Page 325 - New Medley 5 Semester 1

respectively. If one draws parallels at an interval of 1° from North Pole

to South Pole, the total number of parallels including the equator will
be 181. There are many parallels, which are considered important on the

globe. Seven of them are as under:

1. North Pole – 90° N 2. Arctic Circle – 66.5° N

3. Tropic of Cancer – 23.5° N 4. Equator – 0°

5. Tropic of Capricorn – 23.5° S 6. Antarctic Circle – 66.5° S

7. South Pole – 90° S

Meridians

The semicircular lines on the globe, which are

joining the North Pole and the South Pole are
named as meridians. They are equal in length. The

distance between any two meridians is maximum
at the equator, which is about 111 kilometres for

one degree. The distance decreases towards north
and south of equator. The meridians cross the

parallels at right angles (90°). They help us find Grid on the Globe
the east-west direction.

In the meridians also, we need a starting point. According to an agreement,

the meridian which passes through Greenwich near London in the U.K.,

has been taken as the starting point. This meridian was named as the
Prime Meridian. The angular distance east or west of the Prime Meridian
is called longitude. It is also measured in degrees. The meridians are

also called the lines of longitude.

The Prime Meridian is marked as 0°. The meridian of 180° lies just

opposite the Prime Meridian. Thus, there are 180 meridians towards the
east and 180 meridians towards the west of the Prime Meridian (at an

interval of 1°). The total number of meridians are 360, because 180° E
and 180° W is the same line.

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