What Is Latitude and Longitude?
Earth's invisible address system — two numbers that pinpoint any spot on the entire planet.
An Address for Every Point on Earth
If someone says "meet me at 40.7° North, 74.0° West," they're giving you the exact location of New York City using latitude and longitude — the coordinate system that covers the entire globe. Just like a street address tells a mail carrier exactly where to deliver a letter, latitude and longitude tell you exactly where any place is on Earth, whether it's a city, a mountain peak, or a spot in the middle of the ocean.
Latitude — How Far North or South
Latitude lines run horizontally around Earth, like belts. They measure how far north or south you are from the Equator — the imaginary line that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The Equator is 0° latitude. The North Pole is 90° North, and the South Pole is 90° South. Every place on Earth has a latitude between 0° and 90°, either north or south of the Equator.
An easy way to remember: think of latitude as a ladder — the "rungs" go side to side, and you climb up (north) or down (south).
Longitude — How Far East or West
Longitude lines run vertically from the North Pole to the South Pole. They measure how far east or west you are from the Prime Meridian — the 0° line that passes through Greenwich, England. Longitude ranges from 0° to 180° East and 0° to 180° West. The line at 180° (on the opposite side of the globe from the Prime Meridian) is the International Date Line, where the calendar changes by one day.
Memory trick: longitude lines are long — they stretch the full length of the Earth from pole to pole.
Putting Them Together
Every location on Earth can be described with two numbers: a latitude and a longitude. For example, the Statue of Liberty is at roughly 40.69° N, 74.04° W. The Great Pyramid of Giza is at 29.98° N, 31.13° E. By combining one horizontal and one vertical line, you get a precise intersection — a single point on the map. This is exactly how GPS (Global Positioning System) works: satellites in space calculate your latitude and longitude to guide you on your phone's map app.
Special Lines to Know
Several latitude lines have special names. The Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N) and Tropic of Capricorn (23.5° S) mark the boundaries of the tropics — the zone where the Sun can be directly overhead. The Arctic Circle (66.5° N) and Antarctic Circle (66.5° S) mark the regions where the Sun can stay up for 24 hours straight in summer or disappear entirely in winter. These lines exist because Earth's axis is tilted 23.5° relative to its orbit around the Sun.
The coordinates 0° latitude, 0° longitude — where the Equator meets the Prime Meridian — is a spot in the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean, about 600 kilometers south of Ghana. There's nothing there but open water. Sailors call it "Null Island," and it's become famous as the geographic "zero point" of the coordinate system, even though there's no actual island there.
Last reviewed: April 2026