Latitude, Longitude, and Time Zones

Earth is basically a sphere turning on an axis, much the way a top spins. The North Pole is at one end of the axis, and the South Pole is at the other end. Between the poles—exactly in the middle—is an imaginary line called the equator. The latitude of a place is its distance north or south of the equator. The equator itself is zero degrees latitude (0°).