Longitude and latitude

As a GCSE geographer you should be familiar with atlases and world maps, and how to read them. When we want to describe where a place is at a global scale, we normally use lines of longitude and latitude, and so understanding them is essential. This article will equip you with these skills.

The most important thing to know is that lines of longitude and latitude are imaginary lines that are drawn on a world map or globe. As shown on Figure 1, lines of longitude are vertical lines which run from north to south on the Earth’s surface. They 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. 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.