^{By: Melissa Sagendorph}

^{You may not think about important lines of latitude, but without them locations would be almost impossible to pin-point in the world! The basic lines of latitude are: the Arctic Circle, the Tropic of Cancer, the Equator, the Tropic of Capricorn, and last but not least, the Antarctic Circle.}

^{The equator runs directly around the center of the Earth from east to west. The equator cuts through South America and Africa. With all the other lines of latitude running around the Earth, it can be difficult to tell which line the equator is. Well the simple way is to see what it’s labeled. 0°! For a little bit of extra information: directly opposite the equator is the International Date Line. It’s labeled 180°. The Arctic Circle, located near the North Pole (90°N), is labeled 66 ½°N. The Arctic Circle runs through part of North America. If you were to go to the Arctic Circle, you can bet you’d be pretty cold! The Arctic Circle is also located in the high latitudes.}

^{Found right below the Arctic Circle is the Tropic of Cancer, labeled 22 ½° N. The Tropic of Cancer runs through North America. The Tropic of Cancer is located in the low latitudes. The weather in the middle latitudes is a little warm, but not that hot. Most of the United States is located in the middle latitudes.}

^{Skipping over the equator, we come to the Tropic of Capricorn, which is also located in the low latitudes. (If you were wondering how this is possible, then let me explain. You see, the high latitudes are only the latitudes located between 66 ½ °N and 90°N, and between 66 ½ °S and 90˚S. The middle latitudes are between 23 ½ °N and 66 ½°N and between 23 ½ ˚S and 66 ½ ˚S. Of course the low latitudes are located between 22 ½°N and 0° and between 0˚ and 22 ½ ˚S. The Tropic of Capricorn has weather that’s fairly warm, as does the Tropic of Cancer.}

^{Next, we move our way down to the Antarctic Circle, which is located in the middle latitudes. The Antarctic Circle is freezing! Very few people live there, if any. All of Antarctica is located in the Antarctic Circle. The Antarctic Circle is definitely not somewhere you would want to go!}

^{Finally, we have the North and South Poles. The North Pole is located at 90° N, the highest point on Earth. The weather there is very chilly! The South Pole is located at 90* S. The weather at the South Pole is also extremely cold..}

^{Thanks for reading all about Latitude with Attitude!}