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IS THERE DIFFERENCE IN THE SIZE OF THE CIRCLES AS THE DEGREE OF THE LATITUDES INCREASE ?

A circle of latitude on the Earth is an imaginary east-west circle connecting all locations (not taking into account elevation) having a given latitude. A location's position along a circle of latitude is given by its longitude.

Circles of latitude are often called parallels because they are parallel to each other – that is, any two parallels are everywhere the same distance apart. (Since the Earth isn't spherical the distance from the equator to 10 degrees north is slightly less than the distance from 10 to 20 degrees north. On some map projections, like the Equirectangular projection, they are drawn equidistant.)

Circles of latitude become smaller the farther they are from the equator and the closer they are to the poles. A circle of latitude is perpendicular to all meridians, and is hence a special case of a loxodrome.

Latitude lines are also sometimes called parallels because they are parallel and equidistant from each other. Each degree of latitude is about 69 miles (111 km) apart. The degree measure of latitude is the name of the angle from the equator while the parallel names the actual line along which degree points are measured. For example, 45°N latitude is the angle of latitude between the equator and the 45th parallel (it is also halfway between the equator and the North Pole). The 45th parallel is the line along which all latitudinal values are 45°. The line is also parallel to the 46th and 44th parallels.


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