LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES Notes

PRESIDIUM, ASHOK VIHAR
SOCIAL SCIENCE
2017-2018
GRADE 6: GEOGRAPHY
CHAPTER 2: GLOBE: LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES
 SHAPE OF THE EARTH
Our Earth is a unique planet. The shape of the Earth is spherical but it is not a true sphere. It
is slightly bulging at the Equator and flattened from at the poles. This shape of the Earth is
called as Geoid.
 THE GLOBE
 The spherical 3D representation of the Earth is called the
globe.
 It is a true model (miniature form) of the Earth.
 It may be of varying size and type.
 Advantages of globe
 On the globe, countries, continents and oceans are shown in their correct size.
 It shows the distribution of land and water on the surface of the Earth.
 Disadvantages of globe
 A large globe is difficult to carry around.
 All the minute details cannot be shown on it.
 We cannot use it to show details about a part of the world.
 Only one half of the Earth can be shown at a time on the globe.
 AXIS
 A needle like object fixed through the globe in a titled manner is called its axis.
 Two points on the globe through which the needle passes are two poles- North Pole
and South Pole.
 The globe can be moved around this needle from west to east just as the Earth moves.
NOTE: The axis around which the earth moves around is an imaginary line. It is inclined
at an angle of 23 ½.
 EQUATOR
 Between the North Pole and the South Pole,

there is an imaginary line called the equator.
 It divides the Earth into two equal parts or
hemispheres.
 The part of the Earth above the equator is called
Northern Hemisphere.
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 The part of the Earth below the equator is called Southern Hemisphere.
 LATITUDES OR PARALLELS
 The imaginary lines that run from west to east and are parallel to the Equator in the form
of circles are called latitudes.
 They lie on both sides of the Equator.
 They are also known as Parallels of Latitudes.
 The latitude of a place is its angular distance, north or south of the Equator.
 It is measured in degrees ().
 The Equator represents the zero degrees latitude. Therefore, all latitudes north of the
equator are called North Latitudes. All parallels south of the equator are called South
Latitudes.
 Thus, the value of every latitude is followed by the letter ‘N’ or ‘S’ for North and South
respectively.
 They are used to demarcate Heat Zones.
 There are 181 latitudes on the Globe (90 North + 90 South + Equator).
 Equator is the longest latitude.
 IMPORTANT PARALLELS OF LATITUDES

1. TROPIC OF CANCER AT 23 ½  IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE.
2. TROPIC OF CAPRICORN AT 23 ½  IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE.
3. ARCTIC CIRCLE AT 66 ½  IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE.
4. ANTARCTIC CIRCLE AT 66 ½  IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE.
5. NORTH POLE AT 90 NORTH AND SOUTH POLE AT 90 SOUTH.
 HEAT ZONES
 The above mentioned parallels help us to divide the Earth

into three heat zones.
 The places and cities that lie in different heat zones have
different types of climate.
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 It is so because different heat zones receive different amounts of sunlight due to the
spherical shape of the Earth.
 The three heat zones are as follows:
TORRID ZONE TEMPERATE ZONE FRIGID ZONE

 All places located  There are two  The places at the
between The Tropic temperate zones- poles, that remain
of Cancer and The 1) The North frozen throughout
Tropic of Capricorn Temperate Zone the year, lie in the
experience vertical 2) The South Frigid Zone.
rays of the Sun twice Temperate Zone.  There are two
in a year.  These ones receive Frigid Zones
 Therefore, this slanting rays of the  1) The North Frigid
region receives Sun, so they receive Zone that lies
maximum amount of less heat. between Arctic
sunlight and is called  The North Circle and The
Torrid Zone. Temperate Zone lies North Pole.
 The climate in this in the Northern 2) The South Frigid
region is very hot. hemisphere between Zone that lies
the Tropic of Cancer between The South
and Arctic Circle. Pole and The
 The South Antarctic Circle.
Temperate Zone lies  Both frigid zones
in the Southern are located at the
hemisphere between greatest distance
the Tropic of from the Sun.
Capricorn and therefore, they are
Antarctic Circle. extremely cold.
 The climate in this
region is slightly
cooler than the
torrid zone.
 LONGITUDES OR MERIDIANS
 Longitudes are a set of imaginary lines running from the North Pole to the South
Pole.
 They are also known as Meridians of Longitudes.
 The distances between the longitudes are measured in ‘degrees of longitude’.
 They do not run parallel to each other.
 They are used to calculate time.
 Each degree is further divided into minutes, and minutes into seconds.
 The middle most meridian is passing through Greenwich (a place few kilometres
east of London in the UK) is known as the 0 Meridian or the Prime Meridian.
 The Prime Meridian divides the globe into Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
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 LOCATING PLACES ON THE
GLOBE
 The latitudes and the longitudes
intersect each other and form a
network on the surface of the
globe.
 This network is known as Grid.
 The location of any place can be
found with the help of the grid.
 To locate the exact position of any place, we should know its position in terms of
latitudes and longitudes.
 LONGITUDE AND TIME

 Since ancient times, man has been noting time by the movement of the Sun in the sky.
 The time recorded according to position of the Sun in the sky is called Local Time.
 The cycle of time keeps changing due to the rotation of the Earth.
 As the Earth rotates, every longitude gets a chance to come directly in front of the
Sun.
 When a longitude directly faces the Sun, it is said to experience noon. Therefore, all
places located on a longitude from the North Pole the South Pole experience mid-day
or noon at the same time.
 However, every longitude experiences noon at a different time. Thus, the local time
varies from one longitude to another.
 The Earth takes 24 hours to cover all 360 of longitudes, i.e., one rotation. So in one
hour it covers 15 of longitudes.
 According to this the Earth takes 4 minutes to cover 1 of longitude. (24x60/360)
 This means there is a difference of 4 minutes between the local times of any two
longitudes that are 1 apart.
 STANDARD TIME
 As many countries have a number of meridians passing through them, different
countries would have had different local times.
 In order to avoid confusion, a standard time has been adopted throughout a country.
 For this, the central meridian of each country is located and the local time of this
central meridian is described as STANDARD TIME.
 In India 8230’E was chosen as the Standard Meridian and it is called the INDIAN
STANDARD TIME (IST).
 The local time of Prime Meridian is called Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). It is
the Standard Time for UK.
 The IST is five and a half hours ahead of GMT. This means that when it is 4 PM in
UK, it is 9:30 PM in India.
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PRESIDIUM, ASHOK VIHAR

 SHAPE OF THE EARTH

 Between the North Pole and the South Pole,

 IMPORTANT PARALLELS OF LATITUDES

 The above mentioned parallels help us to divide the Earth

TORRID ZONE TEMPERATE ZONE FRIGID ZONE

 LONGITUDE AND TIME

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