50th parallel north

The 50th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 50 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean.

50°

50th parallel north

At this latitude the sun is visible for 16 hours, 22 minutes during the summer solstice and 8 hours, 4 minutes during the winter solstice.^[1] The maximum altitude of the sun during the summer solstice is 63.44 degrees and during the winter solstice it is 16.56 degrees. During the summer solstice, nighttime does not get beyond astronomical twilight, a condition which lasts throughout the month of June. It is possible to view both astronomical dawn and dusk every day of the month of May.^[2]

At this latitude, the average sea surface temperature between 1982 and 2011 was about 8.5 °C (47.3 °F).^[3]

Around the world

A sculpture at the Rhein-Main Regional Park (de) in Germany showing Mainz and other cities around the world that lie along the 50th parallel north (distances not to scale)

50th latitude mark in central Mainz, Germany

A plaque marking the 50th parallel north in Kharkiv, Ukraine

50th parallel marker next to the Old Island Highway in Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada

Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 50° north passes through:

Coordinates	Country, territory or sea	Notes
50°0′N 0°0′E	English Channel
50°0′N 1°15′E	France	Upper Normandy — for about 20 km Picardy — passing just north of Amiens Nord-Pas-de-Calais — for about 13 km
50°0′N 4°10′E	Belgium	Wallonia
50°0′N 4°40′E	France	Champagne-Ardenne — for about 10 km
50°0′N 4°49′E	Belgium	Wallonia
50°0′N 5°49′E	Luxembourg	Diekirch District
50°0′N 6°9′E	Germany	Rhineland-Palatinate Hesse Rhineland-Palatinate — passing through Mainz city centre Hesse — passing just south of Frankfurt, crossing a runway of FRA international airport and passing just south of DCF77 time signal transmitter Bavaria — passing just north of Bayreuth
50°0′N 12°26′E	Czech Republic	Passing through southern parts of Prague
50°0′N 17°49′E	Poland	For about 11 km
50°0′N 17°58′E	Czech Republic	For about 10 km
50°0′N 18°7′E	Poland	Passing through southern districts of Kraków (on the 20th meridian east) Passing through southern districts of Tarnów (on the 21st meridian east) Passing through southern districts of Rzeszów (on the 22nd meridian east)
50°0′N 23°10′E	Ukraine	Lviv Oblast — passing just north of Lviv Ternopil Oblast — passing through Pochaiv Khmelnytskyi Oblast Zhytomyr Oblast — passing through Andrushivka Kyiv Oblast Cherkasy Oblast Poltava Oblast — passing through Lubny Kharkiv Oblast — passing through Kharkiv city centre
50°0′N 37°57′E	Russia	Belgorod Oblast — for about 18 km
50°0′N 38°12′E	Ukraine	Luhansk Oblast — for about 12 km
50°0′N 38°22′E	Russia	Belgorod Oblast Voronezh Oblast — passing just north of Boguchar Rostov Oblast Volgograd Oblast — passing just south of Kamyshin
50°0′N 47°15′E	Kazakhstan	West Kazakhstan Province — for about 63 km
50°0′N 48°8′E	Russia	Saratov Oblast — for about 55 km
50°0′N 48°51′E	Kazakhstan	West Kazakhstan Province — passing just south of Chapaev and Zhympity and just north of Karatobe Aktobe Province — passing just north of Alga and Karabutak Kostanay Province — passing just south of Arkalyk Karagandy Province — passing just south of Temirtau and just north of Karaganda East Kazakhstan Province — passing through the northern outskirts of Oskemen
50°0′N 85°2′E	Russia	Altai Republic Tuva
50°0′N 89°58′E	Mongolia	Passing through the southern tip of Uvs Lake
50°0′N 95°1′E	Russia	Tuva
50°0′N 95°45′E	Mongolia	For about 11 km
50°0′N 95°55′E	Russia	Tuva — for about 7 km
50°0′N 96°2′E	Mongolia	For about 11 km
50°0′N 96°10′E	Russia	Tuva
50°0′N 97°55′E	Mongolia
50°0′N 107°13′E	Russia	Buryatia — for about 5 km
50°0′N 107°18′E	Mongolia	For about 3 km
50°0′N 107°20′E	Russia	Buryatia Zabaykalsky Krai
50°0′N 113°34′E	Mongolia
50°0′N 115°12′E	Russia	Zabaykalsky Krai
50°0′N 116°1′E	Mongolia
50°0′N 116°20′E	Russia	Zabaykalsky Krai
50°0′N 119°6′E	People's Republic of China	Inner Mongolia Heilongjiang
50°0′N 127°29′E	Russia	Amur Oblast Khabarovsk Krai
50°0′N 140°30′E	Strait of Tartary
50°0′N 142°9′E	Russia	Sakhalin Oblast — island of Sakhalin
50°0′N 143°59′E	Sea of Okhotsk
50°0′N 155°23′E	Russia	Sakhalin Oblast — island of Paramushir
50°0′N 155°24′E	Pacific Ocean
50°0′N 127°19′W	Canada	British Columbia — Vancouver Island (passing through the town of Campbell River) and mainland, also through the Okanagan Valley immediately north of Kelowna. Alberta — passing through the city of Medicine Hat Saskatchewan it passes a few km south of the cities of Swift Current, Moose Jaw and the capital, Regina Manitoba — passing just north of Winnipeg Ontario — passing through Lake Nipigon Quebec - passing through the town of Port-Cartier
50°0′N 66°54′W	Gulf of Saint Lawrence	Passing just north of Anticosti Island, Quebec,  Canada
50°0′N 57°45′W	Canada	Newfoundland and Labrador — island of Newfoundland
50°0′N 56°46′W	White Bay
50°0′N 56°21′W	Canada	Newfoundland and Labrador — island of Newfoundland
50°0′N 55°52′W	Atlantic Ocean	Confusion Bay
50°0′N 55°33′W	Canada	Newfoundland and Labrador — island of Newfoundland
50°0′N 55°31′W	Atlantic Ocean	Passing just north of the Isles of Scilly, England,  United Kingdom
50°0′N 5°16′W	United Kingdom	England — Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall, for about 7 km
50°0′N 5°10′W	English Channel

Sakhalin island

Sakhalin island between 1905 and 1945. The area south of the 50th parallel line was under Japanese control

From the signing of the 1875 Treaty of Saint Petersburg until the Russo-Japanese War which broke in 1904, the Russian Empire had full control of Sakhalin island. As a result of the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth that brought an end to the Russo-Japanese War, the portion of the island south of the 50th parallel line became Japanese territory, part of Karafuto Prefecture. However, following the month long Soviet–Japanese War during the summer of 1945, the entire island was reunified under Soviet control.^[4]

See also

• 49th parallel north
• 51st parallel north

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. "Earth-Sun geometry - The Encyclopedia of Earth". www.eoearth.org.
3. "Zonal Mean Sea Surface Temperatures (5 deg Latitude Bands) Average of Jan 1982 to Dec 2011". Retrieved July 7, 2022.
4. Sevela, Mariya. "Sakhalin: the Japanese Under Soviet Rule". History Today. Retrieved 10 May 2014.

External links