Difference Between Longitude and Latitude

Surely more than once you have heard the words latitude and longitude. You have probably heard them mentioned on several occasions while taking Geography, but if you are here it is because you probably want more information about it. Difference Between Longitude and Latitude 

If you want to know what the difference is between longitude and latitude, keep reading because we will explain it to you below.

LATITUDE  Difference Between Longitude and Latitude 

Like longitude, it is used to specify the location of a point on earth using geographic coordinates. Latitude is represented by the Greek letter  phi (Φ).

This measurement offers the location of a point based on its distance from the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere (taking the equator as the base). It is expressed in degrees and each degree has 60 minutes and in each minute there are 60 seconds.

There is an imaginary line from the equator to 90 ° (through the North Pole and the South Pole). The latitudes are not only parallel, but also equidistant. All degrees of latitude are approximately 69 miles apart.

There are 180 lines of latitude (the most notable are: the equator, tropic of cancer and tropic of Capricorn) and the earth is divided into 3 main latitudinal zones: temperate zone, intertropical zone and polar zone. Latitude is used to classify zones according to their temperature.

The values ​​for latitudes are expressed in positive numbers when they belong to the northern hemisphere and negative when they belong to the south. The letters  and  S are often used  to specify a location.

LENGTH

On the other hand, longitude specifies the location of a point based on the distance between east and west of the imaginary line connecting the North and South Poles (the meridian).

It is represented by the Greek letter lambda (λ)  and like latitude, it is also expressed in degrees. Unlike the latitude that goes from 0 to 90 degrees (North – South), the longitude goes from 0 to 180 degrees (East – West). It also differs from latitude because all locations that are the same longitude fall in the same time zone.

There are 360 ​​lines of longitude, the most notable being that of the Greenwich Meridian. Longitude is not used to classify zones based on their climate, but rather on time or time zone.

The letters E and O are often used to refer to the east and west respectively. When it comes to the first, positive values ​​are assigned, while for the west the values ​​are negative.

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