40th parallel north
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The 40th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 40 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean.
At this latitude the sun is visible for 15 hours, 1 minute and 28 seconds during the summer solstice and 9 hours, 20 minutes during the winter solstice.[1] On 21 June, the maximum altitude of the sun is 73.44 degrees, while it's 26.56 degrees on 21 December.[citation needed]
The maximum altitude of the Sun is > 35.00º in October and > 28.00º in November.
The 40th parallel north is the southern baseline for Canada's National Topographic System.
Around the world
Starting in Spain at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 40° north passes through:
Co-ordinates Country, territory or sea Notes 40°0′N 0°0′E / 40.000°N 0.000°E / 40.000; 0.000 (Prime Meridian) Spain Valencian Community 40°0′N 0°2′E / 40.000°N 0.033°E / 40.000; 0.033 (Mediterranean Sea) Mediterranean Sea Passing just north of the island of Majorca, Spain 40°0′N 3°48′E / 40.000°N 3.800°E / 40.000; 3.800 (Spain) Spain Island of Menorca 40°0′N 4°13′E / 40.000°N 4.217°E / 40.000; 4.217 (Mediterranean Sea) Mediterranean Sea 40°0′N 8°24′E / 40.000°N 8.400°E / 40.000; 8.400 (Italy) Italy Island of Sardinia 40°0′N 9°42′E / 40.000°N 9.700°E / 40.000; 9.700 (Mediterranean Sea) Mediterranean Sea Tyrrhenian Sea 40°0′N 15°20′E / 40.000°N 15.333°E / 40.000; 15.333 (Italy) Italy Campania 40°0′N 15°26′E / 40.000°N 15.433°E / 40.000; 15.433 (Mediterranean Sea) Mediterranean Sea Gulf of Policastro 40°0′N 15°41′E / 40.000°N 15.683°E / 40.000; 15.683 (Italy) Italy Basilicata, Calabria 40°0′N 16°37′E / 40.000°N 16.617°E / 40.000; 16.617 (Mediterranean Sea) Mediterranean Sea Gulf of Taranto 40°0′N 18°0′E / 40.000°N 18.000°E / 40.000; 18.000 (Italy) Italy Apulia 40°0′N 18°25′E / 40.000°N 18.417°E / 40.000; 18.417 (Mediterranean Sea) Mediterranean Sea Strait of Otranto 40°0′N 19°53′E / 40.000°N 19.883°E / 40.000; 19.883 (Albania) Albania Passing just north of Sarandë and just south of Gjirokastër 40°0′N 20°23′E / 40.000°N 20.383°E / 40.000; 20.383 (Greece) Greece 40°0′N 22°37′E / 40.000°N 22.617°E / 40.000; 22.617 (Aegean Sea) Mediterranean Sea Aegean Sea 40°0′N 23°23′E / 40.000°N 23.383°E / 40.000; 23.383 (Greece) Greece Kassandra and Sithonia 40°0′N 24°0′E / 40.000°N 24.000°E / 40.000; 24.000 (Aegean Sea) Mediterranean Sea Aegean Sea 40°0′N 25°6′E / 40.000°N 25.100°E / 40.000; 25.100 (Greece) Greece Island of Lemnos 40°0′N 25°26′E / 40.000°N 25.433°E / 40.000; 25.433 (Aegean Sea) Mediterranean Sea Aegean Sea 40°0′N 26°11′E / 40.000°N 26.183°E / 40.000; 26.183 (Turkey) Turkey Passing just north of Ankara 40°0′N 44°24′E / 40.000°N 44.400°E / 40.000; 44.400 (Armenia) Armenia Passing through Verin Artashat and Norashen, Ararat 40°0′N 45°36′E / 40.000°N 45.600°E / 40.000; 45.600 (Azerbaijan) Azerbaijan Passing through Karabakh and Kur-Araz Lowland 40°0′N 49°27′E / 40.000°N 49.450°E / 40.000; 49.450 (Caspian Sea) Caspian Sea 40°0′N 52°46′E / 40.000°N 52.767°E / 40.000; 52.767 (Turkmenistan) Turkmenistan 40°0′N 62°26′E / 40.000°N 62.433°E / 40.000; 62.433 (Uzbekistan) Uzbekistan 40°0′N 68°48′E / 40.000°N 68.800°E / 40.000; 68.800 (Tajikistan) Tajikistan 40°0′N 69°31′E / 40.000°N 69.517°E / 40.000; 69.517 (Kyrgyzstan) Kyrgyzstan 40°0′N 70°32′E / 40.000°N 70.533°E / 40.000; 70.533 (Tajikistan) Tajikistan For about 9 km (5.6 mi) 40°0′N 70°39′E / 40.000°N 70.650°E / 40.000; 70.650 (Kyrgyzstan) Kyrgyzstan 40°0′N 71°5′E / 40.000°N 71.083°E / 40.000; 71.083 (Uzbekistan) Uzbekistan Sokh exclave - for about 7 km (4.3 mi) 40°0′N 71°10′E / 40.000°N 71.167°E / 40.000; 71.167 (Kyrgyzstan) Kyrgyzstan 40°0′N 71°48′E / 40.000°N 71.800°E / 40.000; 71.800 (Uzbekistan) Uzbekistan Shohimardon exclave - for about 4 km (2.5 mi) 40°0′N 71°50′E / 40.000°N 71.833°E / 40.000; 71.833 (Kyrgyzstan) Kyrgyzstan 40°0′N 73°58′E / 40.000°N 73.967°E / 40.000; 73.967 (China) China Xinjiang
Gansu
Inner Mongolia
Shanxi
Hebei
Beijing (passing just north of the city centre)
Hebei
Tianjin
Hebei
Liaoning (for about 8 km (5.0 mi))40°0′N 119°54′E / 40.000°N 119.900°E / 40.000; 119.900 (Yellow Sea) Pacific Ocean Liaodong Bay, Yellow Sea 40°0′N 121°53′E / 40.000°N 121.883°E / 40.000; 121.883 (China) China Liaoning (Liaodong Peninsula) 40°0′N 124°21′E / 40.000°N 124.350°E / 40.000; 124.350 (North Korea) North Korea North Pyeongan Province - Passing through Sinuiju
Jagang Province
South Hamgyeong Province - Passing just north of Hamheung40°0′N 127°57′E / 40.000°N 127.950°E / 40.000; 127.950 (Sea of Japan) Pacific Ocean Sea of Japan 40°0′N 128°10′E / 40.000°N 128.167°E / 40.000; 128.167 (North Korea) North Korea Mayang Island 40°0′N 128°13′E / 40.000°N 128.217°E / 40.000; 128.217 (Sea of Japan) Pacific Ocean Sea of Japan 40°0′N 139°54′E / 40.000°N 139.900°E / 40.000; 139.900 (Japan) Japan Island of Honshū
— Akita Prefecture
— Iwate Prefecture40°0′N 141°57′E / 40.000°N 141.950°E / 40.000; 141.950 (Pacific Ocean) Pacific Ocean 40°0′N 124°1′W / 40.000°N 124.017°W / 40.000; -124.017 (United States) United States California - passing 2.35 km (1.46 mi) south of Shelter Cove
Nevada
Utah
Colorado - passing through Boulder
Nebraska / Kansas border
Missouri
Illinois
Indiana - passing through Hoosier Hill, the state high point
Ohio - passing through Columbus
West Virginia
Pennsylvania - passing through Philadelphia
New Jersey - passing through Toms River
40°0′N 31°7′W / 40.000°N 31.117°W / 40.000; -31.117 (Atlantic Ocean) Atlantic Ocean Passing just north of Corvo Island, Azores, Portugal 40°0′N 8°55′W / 40.000°N 8.917°W / 40.000; -8.917 (Portugal) Portugal Passing near Figueira da Foz and Coimbra 40°0′N 6°51′W / 40.000°N 6.850°W / 40.000; -6.850 (Spain) Spain Extremadura
Castile-La Mancha
Community of Madrid - for about 10 km (6.2 mi)
Castile-La Mancha
Valencian Community - Rincón de Ademuz exclave, for about 4 km (2.5 mi)
Castile-La Mancha - for about 5 km (3.1 mi)
Aragon
Valencian Community
Notable cities and towns on 40°N
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
- Columbus, Ohio, United States
- Denver, Colorado, United States
- Beijing, China
- Ankara, Turkey
- Madrid, Spain
United States
The parallel 40° north formed the boundary between the Kansas and Nebraska territories, as per the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854. It remains the boundary between the modern states of Kansas and Nebraska.
The parallel 40° north formed the original northern boundary of the British Colony of Maryland. A subsequent royal grant gave the Colony of Pennsylvania land north of the 40th parallel but mistakenly assumed it would intersect the Twelve Mile Circle, which it does not. Pennsylvania's border was thus unclear and the colony pushed for a border far south of the 40th parallel. The Mason–Dixon Line was drawn between 1763 and 1767 as the compromise boundary between the overlapping claims of these two colonies.
The parallel 40° north passes through the cities of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Columbus, Ohio; as well as northern suburbs of Indianapolis, Indiana and Boulder, Colorado and the southern suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The parallel goes directly through the John Glenn Columbus International Airport, with runway 10L-28R lying immediately north of the line, runway 10R-28L lying slightly south of it, and the line going through the northernmost edges of the terminal. It also passes through the main campus of The Ohio State University; specifically, it cuts directly across the Oval greenspace, between University Hall and the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library. Ohio Stadium, one of the largest stadiums in the world, barely misses the parallel 40° north (6 seconds or 185 metres (607 ft) above 40° north).
Baseline Road in Boulder, Colorado, traces the parallel 40° north.
Thistle, Utah, a ghost town since 1983, is slightly (30 seconds or 956 metres (0.594 mi)) below 40° north.
Japan
Gallery
- Monument of North latitude 40 degrees at Nyudouzaki in Oga, Akita
- Nyudozaki Monument
- 40°N and 140°E Crossing Point in Ogata, Akita
- Globe Monument in Fudai, Iwate
See also
- 40th parallel south
- 39th parallel north
- 41st parallel north
- Baseline (surveying)
- Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel
References
- ^ "Duration of Daylight/Darkness Table for One Year". U.S. Naval Observatory. 2019-09-24. Archived from the original on 2019-10-12. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
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