45th parallel north
The 45th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 45 degrees north of Earth's equator. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. The 45th parallel north is often called the halfway point between the equator and the North Pole, but the true halfway point is 16.0 km (9.9 mi) north of it (approximately between 45°08'36" and 45°08'37") because Earth is an oblate spheroid; that is, it bulges at the equator and is flattened at the poles.[1]
At this latitude, the sun is visible for 15 hours 37 minutes during the summer solstice, and 8 hours 46 minutes during the winter solstice. The midday Sun stands 21.6° above the southern horizon at the December solstice, 68.4° at the June solstice, and exactly 45.0° at either equinox.[2]
Around the world
Starting at the
Europe
In Europe the 45th parallel hits the Bay of Biscay coast of France in the west. It crosses the river Rhône at Pont-de-l'Isère, just north of Valence, Drôme and through Grenoble. It then continues across the Massif Central and into the Aquitaine region. The city of Bordeaux is just south of the parallel. East of Bordeaux, in the municipality of Saint Seurin sur l'Isle, it intersects the Prime Meridian in the corner of an unremarkable field by the side of the A89 highway. There is no marker or other indication of this singular point on the parallel. It can, however, be visited easily by taking secondary roads from Saint Seurin and consulting a standard GPS signal.
In northern Italy it parallels the river Po, near Rovigo, passing by the southern province of Mantova, Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna, Voghera, then just south of Turin before passing into France in the Cottian Alps.
Further east it passes through the Balkans: Romania (just north of Ploiești, and through Târgu Jiu), the Serbian autonomous province of Vojvodina, the eastern tip of Croatia, the northern edge of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a section of Adriatic Croatia. The capital city of Serbia – Belgrade is just south of the parallel.
In Russia it runs from the west coast of the Caspian Sea to the east coast of the
Asia
After leaving Russia the parallel passes through southern
In
It leaves the Asian mainland on the coast of
North America
Throughout the United States the parallel is marked in many places on highways by a sign proclaiming that the location is halfway between the North Pole and the equator.[3][4][N 1]
The 45th parallel forms some boundaries of or passes through many U.S. states: Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, as well as going through the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The parallel once formed the northern boundary of the original Colony of Virginia, as outlined in the London Company charter.[5]
Going from west to east, the line makes landfall at the Pacific coast in Oregon. After crossing Idaho and the Rocky Mountains, it makes up most of the boundary between Montana and Wyoming. It then passes through the Great Plains and continues further East directly through Minneapolis, MN.
In Michigan, the
Further east, the 45th parallel roughly marks the
All of mainland
The parallel roughly bisects
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Marker on Interstate 5 near Keizer, Oregon
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45th parallel marker in Roseville, Minnesota a suburb of St Paul MN
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New Hampshire historical marker (number 115) for the 45th parallel
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GPS display on Highway 102 near Lantz, Nova Scotia
See also
Notes
- angle bisector between the equator and the north pole when seen from the Earth's center. See this image of a sign on the 45th parallel southfor exact distance values.
References
- ^ "The Half-Way to the Pole Line". 2 May 2006. Archived from the original on 2 May 2006. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- ^ "Duration of Daylight/Darkness Table for One Year". U.S. Naval Observatory. 2019-09-24. Archived from the original on 2019-10-12. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
- ^ "Concord Monitor: "New Hampshire is halfway between the equator and the North Pole – just don't ask where"". concordmonitor.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
- ^ "The First Charter of Virginia; April 10, 1606". The Avalon Project. 2008.
- ^ "The Canada–U.S. Border – Townships Heritage WebMagazine". townshipsheritage.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.