Parallel (latitude) in the context of "Sine"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Parallel (latitude) in the context of "Sine"

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Parallel (latitude)

A circle of latitude or line of latitude on Earth is an abstract eastwest small circle connecting all locations around Earth (ignoring elevation) at a given latitude coordinate line.

Circles of latitude are often called parallels because they are parallel to each other; that is, planes that contain any of these circles never intersect each other. A location's position along a circle of latitude is given by its longitude. Circles of latitude are unlike circles of longitude, which are all great circles with the centre of Earth in the middle, as the circles of latitude get smaller as the distance from the Equator increases. Their length can be calculated by a common sine or cosine function. For example, the 60th parallel north or south is half as long as the Equator (disregarding Earth's minor flattening by 0.335%), stemming from . On the Mercator projection or on the Gall-Peters projection, a circle of latitude is perpendicular to all meridians. On the ellipsoid or on spherical projection, all circles of latitude are rhumb lines, except the Equator.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier

Parallel (latitude) in the context of Latitude

In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pole, with 0° at the Equator. Lines of constant latitude, or parallels, run east-west as circles parallel to the equator. Latitude and longitude are used together as a coordinate pair to specify a location on the surface of the Earth.

On its own, the term latitude normally refers to the geodetic latitude as defined below. Briefly, the geodetic latitude of a point is the angle formed between the vector perpendicular (or normal) to the ellipsoidal surface from the point, and the plane of the equator.

↑ Return to Menu

Parallel (latitude) in the context of Tymfi

Tymphe (in Latin and English usage) or Tymfi (in the Greek government's preferred transliteration), Timfi, also Tymphi (Greek: Τύμφη, [ˈtimfi]) is a mountain in the northern Pindus mountain range, in northwestern Greece. It is part of the regional unit of Ioannina and lies in the region of Zagori, just a few metres south of the 40° parallel. Tymphe forms a massif with its highest peak, Gamila, at 2,497 m (8,192 ft).

The massif of Tymphe includes in its southern part the Vikos Gorge, while they both form part of the Vikos–Aoös National Park which accepts over 100,000 visitors per year. The former municipality of Tymfi owed its name to the mountain.

↑ Return to Menu

Parallel (latitude) in the context of Graticule (cartography)

A graticule or grid (from Latin crāticula 'grill/grating'), on a map, is a graphical depiction of a coordinate system as a grid of coordinate curves or "lines", each curve/line representing a constant coordinate value. It is thus a form of isoline, and is commonly found on maps of many kinds, at scales from local to global.

The term graticule is almost always used to specifically refer to the parallels and meridians of latitude and longitude, respectively. In modern usage, graticules are contrasted with grids, which display the eastings and northings of a projected coordinate reference system, such as Universal Transverse Mercator – usually the coordinate system in which the map is drawn.

↑ Return to Menu