Equator

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Equator

The equator (sometimes referred to colloquially as "the Line") is the intersection of the Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World and Wiktionary:Terra.Note that by International Astronomical Union convention, the term "Terra" is used for naming extensive land masses, rather...
's surface with the plane

Plane (mathematics)

In mathematics, a plane is a curvature surface. Planes can arise as subspaces of some higher dimensional space, as with the walls of a room, or they may enjoy an independent existence in their own right, as in the setting of Euclidean geometry....
perpendicular to the Earth's axis of rotation

Rotation

A rotation is a movement of an object in a circular motion. A two-dimensional object rotates around a center of rotation. A Three-dimensional space object rotates around a line called an axis....
and containing the Earth's center of mass

Center of mass

The center of mass of a system of wiktionary:Particles is a specific point at which, for many purposes, the system's mass behaves as if it were concentrated....
. In more simple language, it is an imaginary line on the Earth

Earth

North Pole

The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets the Earth's surface....
and South Pole

South Pole

The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's rotation intersects the surface....
that divides the Earth into a Northern Hemisphere

Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator....
and a Southern Hemisphere

Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is south of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half ball'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere south of the celestial equator....
.

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Geodesy of the equator

The latitude

Latitude

Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps ....
of the equator is, by definition, 0°. The length of Earth

Earth

Circle of latitude

A circle of latitude, on the Earth, is an imaginary east-west circle connecting all locations that share a given latitude. A location's position along a circle of latitude is given by its longitude....
that are based on the relationship between the Earth's axis of rotation

Rotation

ORBit

ORBit is a Common Object Request Broker Architecture 2.4 compliant Object Request Broker . It features mature C , C++ and Python bindings, and less developed bindings for Perl, Lisp , Pascal , Ruby , and Tcl....
around the sun. It is the only line of latitude which is also a great circle

Great circle

A great circle of a sphere is a circle that runs along the surface of that sphere so as to cut it into two equal halves. The great circle therefore has both the same circumference and the same center as the sphere....
. The imaginary circle obtained when the Earth's equator is projected onto the sky is called the celestial equator

Celestial equator

The celestial equator is a great circle on the imaginary celestial sphere, in the same plane as the Earth's equator. In other words, it is a projection of the terrestrial equator out into space....
.

The Sun

Sun

The Sun , a G V star, is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and other matter orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 98.6% of the Solar System's mass....
, in its season

Season

A season is one of the major divisions of the year, generally based on yearly periodic changes in weather.Seasons result from the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the Axial tilt....
al movement through the sky, passes directly over the equator twice each year

Year

A year is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. By extension, this can be applied to any planet: for example, a "Martian year" is the time in which Mars completes its own orbit....
, on the March and September equinox

Equinox

Equinoxes occur twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor toward the Sun, causing the Sun to be located vertically above a point on the equator....
es. At the equator, the rays of the sun are perpendicular

Perpendicular

In geometry, two line or plane , are considered perpendicular to each other if they form congruence adjacent angles angles . The term may be used as a noun or adjective....
to the surface of the earth on these dates.

Places on the equator experience the quickest rates of sunrise

Sunrise

Sunrise is the instant at which the upper edge of the Sun appears above the horizon in the east. Sunrise should not be confused with dawn, which is the point at which the sky begins to lighten, some time before the sun itself appears, ending twilight....
and sunset

Sunset

File:Sunset 2007-1.jpgSunset is the daily disappearance of the sun below the horizon as a result of the Earth's rotation. The atmospheric conditions created by the setting of the sun are also commonly referred to as "a sunset"....
in the world. Such places also have a theoretical constant 12 hours of day and night throughout the year (in practice there are variations of a few minutes due to the effects of atmospheric refraction and because sunrise and sunset are measured from the time the edge of the Sun's disc is on the horizon

Horizon

The horizon is the apparent line that separates earth from sky.More precisely, it is the line that divides all of the directions one can possibly look into two categories: those which intersect the Earth's surface, and those which do not....
, rather than its centre). North or south of the equator day length increasingly varies with latitude and the seasons.

The Earth bulges slightly at the equator

Equatorial bulge

An equatorial bulge is a bulge which a planet may have around its equator, distorting it into an oblate spheroid. The Earth has an equatorial bulge of 42.72 km due to its rotation: its diameter measured across the equatorial plane is 42.72 km more than that measured between the poles ....
. It has an average diameter of , but at the equator the diameter is approximately greater.

Locations near the equator are good sites for spaceport

Spaceport

A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching spacecraft, by analogy with seaport for ships or airport for aircraft. In rocketry, major spaceports often include more than one launch complex, each of which may have more than one launch pad....
s, such as the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou

Kourou

Kourou is a town and commune in France in French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department of France located in South America.Kourou is the location of the Guiana Space Centre, France and ESA's main spaceport....
, French Guiana

French Guiana

French Guiana is an overseas department of France, located on the northern coast of South America. Like the other Overseas departments, French Guiana is also an overseas region of France, one of the 26 regions of France, and is an integral part of the French Republic....
, as they are already moving faster than any other point on the Earth due to the Earth's rotation, and the added velocity reduces the amount of fuel needed to launch spacecraft. Spacecraft launched in this manner must launch to the east to use this effect.

For high precision work, the equator is not quite as fixed as the above discussion implies. The true equatorial plane must always be perpendicular to the Earth's spin axis. Although this axis is relatively stable, its position wanders in approximately a radius circular motion each year. Thus, the true equator moves slightly. This, however, is only important for detailed scientific studies. The effect is quite small, and the width of a line marking the equator on almost any map will be much wider than the error.

Equatorial climate

Temperatures near the equator are high year round with the exception for periods during the wet season and at higher altitudes. In many tropical regions people identify two seasons: wet and dry. However, most places close to the equator are wet throughout the year, and seasons can vary depending on a variety of factors including elevation and proximity to an ocean. The rainy and humid conditions mean that the equatorial climate is not the hottest in the world.

The surface of the Earth at the equator is mostly ocean. The highest point on the equator is , at 00°00'00?S, 77°59'31?W, on the south slopes of Volcán Cayambe (summit ) in Ecuador. This is a short distance above the snow line, and this point and its immediate vicinity form the only section of the equator where snow lies on the ground.

Equatorial countries and territories

The equator traverses the land and/or territorial waters of 14 countries

Country

Country may refer to the territory of a state, or to a smaller, or former, political division of a geographical region. In another meaning of the word, the country is also a term used to refer to rural areas....
. Starting at the Prime Meridian

Prime Meridian

The Prime Meridian is the meridian at which longitude is defined to be 0?.The Prime Meridian and the opposite 180th meridian , which the International Date Line generally follows, form a great circle that divides the Earth into the Eastern Hemisphere and Western Hemispheres....
and heading eastwards, the equator passes through:

long	Country, territory or sea	Notes
0° Prime Meridian The Prime Meridian is the meridian at which longitude is defined to be 0?.The Prime Meridian and the opposite 180th meridian , which the International Date Line generally follows, form a great circle that divides the Earth into the Eastern Hemisphere and Western Hemispheres....	Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....	Gulf of Guinea Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the part of the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Africa. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian is in the gulf. According to the International Hydrographic Organization, the Gulf's oceanic border is the rhumb line that runs from Cape Palmas in Liberia to Cape Lopez in Gabon ....
7° E		Ilhéu das Rolas Ilhéu das Rolas Ilh?u das Rolas is a small island in S?o Tom? and Pr?ncipe, in Africa. The island lies on the equator, off the southern tip of S?o Tom? Island....
8°	Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....	Gulf of Guinea Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the part of the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Africa. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian is in the gulf. According to the International Hydrographic Organization, the Gulf's oceanic border is the rhumb line that runs from Cape Palmas in Liberia to Cape Lopez in Gabon ....
10° 10th meridian east The meridian 10? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Europe, Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
15° 15th meridian east The meridian 15? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Europe, Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
20° 20th meridian east The meridian 20? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Europe, Africa, the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean oceans, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
30° 30th meridian east The meridian 30? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Europe, Turkey, Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
33°	Lake Victoria Lake Victoria Lake Victoria or Victoria Nyanza is one of the Great Lakes of Africa.Lake Victoria is 68,800 square kilometres in size, making it the continent's largest lake, the largest tropical lake in the world, and the second widest fresh water lake in the world in terms of surface area ....
35° 40° 40th meridian east The meridian 40? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
41°
43° 50° 50th meridian east The meridian 50? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Madagascar, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... 60° 60th meridian east The meridian 60? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Europe, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... 70° 70th meridian east The meridian 70? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....	Indian Ocean Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
73°		Passing between Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll Southern Huvadhu Atoll or Gaafu Dhaalu is an administrative district of the Maldives formed by the southwestern section of Huvadhu Atoll. It was created on February 8, 1962 when Huvadhu Atoll was divided into two districts.... and Gnaviyani Atoll Gnaviyani Atoll Gnaviyani Atoll is one of the Administrative divisions of the Maldives of the Maldives. It corresponds to the island known as Fuvammulah in the local language and Fua Mulaku in the International Navigational Charts and by H....
80° 80th meridian east The meridian 80? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... 90° 90th meridian east The meridian 90? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....	Indian Ocean Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
100° 100th meridian east The meridian 100? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....		The Batu Islands Batu Islands The Batu Islands are an archipelago of Indonesia located in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Sumatra, between Nias and Siberut. The three primary islands, of approximately equal size, are Pini, Tanahmasa, and Tanahbala.... , Sumatra Sumatra Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the list of islands by area in the world .... and the Lingga Islands Lingga Islands Not to be confused with "Linga", a common Scottish island name, see Linga The Lingga Islands or Lingga Archipelago are a group of islands in Indonesia, located south of Singapore, along both sides of the equator, off the eastern coast of Riau Islands province on Sumatra island....
105°	Indian Ocean Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....	Karimata Strait Karimata Strait The Karimata Strait is the wide strait that connects the South China Sea to the Java Sea, between the islands of Sumatra and Borneo in Indonesia....
110° 110th meridian east The meridian 110? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....		Borneo Borneo Borneo is the List of islands by area and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei....
118°	Indian Ocean Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....	Makassar Strait Makassar Strait Makassar Strait is a strait between the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi in Indonesia. To the north it joins the Celebes Sea, while to the south it meets the Java Sea....
120° 120th meridian east The meridian 120? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Indian Ocean, Australia, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....		Sulawesi Sulawesi Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands....
121°	Indian Ocean Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....	Gulf of Tomini Gulf of Tomini The Gulf of Tomini is a Headlands and bays near the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia.It is bounded on its north and west sides by the Minahassa Peninsula and on the south side by the East Peninsula, Sulawesi....
125°	Indian Ocean Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....	Molucca Sea Molucca Sea The Molucca Sea is located in the western Pacific Ocean, within the country of Indonesia. The region is rich in coral and has many diving sites....
127°		Kayoa and Halmahera Halmahera Halmahera is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku province of Indonesia.Halmahera has a land area of 17,780 km? and a population in 1995 of 162,728.... islands
128°	Pacific Ocean Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....	Halmahera Sea Halmahera Sea Halmahera Sea is a regional sea located in the central eastern part of the Australasian Mediterranean Sea. It is centered at about 1st parallel south and 129th meridian east and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the north, Halmahera to the west, Waigeo and Irian Jaya to the east, and the Seram Sea to the south....
130° 130th meridian east The meridian 130? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, Australia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....		Gebe Island
140° 140th meridian east The meridian 140? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, Australasia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... 150° 150th meridian east The meridian 150? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, Australasia, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... 160° 160th meridian east The meridian 160? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....	Pacific Ocean Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
173°		Misses every island, passing between Aranuka Aranuka Aranuka is an atoll of Kiribati, located just north of the equator, in the Gilbert Islands. It has an area of 15.5 square kilometers and a population of 852 Gilbertese.... and Nonouti Nonouti Nonouti is an atoll and district of Kiribati. The atoll is located in the South Gilbert Islands, 38 km north of Tabiteuea, and 250 km south of Tarawa.... Atolls
180° 180th meridian The 180th meridian or antimeridian is the meridian defined as 180? longitude. It is the line of longitude exactly opposite the Prime Meridian....	Pacific Ocean Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
176° W		Baker Island Baker Island Baker Island is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean about 3,100 kilometers southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii.... — passes through territorial waters The equator also passes through the exclusive economic zones Exclusive Economic Zone Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, an Exclusive Economic Zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine Natural resource.... around Howland Island Howland Island Howland Island is an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about 3,100 km southwest of Honolulu.... and Jarvis Island Jarvis Island Jarvis Island is an uninhabited 4.5 square kilometer coral island located in the South Pacific Ocean at , about halfway between Hawaii and the Cook Islands.... , but not through their territorial waters
170° 170th meridian west The meridian 170? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... 160° 160th meridian west The meridian 160? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... 150° 150th meridian west The meridian 150? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... 140° 140th meridian west The meridian 140? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... 130° 130th meridian west The meridian 130? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... 120° 120th meridian west The meridian 120? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... 110° 110th meridian west The meridian 110? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... 100° 100th meridian west The meridian 100? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....	Pacific Ocean Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
90° 90th meridian west The meridian 90? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Gulf of Mexico, Central America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....		Isabela Island Isabela Island (Ecuador) Isabela Island is the largest island of the Gal?pagos with an area of 4,640 km?,and length of 80 miles nearly 4 times larger than Santa Cruz, the next largest of the islands.... in the Galápagos Islands Galápagos Islands Gal?pagos Islands are an archipelago of Island#Volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, 972 km west of continental Ecuador....
88°	Pacific Ocean Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
80° 80th meridian west The meridian 80? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, Central America, South America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....		The literal translation of Ecuador's official name is "Republic of the Equator"
70° 70th meridian west The meridian 70? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, South America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....		It intersects the country through an Amazon jungle area.
60° 60th meridian west The meridian 60? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Greenland, North America, the Atlantic Ocean, South America, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... 50° 50th meridian west The meridian 50? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Greenland, the Atlantic Ocean, South America, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....		Including some islands in the mouth of the Amazon River Amazon River The Amazon River of South America is the list of rivers by length in the world by volume, with a total river flow greater than the next top eight largest rivers combined....
40° 40th meridian west The meridian 40? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Greenland, the Atlantic Ocean, South America, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... 30° 30th meridian west The meridian 30? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Greenland, the Atlantic Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... 20° 20th meridian west The meridian 20? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Greenland, Iceland, the Atlantic Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... 10° 10th meridian west The meridian 10? west of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, Ireland, Africa, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....	Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....

Despite its name, no part of Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea

The Republic of Equatorial Guinea is a Spanish-speaking country located in Central Africa. With an area of 28,000 km2 it is one of the smallest countries in continental Africa, having a population estimated at half a million....
's territory lies on the equator. However, its island of Annobón

Annobón Province

Annob?n , also known as Pagalu or Pigalu, is an island of Equatorial Guinea. It is located in the South Atlantic Ocean at , about 220 miles off the west coast of Africa and south west of S?o Tom? Island....
is about south of the equator, and the rest of the country lies to the north. The country that comes closest to the equator without actually touching it is Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
.

"Crossing the Line"

The English-speaking seafaring tradition maintains that all sailors who cross the equator during a nautical voyage must undergo rites of passage and elaborate rituals initiating them into The Solemn Mysteries of the Ancient Order of the Deep. Those who have never "crossed the line" are derisively referred to as "pollywogs" or simply "slimy wogs". Upon entering the domain of His Royal Majesty, Neptunus Rex, all wogs are subject to various initiation rituals performed by those members of the crew who have made the journey before. Upon completion of the initiation ceremony, the wogs are then known as "trusty Shellbacks". If the crossing of the equator is done at the 180th meridian

180th meridian

The 180th meridian or antimeridian is the meridian defined as 180? longitude. It is the line of longitude exactly opposite the Prime Meridian....
, the title of "Bronze Shellback" is conferred, recognizing the simultaneous entry into the realm of the Bronze Dragon. If the crossing occurs at the Greenwich or Prime Meridian

Prime Meridian

Exact length of the equator

The equator is modeled exactly in two widely used standards as a circle of radius an integer number of meters. In 1976 the IAU

International Astronomical Union

The International Astronomical Union is a collection of professional astronomers, at the Ph.D. level and beyond, active in professional research and education in astronomy....
standardized this radius as , subsequently refined by the IUGG

International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics

The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, or IUGG, is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the scientific study of the Earth using Geophysics and Geodesy techniques....
to and adopted in WGS-84

World Geodetic System

The World Geodetic System is a standard for use in cartography, geodesy, and navigation. It comprises a standard Cartesian coordinates for the Earth, a standard spheroid reference surface for raw altitude data, and a gravitation equipotential surface that defines the "nominal sea level"....
, though the yet more recent IAU-2000 has retained the old IAU-1976 value. In either case, the length of the equator is by definition exactly 2p times the given standard, which to the nearest millimeter is in WGS-84 and in IAU-1976 and IAU-2000.

The geographical mile

Geographical mile

The geographical mile is a unit of length determined by 1 minute along the Earth's equator, approximately equal to 1855.325 metres . Any greater precision depends more on choice of standard than on more careful measurement: the length of the equator in the World Geodetic System WGS-84 is 40,075,016.6856 m which makes the geographical mile 1...
is defined as one arc minute of the equator, and therefore has different values depending on which standard equator is used, namely or for respectively WGS-84 and IAU-2000, a difference of nearly a millimeter.

The earth is standardly modeled as a sphere flattened about 0.336% along its axis. This results in the equator being about 0.16% longer than a meridian

Meridian (geography)

A meridian is an imaginary arc on the Earth's surface from the North Pole to the South Pole that connects all locations running along it with a given longitude....
(as a great circle passing through the two poles). The IUGG standard meridian is to the nearest millimeter , one arc minute of which is , explaining the SI

International System of Units

The International System of Units is the modern form of the metric system and is generally a system devised around the convenience of the number ten....
standardization of the nautical mile

Nautical mile

A nautical mile or sea mile is a unit of length. It corresponds approximately to one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian .It is a non-International System of Units unit used especially by navigators in the shipping and aviation industries....
as , more than short of the geographical mile

Geographical mile

Equator

Geodesy of the equator

Equatorial climate

Equatorial countries and territories

"Crossing the Line"

Exact length of the equator

See also