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:
“There isn’t a Parallel of Latitude but thinks it would have been the Equator if it had had its rights.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“While the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted.”
—Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964)