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Coordinates: 23°26′12.5″N 0°0′0″W

Tropic of Cancer
The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as
the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of
latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly
overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the
Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun to its
maximum extent.[1] It also reaches 90 degrees below
the horizon at solar midnight on the December
Solstice. Using a continuously updated formula, the
circle is currently 23°26′11.2″ (or 23.43645°) north of
World map showing the Tropic of Cancer
the Equator.

Its Southern Hemisphere counterpart, marking

the most southerly position at which the Sun
can be directly overhead, is the Tropic of
Capricorn. These tropics are two of the five
major circles of latitude that mark maps of
Earth, the others being the Arctic and Antarctic
circles and the Equator. The positions of these
two circles of latitude (relative to the Equator)
Relationship of Earth's axial tilt (ε) to the tropical and polar
are dictated by the tilt of Earth's axis of rotation
circles
relative to the plane of its orbit, and since the
tilt changes, the location of these two circles
also changes.

Contents
Name
Drift
Geography
Climate
Circumnavigation
Gallery
See also
References
External links

Name

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When this line of latitude was named in the last centuries BC, the Sun was in the constellation Cancer
(Latin for crab) at the June solstice, the time each year that the Sun reaches its zenith at this latitude.
Due to the precession of the equinoxes, this is no longer the case; today the Sun is in Taurus at the
June solstice. The word "tropic" itself comes from the Greek "trope (τροπή)", meaning turn (change of
direction, or circumstances), inclination, referring to the fact that the Sun appears to "turn back" at
the solstices.

Drift
The Tropic of Cancer's position is not fixed, but constantly
changes because of a slight wobble in the Earth's longitudinal
alignment relative to the ecliptic, the plane in which the Earth
orbits around the Sun. Earth's axial tilt varies over a 41,000-year
period from 22.1 to 24.5 degrees, and as of 2000 is about 23.4
degrees, which will continue to remain valid for about a
millennium. This wobble means that the Tropic of Cancer is
currently drifting southward at a rate of almost half an arcsecond
(0.468″) of latitude, or 15 m (49 ft), per year. The circle's position
was at exactly 23° 27′N in 1917 and will be at 23° 26'N in 2045.[2] Carretera 83 (Vía Corta) Zaragoza-
The distance between the Antarctic Circle and the Tropic of Victoria, km 27+800. Of the Tropic
Cancer is essentially constant as they move in tandem. This all of Cancer's intersections with
assumes a constant equator, which of course, is also unrealistic, Mexican federal highways, this is
the equator itself does move, but major moves (https://www.busi the only one where it is precisely
marked and the drift from 2005 to
nessinsider.com/earth-tipped-over-84-million-years-ago-study-2
2010 can be seen.
021-6) like that 80 or so million years ago are uncommon.

See axial tilt and circles of latitude for additional details.

Geography
North of the tropic are the subtropics and the North Temperate Zone. The equivalent line of latitude
south of the Equator is called the Tropic of Capricorn, and the region between the two, centered on the
Equator, is the tropics.

In the year 2000, more than half of the world's population lived north of the Tropic of Cancer.[3]

There are approximately 13 hours, 35 minutes of daylight during the summer solstice. During the
winter solstice, there are 10 hours, 41 minutes of daylight.

Using 23°26'N for the Tropic of Cancer, the tropic passes through the following countries and
territories starting at the prime meridian and heading eastward:

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Country,
Co-ordinates Notes
territory or sea

23°26′N 0°0′E  Algeria

23°26′N 11°51′E  Niger

23°26′N 12°17′E  Libya The Tropic touches on the northernmost point of  Chad at 23°26′N
15°59′E
23°26′N 25°0′E  Egypt The Tropic passes through Lake Nasser

23°26′N 35°30′E Red Sea

 Saudi
23°26′N 38°38′E
Arabia
 United Arab
23°26′N 52°10′E Abu Dhabi emirate only
Emirates
23°26′N 55°24′E  Oman The tropic crosses Muscat, the country's capital.

23°26′N 58°46′E Indian Ocean Arabian Sea

23°26′N 68°23′E  India States of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand
and West Bengal

23°26′N 88°47′E  Bangladesh Khulna, Dhaka, and Chittagong divisions

23°26′N 91°14′E  India State of Tripura

23°26′N 91°56′E  Bangladesh Chittagong Division

23°26′N 92°19′E  India State of Mizoram

23°26′N 93°23′E  Myanmar Chin State, Sagaing Division, Mandalay Division, Shan State

23°26′N 98°54′E  China Provinces of Yunnan (passing about 7 km north of the border with
 Vietnam), Guangxi, and Guangdong
23°26′N 117°8′E Taiwan Strait
23°26′N 120°8′E  Taiwan Hujing Island (Huching Island), Chiayi County, Hualien County

23°26′N 121°29′E Philippine Sea

23°26′N 142°00′E Pacific Ocean Passing just south of Necker Island, Hawaii,  United States

23°26′N 110°15′W  Mexico State of Baja California Sur

23°26′N 109°24′W Gulf of California

23°26′N 106°35′W  Mexico States of Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León,
and Tamaulipas
23°26′N 97°45′W Gulf of Mexico Passing just north of Cuba
23°26′N 83°0′W Atlantic Ocean Passing through the Straits of Florida and the Nicholas Channel

Passing just south of the Anguilla Cays (  Bahamas)

Passing through the Santaren Channel and into the open ocean
23°26′N 76°0′W  Bahamas Exuma Islands and Long Island

23°26′N 75°10′W Atlantic Ocean

Claimed by  Morocco and the  Sahrawi Arab Democratic
23°26′N 15°57′W Western Sahara
Republic

23°26′N 12°0′W  Mauritania

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23°26′N 6°23′W  Mali

23°26′N 2°23′W  Algeria

Climate
The climate at the Tropic of Cancer is generally hot and dry, except for cooler highland regions in
China and easterly coastal areas, where orographic rainfall can be very heavy, in some places reaching
4 metres (160 in) annually. Most regions on the Tropic of Cancer experience two distinct seasons: an
extremely hot summer with temperatures often reaching 45  °C (113  °F) and a warm winter with
maxima around 22 °C (72 °F). Much land on or near the Tropic of Cancer is part of the Sahara Desert,
while to the east, the climate is torrid monsoonal with a short wet season from June to September,
and very little rainfall for the rest of the year.

The highest mountain on or adjacent to the Tropic of Cancer is Yu Shan in Taiwan; though it had
glaciers descending as low as 2,800 metres (9,190 ft) during the Last Glacial Maximum, none survive
and at present no glaciers exist within 470 kilometres (290 mi) of the Tropic of Cancer; the nearest
currently surviving are the Minyong and Baishui in the Himalayas to the north and on Iztaccíhuatl to
the south.

Circumnavigation
According to the rules of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, for a flight to compete for a
round-the-world speed record, it must cover a distance no less than the length of the Tropic of Cancer,
cross all meridians, and end on the same airfield where it started.

Length of the Tropic of Cancer at 23°26′11.7″N is 36,788 km (22,859 mi).[4]

For an ordinary circumnavigation the rules are somewhat relaxed and the distance is set to a rounded
value of at least 36,770 kilometres (22,850 mi).

Gallery

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Road sign south of Sign marking the Sign marking the Tropic
Dakhla, Western Sahara Tropic of Cancer a of Cancer in Madhya
marking the Tropic of few kilometres from Pradesh, India
Cancer. The sign was Rann of Kutch,
placed by Budapest- Gujarat, India
Bamako rally participants;
thus, the inscription is in
English and Hungarian.

Sign marking the Tropic Ruisui

of Cancer on National Tropic of
Highway 34 in Nadia Cancer
District, West Bengal, Marker in
India Ruisui
Township,
Hualien
County,
Taiwan

See also
Circle of latitude
Arctic Circle
24th parallel north
23rd parallel north
Equator
Tropic of Capricorn
Antarctic Circle
Axial tilt
Milankovitch cycles

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References
1. "PHP Science Labs" (http://www.neoprogrammics.com/obliquity_of_the_ecliptic/). Retrieved
2014-01-01.
2. Montana State University: Milankovitch Cycles & Glaciation (http://www.homepage.montana.edu/~
geol445/hyperglac/time1/milankov.htm)  Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110806021244/h
ttp://www.homepage.montana.edu/~geol445/hyperglac/time1/milankov.htm) August 6, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine
3. Quigley, Robert. "The World's Population Mapped by Latitude and Longitude" (https://www.themar
ysue.com/world-population-latitude-longitude/). The Mary Sue. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
4. RhumbSolve online rhumb line calculator (http://geographiclib.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/RhumbSolv
e).

External links
Article on the Tropic of Cancer in Oman (http://www.omanholiday.co.uk/TropicofCancerinOmanbyT
onyWalshforOmanToday.pdf)
Temporal Epoch Calculations (http://www.jqjacobs.net/astro/epoch_2000.html)
Useful constants (http://hpiers.obspm.fr/eop-pc/models/constants.html) See: Obliquity of the
ecliptic

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This page was last edited on 9 November 2021, at 01:08 (UTC).

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