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.
During the summer solstice, nighttime does not get beyond nautical twilight, a condition which lasts throughout the month of June. It is possible to view both astronomical dawn and dusk every day between August 22 and April 21.
Around the world
Malachy Tallack wrote a book, Sixty Degrees North: Around the World in Search of Home, about his travels along the general line of the parallel, starting and finishing at Shetland.[3][4]
Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 60° north passes through:
More information Co-ordinates, Country, territory or ocean ...
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.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 60th_parallel_north, and is written by contributors.
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