The 45th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 45 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane.
It is the line that marks the theoretical halfway point between the equator and the South Pole. (The true halfway point is 16.2 kilometres (10.1 mi) south of this parallel because the Earth is not a perfect sphere but bulges at the equator and is flattened at the poles.)
Unlike its northern counterpart it passes mostly over open ocean. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, Australasia, the Pacific Ocean and South America.
At this latitude the sun is visible for 15 hours, 37 minutes during the December solstice and 8 hours, 46 minutes during the June solstice.
Read more about 45th Parallel South: Around The World
Famous quotes containing the words parallel and/or south:
“As I look at the human story I see two stories. They run parallel and never meet. One is of people who live, as they can or must, the events that arrive; the other is of people who live, as they intend, the events they create.”
—Margaret Anderson (1886–1973)
“Up from the South at break of day,
Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay,
The affrighted air with a shudder bore,
Like a herald in haste, to the chieftain’s door,
The terrible grumble, and rumble, and roar,
Telling the battle was on once more,
And Sheridan twenty miles away.”
—Thomas Buchanan Read (1822–1872)