60th parallel north

The 60th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 60 degrees north of Earth's equator. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean.

Line across the Earth
60°
60th parallel north

Although it lies approximately twice as far away from the Equator as from the North Pole, the 60th parallel is half as long as the Equator line, due to the cosine of 60 degrees being 0.5. This is where the Earth bulges halfway as much as on the Equator.

At this latitude, the Sun is visible for 18 hours, 52 minutes during the June solstice and 5 hours, 52 minutes during the December solstice.[1] The maximum altitude of the Sun is 53.44° on 21 June and 6.56° on 21 December. The maximum altitude of the Sun is > 15.00º in October and > 8.00º in November. [2]

The lowest latitude where white nights can be observed is approximately on this parallel.

Around the world

Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 60° north passes through:

Co-ordinates Country, territory or ocean Notes
60°0′N 0°0′E Atlantic Ocean North Sea
60°0′N 5°3′E  Norway Islands of Stolmen and Selbjørn, Hordaland
60°0′N 5°12′E Atlantic Ocean Bekkjarviksundet, Selbjørnsfjorden, North Sea
60°0′N 5°15′E  Norway Island of Huftarøy, Hordaland
60°0′N 5°17′E Atlantic Ocean Langenuen, North Sea
60°0′N 5°22′E  Norway Islands of Reksteren, Tysnesøy and the mainland Hordaland
60°0′N 5°52′E Atlantic Ocean Hardangerfjorden, North Sea
60°0′N 5°59′E  Norway Mainland: Folgefonna glacier, Telemark, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo, Hedmark, Østfold
Passing just north of the capital Oslo
60°0′N 12°23′E  Sweden Passing through Fagersta
Passing just north of Uppsala
60°0′N 18°53′E Atlantic Ocean Baltic Sea
60°0′N 20°8′E  Finland Högskär, Bäckö and several smaller islands,  Åland Islands
60°0′N 20°58′E Atlantic Ocean Baltic Sea
60°0′N 23°30′E  Finland Passing through Ekenäs
60°0′N 25°00′E Atlantic Ocean Baltic Sea
Passing just south of Helsinki,  Finland
60°0′N 24°26′E  Finland Porkkala peninsula
60°0′N 27°00′E Atlantic Ocean Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea
Passing just south of the island of Gogland,  Russia
60°0′N 27°48′E  Russia Moshchny Island
60°0′N 27°54′E Atlantic Ocean Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea
60°0′N 29°44′E  Russia Island of Kotlin (city of Kronstadt)
60°0′N 29°47′E Atlantic Ocean Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea
60°0′N 30°5′E  Russia Passing through Saint Petersburg, Lake Ladoga
60°0′N 154°30′E Pacific Ocean Shelikhov Gulf, Sea of Okhotsk
60°0′N 161°28′E  Russia Kamchatka Peninsula
60°0′N 165°14′E Pacific Ocean Bering Sea
60°0′N 166°10′E  Russia Pylgin Range
60°0′N 166°33′E Pacific Ocean Olyutor Gulf, Bering Sea
60°0′N 170°9′E  Russia Olyutor Peninsula
60°0′N 170°26′E Pacific Ocean Bering Sea
60°0′N 167°8′W  United States Alaska - Nunivak Island
60°0′N 165°39′W Pacific Ocean Etolin Strait, Bering Sea
60°0′N 164°9′W  United States Alaska
60°0′N 152°38′W Pacific Ocean Cook Inlet, Gulf of Alaska
60°0′N 151°44′W  United States Alaska - Kenai Peninsula, Evans Island, Elrington Island, Latouche Island and Montague Island
60°0′N 147°24′W Pacific Ocean Gulf of Alaska
60°0′N 144°24′W  United States Alaska - Wingham Island, Kayak Island and a small section of mainland
60°0′N 143°50′W Pacific Ocean Gulf of Alaska
60°0′N 141°53′W  United States Alaska
60°0′N 139°3′W  Canada Yukon / British Columbia border
Northwest Territories / British Columbia border
Northwest Territories / Alberta border - passes through Wood Buffalo National Park and beside Fort Smith, NT
Northwest Territories / Saskatchewan border
Nunavut / Manitoba border
60°0′N 94°49′W Arctic Ocean Hudson Bay
Passing just north of the Ottawa Islands, Nunavut,  Canada
60°0′N 77°17′W  Canada Quebec
Passing just south of Puvirnituq, Quebec
60°0′N 69°46′W Arctic Ocean Ungava Bay
Passing just south of Kangirsuk, Quebec,  Canada
60°0′N 65°7′W  Canada Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador
60°0′N 64°9′W Atlantic Ocean Border between the Davis Strait (to the north) and the Labrador Sea (to the south)[3]
60°0′N 44°52′W  Greenland Passing just south of Narsaq
60°0′N 43°9′W Atlantic Ocean
60°0′N 1°21′W  United Kingdom Islands of Mainland and Mousa, Shetland Islands,  Scotland
60°0′N 1°11′W Atlantic Ocean North Sea

Canada

The 60th parallel north in Canada, marking the southern borders of Yukon, Northwest Territories, and the Nunavut mainland.

In Canada, the 60th parallel forms the southern mainland boundary of the northern territories of Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut with the western provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

Accordingly, "north of 60" is an expression often used for the territories, although parts of Nunavut (the islands in Hudson Bay and James Bay) are located south of the 60th parallel, and parts of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador are located north, to the east of Hudson Bay. A 1990s TV show on CBC about life in the Northwest Territories was called North of 60.

Canada's only four corners are located at the intersection of the 60th parallel and the 102nd meridian west, between the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. However, this is not a true quadripoint as the measurement of the Saskatchewan/Manitoba border in the 1880s placed it approximately 400 metres (440 yd) west of the 102nd meridian, which defines part of the Northwest Territories/Nunavut border.

Greenland

Between 1776 and 1950, the 60th parallel formed the southern limit of the Royal Greenland Trade Department's exclusive monopoly on trade near the Dano-Norwegian and later Danish colonies of Greenland (17761782) and South Greenland (17821950).[4]

See also

References

  1. "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.
  2. NASA. "Earth Fact Sheet". Retrieved April 11, 2017.
  3. "Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition" (PDF). International Hydrographic Organization. 1953. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  4. Marquardt, Ole. "Change and Continuity in Denmark's Greenland Policy" in The Oldenburg Monarchy: An Underestimated Empire?. Verlag Ludwig (Kiel), 2006.
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