45th parallel north
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The 45th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 45 degrees north of Earth's equator. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. The 45th parallel north is often called the halfway point between the equator and the North Pole, but the true halfway point is 16.0 km (9.9 mi) north of it (approximately between 45°08'36" and 45°08'37") because Earth is an oblate spheroid; that is, it bulges at the equator and is flattened at the poles.[1]
At this latitude, the sun is visible for 15 hours 37 minutes during the summer solstice, and 8 hours 46 minutes during the winter solstice. The midday Sun stands 21.6° above the southern horizon at the December solstice, 68.4° at the June solstice, and exactly 45.0° at either equinox.[2]
Around the world
Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 45° north passes through:
Coordinates Country, territory
or seaNotes 45°0′N 0°0′E / 45.000°N 0.000°E 
France
Aquitaine
Midi-Pyrénées
Limousin
Auvergne
Rhône-Alpes – passing just south of Grenoble
45°0′N 6°44′E / 45.000°N 6.733°E 
Italy
Piedmont – passing just south of Turin
Lombardy - passing by Voghera and Mantua
Emilia-Romagna – passing just south of Piacenza
Lombardy
Veneto – passing just south of Rovigo45°0′N 12°27′E / 45.000°N 12.450°E Adriatic Sea Gulf of Venice 45°0′N 13°44′E / 45.000°N 13.733°E 
Croatia
Istrian Peninsula, islands of Cres and Krk, and the mainland again 45°0′N 15°46′E / 45.000°N 15.767°E 
Bosnia and Herzegovina
45°0′N 18°44′E / 45.000°N 18.733°E Croatia
45°0′N 19°6′E / 45.000°N 19.100°E 
Serbia
Passing through the centre of Ruma and through northern part of Sremska Mitrovica
Passing through the northern edge of Stara Pazova, 30 kilometres NW of Belgrade45°0′N 21°24′E / 45.000°N 21.400°E 
Romania
Passing just north of Ploiești and just south of Târgu Jiu and Râmnicu Vâlcea 45°0′N 29°39′E / 45.000°N 29.650°E Black Sea 45°0′N 33°36′E / 45.000°N 33.600°E Crimea Controlled by 
Russia, claimed by 
Ukraine – passing just north of Simferopol, and just south of Feodosiya
45°0′N 35°24′E / 45.000°N 35.400°E Black Sea 45°0′N 37°13′E / 45.000°N 37.217°E Russia
Passing just south of Krasnodar, and just south of Stavropol 45°0′N 47°15′E / 45.000°N 47.250°E Caspian Sea 45°0′N 51°4′E / 45.000°N 51.067°E 
Kazakhstan
Mangystau Province 45°0′N 56°0′E / 45.000°N 56.000°E 
Uzbekistan
Karakalpakstan (autonomous republic) – including Vozrozhdeniya Island in the Aral Sea 45°0′N 59°50′E / 45.000°N 59.833°E Kazakhstan
Kyzylorda Province
South Kazakhstan Province
Zhambyl Province
Almaty Province45°0′N 80°2′E / 45.000°N 80.033°E 
People's Republic of China
Xinjiang – passing through a 45×90 point (halfway between the North Pole and the Equator, and halfway between the Prime Meridian and the 180th meridian) 45°0′N 93°13′E / 45.000°N 93.217°E 
Mongolia
Govi-Altai Province
Bayankhongor Province
Övörkhangai Province
Dundgovi Province
Dornogovi Province45°0′N 111°46′E / 45.000°N 111.767°E People's Republic of China
Inner Mongolia 45°0′N 112°31′E / 45.000°N 112.517°E Mongolia
Sükhbaatar Province 45°0′N 114°7′E / 45.000°N 114.117°E People's Republic of China
Inner Mongolia
Jilin
Heilongjiang45°0′N 131°30′E / 45.000°N 131.500°E Russia
Primorsky Krai - passing through Lake Khanka 45°0′N 136°37′E / 45.000°N 136.617°E Sea of Japan Passing just south of Rishiri Island, 
Japan
45°0′N 141°41′E / 45.000°N 141.683°E Japan
Hokkaidō - Horonobe, Hokkaido, Japan
45°0′N 142°32′E / 45.000°N 142.533°E Sea of Okhotsk 45°0′N 147°31′E / 45.000°N 147.517°E Kuril Islands Island of Iturup, administered by Russia, claimed by Japan
45°0′N 147°59′E / 45.000°N 147.983°E Pacific Ocean 45°0′N 124°1′W / 45.000°N 124.017°W .png)
United States
Oregon – passing north of Lincoln City and Salem, and south of North Powder
Idaho – passing north of New Meadows, through Brundage Mountain ski area, and south of Salmon
Montana – passing through Clark Canyon Dam (south of Dillon)
Montana / Wyoming border
South Dakota – passing through Eagle Butte and Watertown
Minnesota – passing through northern Minneapolis and northern suburbs of St Paul
Wisconsin – passing north of Chippewa Falls and near Wausau (at a 45×90 point, halfway between the North Pole and Equator, halfway between the Prime Meridian and 180th meridian, at Rietbrock).45°0′N 87°37′W / 45.000°N 87.617°W Lake Michigan Green Bay – territorial waters of the United States 45°0′N 87°21′W / 45.000°N 87.350°W United States
Wisconsin – passing across northern Door Peninsula, south of Baileys Harbor 45°0′N 87°9′W / 45.000°N 87.150°W Lake Michigan Territorial waters of the United States 45°0′N 86°9′W / 45.000°N 86.150°W United States
Michigan – South Manitou Island 45°0′N 86°5′W / 45.000°N 86.083°W Lake Michigan Territorial waters of the United States 45°0′N 85°46′W / 45.000°N 85.767°W United States
Michigan – Leelanau Peninsula (Leelanau County) 45°0′N 86°5′W / 45.000°N 86.083°W Lake Michigan Grand Traverse Bay – territorial waters of the United States 45°0′N 85°47′W / 45.000°N 85.783°W United States
Michigan – passing through southern Gaylord and south of Alpena 45°0′N 83°26′W / 45.000°N 83.433°W Lake Huron Territorial waters of the United States and Canada 45°0′N 81°27′W / 45.000°N 81.450°W .svg.png)
Canada
Ontario – Bruce Peninsula 45°0′N 81°11′W / 45.000°N 81.183°W Lake Huron Georgian Bay – territorial waters of Canada 45°0′N 79°59′W / 45.000°N 79.983°W Canada
Ontario – passing south of Bala, through Browning Island in Lake Muskoka, south of Bracebridge and south of Kemptville 45°0′N 74°54′W / 45.000°N 74.900°W United States
New York state – for about six miles (10 km) 45°0′N 74°46′W / 45.000°N 74.767°W Canada
Ontario – Cornwall Island
Quebec – running just north of the border with New York, United States
45°0′N 73°54′W / 45.000°N 73.900°W United States
New York – running just south of the border with Quebec, Canada
Vermont – running just south of the border with Quebec, Canada
New Hampshire – passing through Stewartstown
Maine – passing just south of Dexter45°0′N 67°4′W / 45.000°N 67.067°W Passamaquoddy Bay 45°0′N 67°0′W / 45.000°N 67.000°W Canada
Deer Island, New Brunswick 45°0′N 66°57′W / 45.000°N 66.950°W Bay of Fundy Territorial waters of Canada 45°0′N 65°10′W / 45.000°N 65.167°W Canada
Nova Scotia – passing just north of Fort Edward 45°0′N 61°57′W / 45.000°N 61.950°W Atlantic Ocean 45°0′N 1°12′W / 45.000°N 1.200°W France
Aquitaine – passing just north of Bordeaux
Europe
In Europe the 45th parallel hits the Bay of Biscay coast of France in the west. It crosses the river Rhône at Pont-de-l'Isère, just north of Valence, Drôme and through Grenoble. It then continues across the Massif Central and into the Aquitaine region. The city of Bordeaux is just south of the parallel. East of Bordeaux, in the municipality of Saint Seurin sur l'Isle, it intersects the Prime Meridian in the corner of an unremarkable field by the side of the A89 highway. There is no marker or other indication of this singular point on the parallel. It can, however, be visited easily by taking secondary roads from Saint Seurin and consulting a standard GPS signal.
In northern Italy it parallels the river Po, near Rovigo, passing by the southern province of Mantova, Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna, Voghera, then just south of Turin, precisely in Chieri, before passing into France in the Cottian Alps.
Further east it passes through the Balkans: Romania (just north of Ploiești, and through Târgu Jiu), the Serbian autonomous province of Vojvodina, the eastern tip of Croatia, the northern edge of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a section of Adriatic Croatia. The capital city of Serbia – Belgrade is just south of the parallel.
In Russia it runs from the west coast of the Caspian Sea to the east coast of the Black Sea, through the Republic of Kalmykia, Stavropol Krai and its capital Stavropol, and Krasnodar Krai and its capital Krasnodar. In Ukraine it crosses the Crimea and its capital Simferopol.
Asia
After leaving Russia the parallel passes through southern Kazakhstan, skirting the northern edge of the Ustyurt Plateau. It intersects the city of Burylbaytal at the southern tip of Lake Balkhash and the city of Qyzylorda further west. At the border with Uzbekistan it bisects the Aral Sea and its toxic Vozrozhdeniya Island peninsula, site of an abandoned Soviet bioweapons laboratory.
In northwest China it passes through the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang and the oil city of Karamay. Transecting southern Mongolia it passes through the provinces of Sükhbaatar, Dornogovi (and its capital Sainshand), Dundgovi, Övörkhangai, Bayankhongor, Govi-Altai, and Khovd. At Khanka Lake it enters northeast China, cutting across Heilongjiang and continuing through part of Jilin and eastern Inner Mongolia.
It leaves the Asian mainland on the coast of Primorsky Krai in Russia, north of Vladivostok and continues through the northern part of the Sea of Japan. It passes through Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park and the adjacent town of Horonobe on the northern tip of Hokkaidō, the northernmost of Japan's main islands, before heading east across the North Pacific Ocean.
North America
Throughout the United States the parallel is marked in many places on highways by a sign proclaiming that the location is halfway between the North Pole and the equator.[3][4][N 1]
The 45th parallel forms some boundaries of or passes through many U.S. states: Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, as well as going through the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The parallel once formed the northern boundary of the original Colony of Virginia, as outlined in the London Company charter.[5]
Going from west to east, the line makes landfall at the Pacific coast in Oregon. After crossing Idaho and the Rocky Mountains, it makes up most of the boundary between Montana and Wyoming. It then passes through the Great Plains and continues further East directly through Minneapolis, MN.
In Michigan, the Old Mission Peninsula in Grand Traverse Bay ends just shy of the 45th parallel. Many guidebooks and signs at the Mission Point Lighthouse describe it as being halfway between the equator and north pole. When the Grand Traverse Bay recedes below normal level, it is possible to walk out to the exact line.
Further east, the 45th parallel roughly marks the Canada–United States border between the St. Lawrence and Connecticut rivers, between the Canadian province of Quebec and the states of New York and Vermont. The parallel is sometimes called the "Canada line" or the Collins–Valentine line. After the Seven Years' War, the 45th parallel was declared the boundary between New York and Quebec. Under the Webster–Ashburton Treaty of 1842, original measurement errors stand so that the boundary is not exactly at 45 degrees north but is where the survey monuments were erected in 1772. The actual boundary of Vermont lies approximately 1 kilometre (3,300 ft) north of the parallel due to an error in the 1772 survey.[6]
All of mainland New Brunswick lies north of the 45th parallel. Approximately two-thirds of Deer Island, plus all of Campobello and Grand Manan islands, are south of the 45th parallel.
The parallel roughly bisects mainland Nova Scotia. Halifax is approximately 40 km (25 mi) south of the parallel.
-
Marker on Interstate 5 near Keizer, Oregon -
45th parallel marker in Roseville, Minnesota, a suburb of St Paul
See also
- 45th parallel south
- 44th parallel north
- 46th parallel north
- 45×90 points
Notes
- ^ Due to the fact that the Earth's equatorial radius is not exactly the same as its polar radius, the 45th parallel line is not exactly half way between the equator and the north pole when traversing the surface of the Earth. The 45th parallel line represents a perfect angle bisector between the equator and the north pole when seen from the Earth's center. See this image of a sign on the 45th parallel south for exact distance values.
References
- ^ "The Half-Way to the Pole Line". 2 May 2006. Archived from the original on 2 May 2006. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Concord Monitor: "New Hampshire is halfway between the equator and the North Pole – just don't ask where"". concordmonitor.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
- ^ Brown, K. Williams (July 10, 2011). "The beauty of halfwayism". Statesman Journal. Salem, Oregon. p. 5D. Retrieved July 9, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The First Charter of Virginia; April 10, 1606". The Avalon Project. 2008.
- ^ "The Canada–U.S. Border – Townships Heritage WebMagazine". townshipsheritage.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
External links
