Latitude

angular distance north or south of the earth's equator. The angular distance between the equator and either pole is divided into ninety degrees. The northern boundary of a large part of the United States is the forty-ninth degree of north latitude; that is to say, it is a line on the earth's surface parallel to the equator, 49-90 of the total angular distance from the equator to the pole. St. Paul's, London, is situated in latitude 51.3048 north. Cape Horn is in latitude 55 59' south. It the sailor at sea is able to get the altitude of the sun above the earth's horizon, or of a star, he is able, with the aid of his almanac and watch, to determine the latitude in which his ship is sailing. Latitude is an important factor in climate. Unless other factors intervene, the higher the latitude, that is to say, the nearer the pole, the cooler the climate. Between points situated on the equator, the equator itself is the shortest distance between them. The shortest distance between two points on a parallel of latitude, either north or south of the equator, is not the arc of the parallel, but the arc of the circumference of the great circle that passes through them. The shortest line from a point in the northern boundary of Minnesota and a point in the northern boundary of Washington would be a curved line considerably north of the boundary at its central point. Navigators do not follow parallels. A shipmaster desiring to reach a port due east of Boston follows a course circling considerably to the northward. The literal meaning of the word is breadth. Latitude of thought means breadth of view.