On the globe, you can see criss-crossing lines, which are the lines of longitude and latitude. The lines connecting the north and south poles are called longitudes. Lines perpendicular to longitude are called latitude. Lines of latitude are circles of varying lengths. The longest latitude is the equator.
Longitude and latitude lines are drawn on globes and maps in order to determine the position and direction on the earth. There are no longitude and latitude lines drawn on the ground. However, it is not difficult to see the longitude of your place: set up a bamboo pole on the ground. When the sun rises highest at noon, the shadow of the bamboo pole is the longitude of your place. Because the longitude lines indicate the north-south direction, they are also called meridians.
On a map, through any point on the surface of the earth, a line of longitude and a line of latitude perpendicular to the longitude can be drawn. In this way, countless longitudes and latitudes can be drawn. How can we distinguish these longitude and latitude lines? The best way is to give each line of longitude and latitude a name, which is longitude and latitude. Longitude is used to represent the name of each longitude line, and latitude is used to represent the name of each latitude line.
Internationally, the longitude passing through the original site of the Greenwich Observatory in the United Kingdom is called the 0° longitude, also called the prime meridian. Going east from the 0° longitude is called east longitude; going west is called west longitude. Since the earth is a sphere, the east and west longitudes each have 180°. Longitude 180° east and longitude 180° west are on the same longitude, that is the 180° longitude.
The longest latitude line - the equator, is called the 0° latitude line. The latitude measured north from the equator is called northern latitude; the latitude measured southward is called southern latitude. The north and south latitudes are 90° each. The North Pole is 90° north latitude.
Since the longitude lines connect the north and south poles, all longitude lines are equal in length and represent the north-south direction. Lines of latitude indicate the east-west direction. The warp and latitude lines are perpendicular to each other and intertwined with each other, forming a latitude and longitude network. When we read a map, we can use the latitude and longitude network to identify the direction, and we can also determine the longitude and latitude of any point on the earth.
Longitudes and latitudes can also divide the earth into several different hemispheres. Just like cutting a watermelon, cut the earth along the equator. The hemisphere north of the equator is called the northern hemisphere; the hemisphere south of the equator is called the southern hemisphere. For example, if the earth is cut along the longitude 20° west longitude and 160° east longitude, the hemisphere from 20° west longitude to the east to 160° east longitude is called the Eastern Hemisphere; the hemisphere to the west is called the Western Hemisphere.
Longitude:
The line connecting the north and south poles and intersecting perpendicularly with the latitude, also called the meridian. Meridians indicate the north-south direction; all meridians are semicircular and of equal length; two opposing meridians form a meridian loop; any meridian loop can bisect the earth into two hemispheres.
Line of latitude:
On the globe, the circle that surrounds the globe in the east-west direction is called the latitude line. All latitude lines are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the longitude lines, which indicate the east-west direction. The latitude coils vary in size, with the equator being the largest. The latitude coils gradually shrink from the equator to the poles, and then shrink to points at the north and south poles.