }
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | 45°N, -61.95°W
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Atlantic Ocean
 * style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
 * 45°N, -1.2°W
 * Aquitaine - passing just north of Bordeaux
 * }
 * Aquitaine - passing just north of Bordeaux
 * }
 * }
 * }

North America
In North America, the 45th parallel roughly marks the border between the United States and Canada between the St. Lawrence and Connecticut rivers (the northern borders of the U.S. states of New York and Vermont with the Canadian province of Quebec), where the parallel is sometimes called the "Canada line". The actual boundary of Vermont lies approximately 1 km north of the parallel due to a cartographic error. The boundary here intersects Lake Champlain, which is shared by the two nations, with most of the lake lying in the United States.

The 45th parallel makes up most of the boundary between Montana and Wyoming. It also passes through the U.S. states of Oregon, Idaho, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine and through the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. All of "mainland" New Brunswick lies north of the 45th parallel. The southernmost point in mainland New Brunswick, just north of the 45th parallel, is Greens Point, approximately 90 km southwest of Saint John. Approximately two-thirds of Deer Island, plus all of Campobello and Grand Manan islands, are south of the 45th parallel.

In Michigan, the Old Mission Peninsula in Grand Traverse Bay ends just shy of the 45th parallel. Many guidebooks and signs at the Mission Point Lighthouse describe it as being halfway between the equator and north pole. When the Grand Traverse Bay recedes below normal level, it is possible to walk out to the exact line.

Farther west, the line roughly bisects the metropolitan area of Minneapolis-St. Paul. In Minneapolis there is a marker in Theodore Wirth Park. The center line of east-west Broadway Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis was deliberately laid out by city planners to be coterminous to the 45th parallel (i.e., if you are standing in the middle of the street, you are literally standing on the parallel line). In the Western United States, the parallel passes through the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, intersecting the Pacific coast in Oregon. Throughout the United States the parallel is marked in many places on highways by a sign proclaiming that the location is halfway between the North Pole and the Equator.

Cities and communities
In North America, the 45th parallel intersects or slightly bypasses (from west to east):


 * Rose Lodge, Oregon, United States
 * Keizer, Oregon, United States
 * Hayesville, Oregon, United States
 * Silverton, Oregon, United States
 * New Meadows, Idaho, United States
 * Gardiner, Montana, United States
 * Faith, South Dakota, United States
 * Eagle Butte, South Dakota, United States
 * North Eagle Butte, South Dakota, United States
 * Gettysburg, South Dakota, United States
 * Madison, Minnesota, United States
 * Raymond, Minnesota, United States
 * Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, and several adjacent cities
 * Colfax, Wisconsin, United States
 * Dorchester, Wisconsin, United States
 * Suring, Wisconsin, United States
 * Leland, Michigan, United States
 * Gaylord, Michigan, United States
 * Atlanta, Michigan, United States
 * Alpena, Michigan, United States
 * Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada
 * Cornwall, Ontario, Canada
 * Champlain, New York, United States
 * Rouses Point, New York, United States
 * Alburgh, Vermont, United States
 * Richford, Vermont, United States
 * North Troy, Vermont, United States
 * Derby Line, Vermont, United States
 * Rangeley, Maine, United States
 * Dexter, Maine, United States
 * Traverse City, Michigan, United States
 * Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
 * Lion's Head, Ontario, Canada

Asia
Continuing west, the parallel passes over vast stretches of the North Pacific Ocean before passing through Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park and the adjacent town of Horonobe on the northern tip of Hokkaidō, the northernmost of Japan's main islands. It continues through the northern part of the Sea of Japan, entering the Asian mainland on the coast of Primorsky Krai in Russia, north of Vladivostok.

At Khanka Lake it enters northeastern China, cutting across Heilongjiang and continuing through part of Jilin and eastern Inner Mongolia. Transecting southern Mongolia it passes through the provinces of Sükhbaatar, Dornogovi (and its capital Sainshand), Dundgovi, Övörkhangai, Bayankhongor, Govi-Altai, and Khovd. In northwestern China it passes through the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang and the oil city of Karamay.

The parallel passes through southern Kazakhstan, intersecting the city of Burylbaytal at the southern tip of Lake Balkhash and the city of Qyzylorda further west. At the border with Uzbekistan it bisects the Aral Sea and its toxic Vozrozhdeniya Island peninsula, site of an abandoned Soviet bioweapons laboratory. It skirts the northern edge of the Ustyurt Plateau, entering back into Kazakhstan before cutting across the northern tip of the Caspian Sea and into Europe and Russia.

Europe
In Europe the 45th parallel stretches between the Caspian Sea coast of the Russian Caucasus in the east and Bay of Biscay coast of France in the west. In Russia it runs from the west coast of the Caspian Sea to the east coast of the Black Sea, through the Republic of Kalmykia, Stavropol Krai and its capital Stavropol, and Krasnodar Krai and its capital Krasnodar. In Ukraine it crosses the Crimea and its capital Simferopol.

Further west it passes through the Balkans: Romania (just north of Ploieşti, and through Târgu Jiu), the Serbian autonomous province of Vojvodina, the eastern tip of Croatia, the northern edge of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a section of Adriatic Croatia. The capital city of Serbia - Belgrade is just south of the parallel.

In northern Italy it parallels the Po River, near Rovigo, passing just south of Turin before passing into France in the Cottian Alps.

In southern France, it crosses the Rhone River just north of Valence, Drôme. On the A7 autoroute du Soleil it is marked by a Motorway service area named "Aire de Pont de l'Isere/Latitude 45'". It then continues across the Massif Central and into the Aquitaine region. The city of Bordeaux is just south of the parallel.