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What is the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn?
Tropic Of Cancer
The northern boundary of the world’s tropics is marked by the Tropic of Cancer. A third of Earth’s population lives in this area, which makes up 36% of the planet. Given that a larger portion of the world’s landmass is in the northern hemisphere, this tropic also travels through more cities than its southern counterpart. The Tropic of Cancer passes across 16 nations on three separate continents, as well as six bodies of water. They are Mexico, the Bahamas, the Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, India, Myanmar, and China.
At the summer solstice, which typically occurs on June 21, the sun is directly overhead the Tropic of Cancer. This indicates that not only is the sun directly overhead at noon, but that this tropic is also the most northern point on Earth where the sun is directly overhead. The crab constellation in Cancer is the source of the latitude’s name. At the time of naming, the sun pointed towards the Cancer constellation during the solstice.
Tropic Of Capricorn
The Tropic of Capricorn, the southernmost point on Earth where the sun can be exactly overhead at noon, is located at 23.5 degrees south and is the southern boundary of the tropics. While the northern Cancer has this phenomenon occur in June, in the southern hemisphere, this date is December 21, which marks the summer solstice. Similar to the Tropic of Cancer, this latitude received its name because, at the time (about 2,000 years ago), the sun’s solstice rays were directed towards the constellation of Capricorn. Although the constellations no longer line up exactly as they once did due to changes in the sun’s location in reference to other stars throughout time, the names remain the same and are associated with the constellations.
Although the Tropic of Capricorn travels over a lot more open water than the Tropic of Cancer, it still goes through a number of nations. These include Pitcairn Island, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, and the Cook Islands, as well as Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Australia, and French Polynesia.
Why are the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn important?
The latitudes to the north and south of the equator are known as the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. An invisible line known as latitude forms a ring around the surface of the planet. Latitudes, which are measured in degrees and run from east to west, are defined by their distance north or south of the Equator, where it is 0° and 90° at the north and south poles, respectively. Each of the 180 latitudes is located along a specific degree. On parallel loops, their degree rings link locations at the same degree around the Earth.
In addition to their degree locations, the five major latitudes are given names. These are the equator, the cancer and Capricorn tropics, the Arctic Circle, and the Antarctic Circle. The Equator divides the Earth evenly into a “top” northern half and a “bottom” southern half as it circles the planet at zero degrees. Hemispheres are the name given to these parts. The Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn are at 23.5 degrees north and south, respectively. At 66.5 degrees north and 66.5 degrees south, respectively, are the Arctic and Antarctic Circles.
Countries, continents and water bodies lie along the Tropic of Capricorn
There are 10 countries, 3 continents and 3 water bodies that pass through the Tropic of Capricorn.
- Continents:South America, Africa, Australia
- Countries:Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar and Australia
- Water Bodies:Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean.
Countries, continents and water bodies lie along the Tropic of Cancer
There are 16 countries, 3 continents and 6 water bodies that the Tropic of Cancer passes through.
- Continents :North America, Africa and Asia
- Countries:Mexico, Bahamas (Archipelago), Niger, Algeria, Mauritania, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Western Sahara, Myanmar, Oman, Bangladesh, India, Saudi Arabia, China, United Arab Emirates, United States of America and Taiwan.
- Water bodies:Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Taiwan Strait, Red Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
Significance of the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn
The Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn are the boundaries of the tropical climate zone. Because of the Earth’s tilt, the sun’s most intense energy (the energy that hits the Earth’s surface at 90°) moves between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn as the Earth orbits the sun. This means that the area between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn are the warmest on Earth. The tropic climate region has specific plants and animals that are adapted to these warmer temperatures.
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