What is the unit of measurement for measuring latitude?

Answer 1

Degrees, minutes, and seconds are used to divide the earth's surface. One degree is 1/360 of the earth's perimeter, and one minute is 1/60 of one degree, and one second is 1/60 of one minute. At the equator, the earth's perimeter is approx 24,000 miles, so one degree is approx 66.7 miles- this was traditionally called 60 nautical miles, so one minute was one nautical mile. Of course as you get nearer to the poles, the miles per degree on a parallel to the equator reduce, as the meridian lines converge. On a meridian line however the unit distance per degree is constant, except for the slight variation due to the flattening of the earth at the poles.

Answer 2

First of all, a meridian can be drawn at any longitude, there's no standard set

of them, and there are actually an infinite number of possible different ones.

So in order to get anywhere with this question, you'd have to specify which

two of them you're interested in.

But even if you named two meridians, there's no single answer to the question,

because the distance between any pair of meridians changes. They're farthest

apart where they cross the equator, and ALL meridians come together at a single

point at the north and south poles.

The distance in one degree of longitude is about 69 miles on the equator, and it

shrinks smoothly to zero at the poles.

The distance between any two meridians is

(69 miles) x (degrees of longitude between them) x (cosine of the latitude where you measure it).

Answer 3

Latitude is an angle (and so is longitude). So any unit of angle will work.

Examples include radians, grads, degrees, etc.

Mostly on account of seafaring tradition and the history of navigation, these

coordinates are still almost always listed and stated in degrees (and fractions

of degrees, like decimals, or minutes and seconds).

Answer 4

Latitude ... and longitude too ... are angles. In principle, any angle unit may be used.

But these particular angles are virtually always stated in terms of degrees, along with

either the classical subdivisions of degrees ... minutes and seconds ... or else common

decimal fractions of degrees.

Answer 5

Latitude and longitude are angles. As such, any angle unit may be used in principle,

but these particular angles are virtually always stated in terms of degrees, along with

either the classical subdivisions of degrees ... minutes and seconds ... or else common

decimal fractions of degrees.

Answer 6

Degrees, minutes (or nautical miles) and seconds.