Summary
The 36th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 36 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America and the Atlantic Ocean. In the ancient Mediterranean world, its role for navigation and geography was similar to that played by the Equator today.[1]
From 7 April 1991 to 31 December 1996, the parallel defined the limit of the northern no-fly zone in Iraq.[2]
At this latitude the sun is visible for 14 hours, 36 minutes during the summer solstice and 9 hours, 43 minutes during the winter solstice.[3]
Around the world
editStarting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 36° north passes through:
Coordinates Country, territory or sea Notes 36°0′N 0°0′E / 36.000°N 0.000°E Mediterranean Sea 36°0′N 0°7′E / 36.000°N 0.117°E 
Algeria
Passing through Mostaganem 36°0′N 8°18′E / 36.000°N 8.300°E 
Tunisia
36°0′N 10°31′E / 36.000°N 10.517°E Mediterranean Sea Passing just north of the island of Linosa, 
Italy
Passing between the islands of Comino and Malta,
Malta
36°0′N 23°10′E / 36.000°N 23.167°E Aegean Sea Passing between the islands of Kythira and Antikythera, 
Greece
Passing just north of Saria Island, Greece
36°0′N 27°45′E / 36.000°N 27.750°E Greece
Island of Rhodes 36°0′N 27°55′E / 36.000°N 27.917°E Mediterranean Sea 36°0′N 35°59′E / 36.000°N 35.983°E 
Turkey
Hatay Province 36°0′N 36°22′E / 36.000°N 36.367°E 
Syria
Passing just north of Raqqa 36°0′N 41°17′E / 36.000°N 41.283°E 
Iraq
36°0′N 45°21′E / 36.000°N 45.350°E 
Iran
36°0′N 61°10′E / 36.000°N 61.167°E 
Turkmenistan
36°0′N 63°49′E / 36.000°N 63.817°E 
Afghanistan
36°0′N 71°15′E / 36.000°N 71.250°E 
Pakistan
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Gilgit-Baltistan - claimed by
India
36°0′N 76°6′E / 36.000°N 76.100°E Shaksgam Valley Area administered by 
People's Republic of China, claimed by India
36°0′N 76°48′E / 36.000°N 76.800°E People's Republic of China
Xinjiang
Tibet
Qinghai
Gansu — passing just south of Lanzhou
Ningxia
Gansu
Shaanxi
Shanxi
Henan
Shandong
Henan (for about 15 km (9.3 mi))
Shandong — passing just south of Qingdao36°0′N 120°18′E / 36.000°N 120.300°E Yellow Sea 36°0′N 126°42′E / 36.000°N 126.700°E 
South Korea
South Chungcheong Province - North Jeolla Province Border, Passing just north of Gunsan, Iksan
North Jeolla Province-North Chungcheong Province-North Gyeongsang Province Border
North Gyeongsang Province - Passing just south of Gumi
passing just north of Daegu-Palgong Mountain
North Gyeongsang Province- Passing through Pohang36°0′N 129°35′E / 36.000°N 129.583°E Sea of Japan 36°0′N 133°1′E / 36.000°N 133.017°E 
Japan
Island of Chiburi-shima:
— Shimane Prefecture36°0′N 133°4′E / 36.000°N 133.067°E Sea of Japan 36°0′N 135°58′E / 36.000°N 135.967°E Japan
Island of Honshū:
— Fukui Prefecture
— Gifu Prefecture
— Nagano Prefecture
— Gunma Prefecture − for about 4 km (2.5 mi)
— Saitama Prefecture
— Chiba Prefecture − for about 6 km (3.7 mi)
— Ibaraki Prefecture36°0′N 140°40′E / 36.000°N 140.667°E Pacific Ocean 36°0′N 121°30′W / 36.000°N 121.500°W 
United States
California
Nevada - Just South Of Las Vegas
Arizona
New Mexico
Texas
Oklahoma
Arkansas
Missouri / Arkansas border (approximate)
Tennessee
North Carolina (Madison County, for about 14 km (8.7 mi))
Tennessee (Unicoi County, for about 12 km (7.5 mi))
North Carolina36°0′N 75°39′W / 36.000°N 75.650°W Atlantic Ocean 36°0′N 5°36′W / 36.000°N 5.600°W Strait of Gibraltar Passing 2 m (6.6 ft) south of Punta de Tarifa, 
Spain - the most southerly point of the European mainland
36°0′N 5°25′W / 36.000°N 5.417°W Mediterranean Sea
United States
editIn the United States, the 36th parallel north is occasionally used as a rough northern boundary for the Sun Belt, a region spanning most Southern and Southwestern states and comprising most of the nation's warmest climates.
Cities and landmarks close to the parallel include the following: Kettleman City, California; Henderson, Nevada; Hoover Dam; South Rim of the Grand Canyon; Los Alamos National Laboratory; Tulsa, Oklahoma (passing through the southern portion of the city); Nashville, Tennessee (passing through the southern portion of the city); Knoxville, Tennessee; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; High Point, North Carolina; Greensboro, North Carolina; Durham, North Carolina; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and others. The parallel helped define the North Carolina–Tennessee–Virginia Corners.
The sixth standard parallel south of Mount Diablo Range at 35°48′ north, 13.8344 miles south of the 36th parallel, forms a continuous boundary between the California counties of Monterey, Kings, Tulare, and Inyo on the north and the counties of San Luis Obispo, Kern, and San Bernardino on the south.[4] It is sometimes taken as the boundary between Central California and Southern California.[5]
The parallel 36° north approximately forms the southernmost boundary of the Missouri Bootheel with the State of Arkansas.
The 36th parallel passes through Duke University in several places. Its Campus Drive that connects the campuses crosses the parallel several times.[citation needed] The Duke Gardens has a "36th Parallel Club" although the garden itself is just north of the parallel.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ FEDERACION DE TROPAS Y LEGIONES (5 September 2012). "Revista Oficial Carthagineses y Romanos 2012".
- ^ "Containment: The Iraqi no-fly zones". BBC News. 29 December 1998. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
- ^ "Duration of Daylight/Darkness Table for One Year". U.S. Naval Observatory. 24 September 2019. Archived from the original on 12 October 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ California (1 January 1886). The Codes and Statutes of California, as Amended and in Force at the Close of the Twenty-sixth Session of the Legislature, 1885: With Notes Containing References to All the Decisions of the Supreme Court Construing Or Illustrating the Sections of the Codes, and to Adjudications of the Courts of Other States Having Like Code Provisions. A. L. Bancroft.
- ^ California, Historical Society of Southern; California, Los Angeles County Pioneers of Southern (1 January 1901). The Quarterly.