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Tropic of Cancer

 
Tropic of Cancer

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Tropic of Cancer



 
 
The Tropic of Cancer, or Northern tropic, is one of five major degree measures or major circles of latitude
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 mark maps 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...
. It is the northernmost 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 ....
 at which 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....
 can appear directly overhead at noon.






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I have no money, no resources, no hopes. I am the happiest man alive.

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Nothing will avail to offset this virus which is poisoning the whole world. America is the very incarnation of doom. She will drag the whole world down to the bottomless pit.

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World Map With Tropic of Cancer
The Tropic of Cancer, or Northern tropic, is one of five major degree measures or major circles of latitude
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 mark maps 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...
. It is the northernmost 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 ....
 at which 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....
 can appear directly overhead at noon. This event occurs at the June solstice, when the northern hemisphere
Hemisphere

Hemisphere may refer to:*half of a sphereAs half of the Earth:*Any half of the Earth or other planetary or stellar body*New World*Old World...
 is tilted towards the sun to its maximum extent.

The Tropic of Cancer currently lies 23°
Degree (angle)

A degree , usually denoted by ? , is a measurement of plane angle, representing 1/360 of a Turn ; one degree is equivalent to p/180 radians....
 26' 22? north of the Equator
Equator

The equator is the intersection of the Earth's surface with the Plane perpendicular to the Earth's rotation and containing the Earth's center of mass....
. North of this latitude are the subtropics
Subtropics

For information on the American literary journal, see Subtropics The subtropics are the Geographical zone of the Earth immediately north and south of the tropics zone, which is bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, at latitude 23.5? north and south....
 and Northern Temperate Zone
Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold....
. The equivalent line of latitude south of the Equator is called the Tropic of Capricorn
Tropic of Capricorn

The Tropic of Capricorn, or Southern tropic, is one of the five major circle of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. It lies 23degree 26' 22? south of the Equator, and marks the most southerly latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead at noon....
, and the region between the two, centered on the Equator, is known as the Tropics.

The imaginary line is called the Tropic of Cancer because when it was named the sun was in the direction of the constellation
Constellation

A constellation is a group of stars that appear to have a physical proximity in the sky. The stars in a constellation are often vastly distant from each other, but they appear close to each other from the perspective of Earth....
 Cancer
Cancer (constellation)

Cancer is one of the twelve constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for crab and it is commonly represented as such. Its symbol is . Cancer is small and its stars are faint....
 (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 for crab
Crab

Crabs are Decapoda crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax....
) at the June solstice. However, this is no longer true due to the precession of the equinoxes
Precession of the equinoxes

In astronomy, precession refers to a gravitationally-induced slow but continuous change in an astronomical body's rotational axis or orbital path....
. According to IAU
IAU

IAU may refer to:*International Astronomical Union*International American University*International Association of Universities*International Association of Ultra Runners for ultramarathoners....
 boundaries, the sun now is in Taurus
Taurus (constellation)

Taurus is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for cattle, and its symbol is , a stylized bull's head. Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere's winter sky, between Aries to the west and Gemini to the east; to the north lie Perseus and Auriga , to the southeast Orion , to the south E...
 at the June solstice, and according to sidereal astrology
Sidereal astrology

Sidereal astrology is the system of astrology used by some Western and all Jyotish astrology who base their interpretation around the use of the Sidereal time zodiac....
, which divides the zodiac
Zodiac

Zodiac denotes an annual cycle of twelve stations along the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the heavens through the constellations that divide the ecliptic into twelve equal zones of celestial longitude....
 into twelve equal parts, the sun is in Gemini
Gemini (constellation)

Gemini is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for "twins", and it is associated with the twins Castor and Pollux in Greek mythology....
 at that time. The word "tropic" itself comes from the Greek tropos, meaning turn, referring to the fact that the sun appears to "turn back" at the solstices.

The position of the Tropic of Cancer is not fixed, but varies in a complex manner over time; see under circles of latitude
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....
 for information.

Geography

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 Tropic of Cancer passes through:

Country, territory or sea Notes
 
 
The Tropic touches on the northernmost point of
 
Red Sea
Red Sea

The Red Sea is a salt water inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb sound and the Gulf of Aden....
 
 
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (emirate)

Abu Dhabi, officially, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, , literally "Father of Gazelle"), is one of seven Emirates of the United Arab Emirates that constitute the United Arab Emirates ....
 emirate only
 
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 ....
Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea

The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui, the north-east point of Somalia, Socotra, Kanyakumari in India, and the western coast of Sri Lanka....
Called Karkataka Vrutta
 
 
 
 
(Burma) 
 
Taiwan Strait
Taiwan Strait

The Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait is a 180-km-wide strait between mainland China and Taiwan. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to East China Sea to the northeast....
 
Taiwan
Taiwan

Taiwan is an island in East Asia. "Taiwan" is also commonly used to refer to the country governed by the Republic of China and to the ROC itself, which governs the island of Taiwan, Orchid Island and Green Island, Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean off the Taiwan coast, the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait, and Kinmen and the Matsu Islands...
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....
 
Hawaii
Hawaii

File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
 — sea area only, misses every island, passing between Nihoa
Nihoa

Nihoa , also known as Bird Island or Moku Manu, is a small island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands located northwest of the island of Niihau and northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii....
 and Necker Island
Necker Island

Necker Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean, north of the Tropic of Cancer, located at . It is part of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, located northwest of Nihoa and northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, and is part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge within the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument....
Baja California peninsula
Baja California Peninsula

The Baja California peninsula, in English the Lower California peninsula is a peninsula in western Mexico. It extends some 1250 km from Mexicali, Baja California, in the north to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, in the south, separating the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California ....
Gulf of California
Gulf of California

The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexico mainland. It is bordered by the States of Mexico of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, and Sinaloa....
 
States of Sinaloa
Sinaloa

Sinaloa is one of the 31 mexican state of Mexico....
, Durango
Durango

Durango is one of the constituent states of Mexico. Its population is 1,509,118. It has Mexico's second-lowest population density, after Baja California Sur....
, Zacatecas
Zacatecas

Zacatecas States of Mexico of Mexico is located in the north-central region and it is bounded to the northwest by Durango, to the north by Coahuila, to the east by San Luis Potos?, to the south by Aguascalientes and Guanajuato and to the southwest by Jalisco and Nayarit....
, San Luis Potosi
San Luis Potosí

The Mexico state of San Luis Potos? has an area of .It is in the north-central part of the Mexican republic, It borders Coahuila to the north, Nuevo Leon to the north-east, Tamaulipas to the east, Veracruz to the east, Hidalgo, Queretaro, and Guanajuato to the south,and Zacatecas to the north-west....
, Nuevo Leon
Nuevo León

Nuevo Le?n is a States of Mexico located in northeastern Mexico. It borders the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east and San Luis Potos? to the south, and Coahuila to the west....
 and Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas

Tamaulipas is one of the 31 States of Mexico of Mexico and is located in the northeast....
Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an oceanic basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba....
 
Straits of Florida
Straits of Florida

The Straits of Florida, Florida Straits, or Florida Strait is a strait located south-southeast of the North American mainland, generally accepted to be between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, and between the Florida Keys and Cuba....
 
Exuma
Exuma

Exuma is a District of the Bahamas of the Bahamas, consisting of over 360 islands . The largest of the cays is Great Exuma, which is 37 mi in length....
 Islands and Long Island
Long Island, Bahamas

This article is about the island in the Bahamas. For other uses of the word "Long Island", see Long Island .Long Island is an eighty-mile long island in the Bahamas that is split by the Tropic of Cancer....
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....
 
Western Sahara
Western Sahara

Western Sahara is a territory of North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria in the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean on the west....
Claimed by
 
 
 


Circumnavigation

According to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

The F?d?ration A?ronautique Internationale is the world governing body for air sports and aeronautics and astronautics world records. This includes man-carrying vehicles from Balloon to spacecraft, and unmanned vehicles ....
's rules, for a flight to compete for a round-the-world speed record, it must cover a distance no less than the length of the Tropic of Cancer as well as cross all meridians
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....
 and end on the same airfield where it started. This length is set to be 36787.559 kilometres - a number implying a precision which does not exist, considering the variations of the tropic described above.

For an ordinary circumnavigation
Circumnavigation

To circumnavigate a place, such as an island, a continent, or the Earth, is to travel all the way around it by boat or ship. More recently, the term has also been used to cover aerial round-the-world flights....
 the rules are somewhat relaxed and the distance is set to a rounded value of 37000 kilometres.

See also

  • Tropic of Capricorn
    Tropic of Capricorn

    The Tropic of Capricorn, or Southern tropic, is one of the five major circle of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. It lies 23degree 26' 22? south of the Equator, and marks the most southerly latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead at noon....
  • Arctic Circle
    Arctic Circle

    The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circle of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. It is the parallel of latitude that runs 66degree 33'39? north of the Equator....
  • Antarctic Circle
    Antarctic Circle

    The Antarctic Circle is one of the five major circle of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. As of 2000, it lies at latitude 66degree 33' 39? south of the equator....
  • Equator
    Equator

    The equator is the intersection of the Earth's surface with the Plane perpendicular to the Earth's rotation and containing the Earth's center of mass....
  • Ducking and shaving
    Ducking and shaving

    The practice of shaving new seamen and ducking them in the sea the first time they cross the Tropic of Cancer. The custom, common on 18th century British sailing vessels, involved tying a rope around the man and dunking him in the sea three times from the main yard....