37th parallel north

The 37th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 37 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Africa, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean.

37°

37th parallel north

At this latitude, the Sun is visible for 14 hours, 42 minutes during the summer solstice and 9 hours, 37 minutes during the winter solstice.^[1]

The 37th parallel north is roughly the northern limit of the visibility of Canopus, the second-brightest star of the night sky. Along with the 37th parallel south, it is the latitude at which solar irradiance is closest to the planetary average,^[2] with higher solar irradiance equatorward and lower poleward.

Around the world

Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastward, the parallel 37° north passes through:

Coordinates	Country, territory or sea	Notes
37°0′N 0°0′E	Mediterranean Sea
37°0′N 6°15′E	Algeria
37°0′N 6°34′E	Mediterranean Sea
37°0′N 7°15′E	Algeria
37°0′N 7°33′E	Mediterranean Sea
37°0′N 8°52′E	Tunisia
37°0′N 10°11′E	Mediterranean Sea	Gulf of Tunis
37°0′N 10°53′E	Tunisia	Cap Bon
37°0′N 11°4′E	Mediterranean Sea	Strait of Sicily, passing just north of the island of Pantelleria,  Italy
37°0′N 14°20′E	Italy	Island of Sicily — Province of Ragusa — Province of Siracusa
37°0′N 15°16′E	Ionian Sea
37°0′N 21°39′E	Greece	Peloponnese (Messenia)
37°0′N 21°57′E	Ionian Sea	Messenian Gulf
37°0′N 22°09′E	Greece	Peloponnese — Messenia — Laconia
37°0′N 23°0′E	Aegean Sea	Myrtoan Sea
37°0′N 24°40′E	Greece	Island of Sifnos
37°0′N 24°44′E	Aegean Sea
37°0′N 25°1′E	Greece	Islands of Antiparos and Paros
37°0′N 25°13′E	Aegean Sea
37°0′N 25°23′E	Greece	Island of Naxos
37°0′N 25°34′E	Aegean Sea
37°0′N 26°26′E	Greece	Island of Levitha
37°0′N 26°30′E	Aegean Sea
37°0′N 26°55′E	Greece	Island of Kalymnos
37°0′N 27°3′E	Aegean Sea
37°0′N 27°15′E	Turkey
37°0′N 27°47′E	Aegean Sea
37°0′N 28°13′E	Turkey	Passing through Adana and Nizip
37°0′N 40°25′E	Syria
37°0′N 42°18′E	Iraq
37°0′N 44°16′E	Turkey	Şemdinli district (for about 7 km (4.3 mi))
37°0′N 44°20′E	Iraq
37°0′N 44°54′E	Iran
37°0′N 50°32′E	Caspian Sea
37°0′N 54°0′E	Iran
37°0′N 60°3′E	Turkmenistan
37°0′N 64°47′E	Afghanistan
37°0′N 67°56′E	Tajikistan
37°0′N 68°10′E	Afghanistan
37°0′N 71°28′E	Tajikistan
37°0′N 72°28′E	Afghanistan
37°0′N 74°34′E	Pakistan	Gilgit-Baltistan - claimed by  India
37°0′N 74°50′E	People's Republic of China	Xinjiang - for about 14 km (8.7 mi)
37°0′N 75°0′E	Pakistan	Gilgit-Baltistan - for about 14 km (8.7 mi), claimed by  India
37°0′N 75°9′E	People's Republic of China	Xinjiang Qinghai Gansu Ningxia Gansu Shaanxi Shanxi Hebei Shandong - Passing through Yantai
37°0′N 122°32′E	Yellow Sea	Asan Bay
37°0′N 126°20′E	South Korea	South Chungcheong Province Gyeonggi Province - passing through Pyeongtaek, Anseong North Chungcheong Province - passing just north of Chungju North Gyeongsang Province
37°0′N 129°25′E	Sea of Japan
37°0′N 136°46′E	Japan	Island of Honshū: — Ishikawa Prefecture
37°0′N 137°3′E	Sea of Japan	Toyama Bay
37°0′N 137°42′E	Japan	Island of Honshū: — Niigata Prefecture — Nagano Prefecture — Niigata Prefecture — Gunma Prefecture − for around 10 km (6.2 mi) — Niigata Prefecture − for around 7 km (4.3 mi) — Fukushima Prefecture — Tochigi Prefecture — Ibaraki Prefecture — Fukushima Prefecture
37°0′N 140°59′E	Pacific Ocean
37°0′N 122°11′W	United States	California - landfall at Bonny Doon Beach just north of Santa Cruz and falling in Fresno Nevada - Falling South of Alamo and Gold Point Utah / Arizona border Colorado / New Mexico border Colorado / Oklahoma border Kansas / Oklahoma border Missouri Illinois (at its southernmost point) Kentucky - passing through Bowling Green and just south of Paducah Virginia - passing through Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel (specifically, the bridge between the two tunnels)
37°0′N 76°18′W	Atlantic Ocean
37°0′N 25°10′W	Portugal	Santa Maria Island in the Azores
37°0′N 25°3′W	Atlantic Ocean
37°0′N 8°57′W	Portugal	Sagres Point
37°0′N 8°56′W	Atlantic Ocean
37°0′N 7°59′W	Portugal	Cape Santa Maria
37°0′N 7°50′W	Atlantic Ocean	Gulf of Cádiz
37°0′N 6°32′W	Spain
37°0′N 1°53′W	Mediterranean Sea

United States

The 37th parallel defining borders between states in the United States.

Exit Point of the 37th Parallel North from the United States.

In the United States, the parallel defines the southern borders of Utah, Colorado, and Kansas, and the northern borders of Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. It dates to the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 when Congress divided Unorganized Territory into Kansas and Nebraska north of the 37th parallel and a remainder Indian Territory to the south. Before that, the line had been thought to be the boundary between the Cherokee and Osage reservations – the 2.46 miles (3.96 km) discrepancy resulting in the creation of the Cherokee Strip. Congress extended the line west to New Mexico Territory, thus defining which states and territories would constitute The South between the Colorado and Mississippi Rivers, and creating what later became the Oklahoma Panhandle.^[3]

The parallel 37° north formed the southern boundary of the historic and extralegal Territory of Jefferson.

U.S. Landmarks located on or in close proximity of the 37th parallel

• Santa Cruz, California – Located on the exact entry point into the U.S. at Bonny Doon Beach.
• Yosemite National Park — Situated in close proximity, just north of the 37th parallel.
• Death Valley – The 37th parallel runs approximately 1,300 ft south of the Little Hebe Crater rim and approximately 1,900 ft south of the larger Ubehebe Crater rim, a crater that's 800 meters (2,600 ft) wide and 235 meters (771 ft) deep.
• Area 51, Nevada — Also known as "Groom Lake".
• Four Corners, the only point where four U.S. states meet.
• Cairo, Illinois – The southernmost city in Illinois.
• Bowling Green, Kentucky
• Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel – A critical maritime and transportation structure.

See also

• 36th parallel north
• Parallel 36°30′ north
• 38th parallel north

References

1. "Duration of Daylight/Darkness Table for One Year". U.S. Naval Observatory. 2019-09-24.
2. See Nadeau, Alice and McGhee, Richard; ‘A simple formula for a planet's mean annual insolation by latitude’; Icarus, volume 291, 15 July 2017, pp. 46-50
3. Hubbard, Bill (2009). American Boundaries: The Nation, the States, the Rectangular Survey. University of Chicago Press. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-226-35591-7. Retrieved 27 September 2012.