As shown on Figure 1, lines of longitude are imaginary vertical lines which run from north to south on the Earth's surface and show how far east and west a place is. Each line is measured in degrees. The central line at 0° is called the Prime Meridian or Greenwich Meridian. This line runs through Greenwich in London and is the centre of world time, which is known as Greenwich Mean Time or GMT. Everywhere to the east of this line is known as the eastern hemisphere. Everywhere to the west of this line is known as the western hemisphere.
Figure 1 also shows the lines of latitude, which are horizontal, running from east to west, showing how far north or south a place is. The central line of latitude at 0° is called the equator. Everywhere north of this line is called the northern hemisphere and everywhere south of this line is called the southern hemisphere.
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