Latitude

Latitude describes east-west lines that circle the Earth parallel to the equator.  Any point along the equator has a latitude of 0°. While the equator is the longest of these lines, they become shorter the farther you move to the poles, which have a latitude of 90°.  The equator divides the Earth into a northern and southern hemisphere. Each degree has the same distance, roughly 69 miles (111 km). 

On its way around the sun, the Earth tilts its axis towards and away from it. This is the reason for special latitude lines.

• Tropic of Cancer (23 ½ ° north of the equator) – the sun appears directly overhead in June.
• Tropic of Capricorn (23 ½ ° south of the equator) – the sun appears directly overhead in December.
• Arctic Circle (66 ½ ° north of the equator) – the sun is constantly above the horizon in June. Daylight lasts for 24 hours .
• Antarctic Circle (66 ½ ° south of the equator) - the sun is constantly above the horizon in December. Daylight lasts for 24 hours.

Major circles of latitude
Image: PJsg1011, CC BY-SA 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons