Maps & Mapping: Longitude & Latitude, Meridians & Parallels

A system of lines is used to find the location of any place on the surface of the Earth.

We use imaginary lines to help locate where a place is in the world.

Latitude is the measurement of distance north or south of the Equator.

Longitude is the measurement east or west of the prime meridian.

Every location on earth has a global address. Because the address is in numbers, people can communicate about location no matter what language they might speak.

Lines of latitude measure north-south position between the poles.

The imaginary east-west line encircling Earth midway between the North Pole and the South Pole is called the Equator.

The prime meridian is the line of 0° longitude, the starting point for measuring distance both east and west around Earth

Longitude lines like the Greenwich Meridian run north-south and converge at the poles.

It is impossible to lay a flat sheet of paper over a sphere without creasing, folding, or cutting it—as you know if you have tried to gift-wrap a ball.