What is longitude

See more words from the same century. Long Island Sound. Accessed 12 Nov. More Definitions for longitude. See the full definition for longitude in the English Language Learners Dictionary.

Nglish: Translation of longitude for Spanish Speakers. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Log in Sign Up. Save Word. Definition of longitude. Illustration of longitude longitude 1a: hemisphere marked with meridians of longitude. Did you know? Example Sentences Learn More About longitude. Examples of longitude in a Sentence a map of the world showing lines of latitude and longitude calculating the longitudes of different places The regions are on roughly the same longitude.

Visualize hula hoops cut in half, vertically positioned with one end at the North Pole and the other at the South Pole. As the vertical starting point for longitude, the Prime Meridian is numbered 0 degrees longitude. The degree line is a single vertical line called the International Date Line, and it is directly opposite of the Prime Meridian. All rights reserved. Credit: Illinois State University. Try it! The Mystery Class Challenge. Mystery Class is a global game of hide-and-seek. It is the southern-most position on the globe, where the Sun is directly overhead during the December Solstice.

Sometimes, latitudes north of the Equator are denoted by a positive sign. Latitudes south of the Equator are given negative values. This eliminates the need to add whether the specified latitude is north or south of the Equator. Longitudes are geographical positioning markers that run from the geographical North Pole to the geographical South Pole, intersecting the Equator. They meet at both Poles, and specify the east-west position of a location. Longitudes are, therefore, imaginary circles that intersect the North and South Poles and the Equator.

Half of a longitudinal circle is known as a Meridian. Meridians are perpendicular to every latitude. Unlike, latitudes, there is no obvious central longitude. However, in order to measure the position of a location based on the longitude, cartographers and geographers over the course of history have designated different locations as the main longitudinal reference point. Today, the meridian line through Greenwich, England, is considered as the reference point for longitudes. This line is also known as the Prime Meridian.

All the other longitudes are measured and named after the angle they make with respect to the center of the Earth from the intersection of the Meridian and the Equator. Since a sphere has degrees, the Earth is divided into longitudes.