Tropic of Capricorn

Tropic of Capricorn

:"For the novel by Henry Miller, see Tropic of Capricorn (novel)".

The Tropic of Capricorn, or Southern tropic, is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. It lies 23° 26′ 22″ south of the Equator, and marks the most southerly latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead at noon. This event occurs at the December solstice, when the southern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun to its maximum extent.

The northern hemisphere equivalent of the Tropic of Capricorn is the Tropic of Cancer. Latitudes south of the Tropic of Capricorn are in the Southern Temperate Zone. The region north of the Tropic of Capricorn and south of the Tropic of Cancer is known as the Tropics.

The Tropic of Capricorn is so named because about 2,000 years ago the sun was entering the constellation Capricornus ("capricorn" is Latin for "goat horn") at the December solstice. In modern times the sun appears in the constellation Sagittarius during this time. The change is due to precession of the equinoxes. The word "tropic" itself comes from the Greek "tropos", meaning "turn", referring to the fact that the sun appears to "turn back" at the solstices.

The position of the Tropic of Capricorn is not fixed, but varies in a complex manner over time; see under circles of latitude for information.

Geography

Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the Tropic of Capricorn passes through:

:

The following places are some of the landmarks near the Tropic of Capricorn:

New Caledonia, French island territory Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia Great Dividing Range, Queensland, Australia Gibson Desert, Western Australia, Australia Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia Lake Disappointment, Western Australia, Australia Toliara, Madagascar Kruger National Park, South Africa Kalahari Desert, Botswana/Namibia Windhoek, Namibia Rio de Janeiro, Brazil São Paulo, Brazil Asunción, Paraguay Antofagasta, Chile Atacama Desert, Chile Andes Mountains, Chile/Argentina Easter Island, Chilean territory Pitcairn, British island territory French Polynesia, French archipelago territory Cook Islands, New Zealand territory Niue, New Zealand island territory Tonga

Cities located along the Tropic of Capricorn

This list is incomplete. There are many other cities that are located along the Tropic of Capricorn

*Alice Springs flagicon|Australia
*Rockhampton flagicon|Australia
*Emerald flagicon|Australia
*São Paulo flagicon|Brazil
*Maringá flagicon|Brazil
*Mogi das Cruzes flagicon|Brazil
*Itaquaquecetuba flagicon|Brazil
*Ubatuba flagicon|Brazil

ee also

*Arctic Circle
*Antarctic Circle
*Equator
*Tropic of Cancer


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  • Tropic Of Capricorn — (Нади,Фиджи) Категория отеля: 3 звездочный отель Адрес: 11 Wasawasa Rd, Нади, Фиджи …   Каталог отелей

  • Tropic of Capricorn — Tropic Trop ic, n. [F. tropique, L. tropicus of or belonging to a turn, i. e., of the sun, Gr. ? of the solstice, ? (sc. ?) the tropic or solstice, fr. ? to turn. See {Trope}.] 1. (Astron.) One of the two small circles of the celestial sphere,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Tropic of Capricorn — The southern parallel of declination, approximately 23°27’ from the celestial equator, reached by the sun at its maximum declination, or the corresponding parallel on the earth. It is named for the sign of the zodiac during which the sun reached… …   Aviation dictionary

  • Tropic of Capricorn — [[t]trɒ̱pɪk əv kæ̱prɪkɔː(r)n[/t]] N PROPER The Tropic of Capricorn is an imaginary line around the Earth 23° 26 south of the equator …   English dictionary

  • Tropic of Capricorn (BBC TV series) — Tropic of Capricorn is a BBC television documentary series. It was aired on BBC Two in 2008 and showed presenter Simon Reeve travel along the Tropic of Capricorn.Countries visitedIn order of visiting: *flag|Namibia *flag|Botswana *flag|South… …   Wikipedia

  • Tropic of Capricorn (novel) — Infobox Book name = Tropic of Capricorn title orig = translator = image caption = Cover of a later reprint author = Henry Miller illustrator = cover artist = country = United States language = English series = publisher = Obelisk Press release… …   Wikipedia

  • tropic of Capricorn. — See under tropic (def. 1a). [1545 55] * * * …   Universalium

  • Tropic of Capricorn — noun The parallel of latitude 23°30′ south of the equator, marking the southern boundary of the tropics; the sun is directly overhead at the winter solstice. See Also …   Wiktionary

  • tropic of Capricorn — trop′ic of Cap′ricorn n. geo See under tropic 1), a) • Etymology: 1545–55 …   From formal English to slang

  • Tropic of Capricorn — noun a line of latitude about 23 degrees to the south of the equator • Instance Hypernyms: ↑tropic …   Useful english dictionary

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