TOPIC:
Salient features of world’s physical Latitudes geography.
- These are the angular distance of a place from the equator.
- All latitudes are in the form of concentric circles.
- They are also knows as parallels.
- 0 º- Equator
- 23.5 º N – Tropic of Cancer
- 23.5 º S – Tropic of Capricorn
- 66.5 º N – Arctic Circle
- 66.5 º S – Antarctic Circle
- 23.5 º N – 23.5 º S : Torrid Zone ( It is a heat surplus zone)
- 23.5 º N – 66.5 º N : Temperate Zone ( Heat Deficient)
- 23.5 º S – 66.5 º S : Temperate Zone ( Heat Deficient)
- 66.5 º N – 90 º N : Frigid Region ( Heat Deficient)
- 66.5 º S – 90 º S : Frigid Region ( Heat Deficient)
- The surplus and deficiency of heat is responsible for the pressure and wind system.
- In the Torrid Zone, the sun’s rays travel a shorter distance, strike directly and hence they are very intense in this region. So it has a surplus of heat.
- In case of Frigid and Temperate regions, the sun’s rays travel a larger distance, strike at an angle and hence they are dispersed with lesser intensity. So it has a deficiency of heat.
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Equator passes through 13 countries-
- Ecuador (Quito), Colombia (Bogotá), Brazil (Brasília) → South America
- Gabon (Libreville), Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa), Uganda (Kampala), Kenya ( Nairobi), Somalia ( Mogadishu), Sao Tome & Principe (São Tomé), Maldives (Malé) → Africa
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Indonesia (Jakarta)→ Asia
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Kiribati (South Tarawa)→ Oceania
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Tropic of Cancer passes through-
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Mexico (Mexico City),Bahamas (Nassau)→ North America
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Western Sahara (Laayoune), Mauritania (Nouakchott), Mali (Bamako), Algeria (Algiers),Niger (Niamey), Libya (Tripoli), Egypt (Cairo)→ Africa
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Saudi Arabia (Riyadh), United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi), Oman (Muscat), India (New Delhi), Bangladesh (Dhaka), Myanmar (Naypyidaw), China (Beijing), Taiwan (Taipei)→ Asia.
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Tropic of Capricorn passes through:
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Chile (Santiago), Argentina (Buenos Aires),Paraguay (Asuncion), Brazil→ South America
- Namibia (Windhoek), Botswana (Gaborone), South Africa ( Pretoria, Cape Town, Bloemfontein), Mozambique (Maputo), Madagascar (Antananarivo)→ Africa
- Australia (Canberra)
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French Polynesia (Papeete)→ Oceania
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Arctic Circle passes through:
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Alaska, Canada (Ottawa), Greenland (Nuuk)→ North America
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Norway (Oslo), Sweden (Stockholm), Finland (Helsinki), Iceland (Reykjavik)→Europe
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Russia (Moscow)→ Eurasia
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Tropic of Cancer passes through eight states of India:
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Gujarat (Gandhinagar), Rajasthan (Jaipur), Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal), Chattisgarh (Raipur), Jharkhand (Ranchi), West Bengal (Kolkata), Tripura (Agartala), Mizoram (Aizawl).
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What causes the various seasons?
- Earth is tilted at an angle of 23.5 º from it’s axis.
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Contents
- Earth revolves around the sun in an elliptical orbit. So, it will not be always at the same distance from the sun.
- At position 3, there will be summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere. One day in the N.H. will be the longest day of the year. ( late June)- This is known as Summer Solstice.
- At position 1, S.H. is towards the sun and N.H. is away from the sun. In the summer of the S.H. , one day in late December will be the longest. This is known as Winter Solstice.
- At positions 2 & 4, the length of day and nights Latitudeswill be equal. This is known as Equinox. ( Spring Equinox in March and Autumn Equinox in September)
- So variations in lengths of daytime and night time from season to season are due to Earth’s revolution around the Sun in an elliptical manner.
