NCERT Class 11 Geography Latitude Longitude and Time

Latitude, Longitude and Time

THE EARTH is nearly a sphere. It is because of the fact that the equatorial radius and the polar radius of the earth is not the same. The rotation of the earth over its axis produces bulging at the equator. Hence, the actual shape resembles that of an oblate spheroid. The shape of the earth presents some difficulties in positioning its surface features, as there is no point of reference from which to measure the relative positions of other points. Hence, a network of imaginary lines is drawn on a globe or a map to locate various places. Let us find out what are these lines and how are they drawn. The spinning of the earth on its axis from west to east provides two natural points of reference, i.e. North and South Poles. They form the basis for the geographical grid. A network of intersecting lines is drawn for the purpose of fixing the locations of different features. The grid consists of two sets of horizontal and vertical lines, which are called parallels of latitudes and the meridians of longitudes. Horizontal lines are drawn parallel to each other in east-west direction. The line drawn midway between the North Pole and the South Pole is called the equator. It is the largest circle and divides the globe into two equal halves. It is also called a great circle. All the other parallels get smaller in size, in proportion to their distance from the equator towards the poles and divide the earth into two unequal halves, also referred to as the small circles. These imaginary lines running east-west are commonly known as the parallels of latitude. The vertical lines running north-south, join the two poles. They are called the meridians of longitude. They are spaced farthest apart at the equator and converge at a point at each pole.

The latitudes and longitudes are commonly referred to as geographical coordinates as they provide systematic network of lines upon which the position of various surface features of the earth, can be represented. With the help of these coordinates, location, distance and direction of various points can be easily determined. Although an infinite number of parallels and meridians may be drawn on a globe, only a selected number of them are usually drawn on a map. Latitudes and longitudes are measured in degrees (°) because they represent angular distances. Each degree is further divided into 60 minutes ( ‘ ) and each minute into 60 seconds ( “ ).

PARALLELS OF LATITUDES

The latitude of a place on the earth’s surface is its distance north or south of the equator, measured along the meridian of that place as an angle from the centre of the earth. Lines joining places with the same latitudes are called parallels. The value of equator is 0° and the latitude of the poles are 90°N and 90°S (Fig. 3.1 on the next page). If parallels of latitude are drawn at an interval of one degree, there will be 89 parallels in the northern and the southern hemispheres each. The total number of parallels thus drawn, including the equator, will be 179. Depending upon the location of a feature or a place north or south of the equator, the letter N or S is written along with the value of the latitude.

EXERCISE

1. Answer the following questions in about 30 words:

  a.Which are the two natural points of references on the earth?

  b.What is a great circle?

  c.What are coordinates?

  d.Why does the sun appear to be moving from east to west?

  e.What is meant by local time?

2. Distinguish between latitudes and longitudes.

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 11 Geography Latitude, Longitude and Time