Which term defines how far north or south a point is on the globe relative to the equator?

• A. Latitude (Horizontal)
• B. Longitude (Vertical)
• C. Equator
• D. Mercator Projection (Cylinder)

Answer: (A)

Latitude describes how far north or south a point is from the equator. It is measured in degrees north or south, with 0° at the equator and 90° at the poles. Lines of latitude, called parallels, circle the globe and run east–west, helping us describe a location’s north–south position. The equator is the zero reference line for this measurement. The other options don’t fit: longitude measures east–west position, the equator is simply the reference line for zero latitude, and Mercator projection is a map method that translates the globe onto a cylinder and distorts distances and areas. So the term for north–south position relative to the equator is latitude.