Tropic map in Russian. The main parallels of the Earth

- (Greek tropikos, from trope appeal). Imaginary circles parallel to the equator, between which the annual, apparent movement of the sun around the earth takes place, and constituting, as it were, the boundaries of the hot zone; that's why hot countries are called ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

- (Tropics) parallels 23°.5 north and south of the equator. The northern tropic is called the tropic of Cancer, the southern tropic of Capricorn. Countries located between the tropics are called tropical. Between these parallels there is an annual ... ... Marine Dictionary

TROPICS- (from the Greek. tropikos rotary), the climatic zone at the equator, characterized by a warm and humid climate, very lush vegetation and rich wildlife. There are central tropics with an ever-humid climate, and outer tropics with more ... ... Ecological dictionary

TROPICS, see TROPIC SOUTHERN, TROPIC NORTHERN ... Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary

TROPICS, s, unit ik, ah, husband. 1. Imaginary parallels (in 3 digits), 23°07 north and south of the equator. Tropic of Cancer (north of the equator). Tropic of Capricorn (south of the equator). 2. pl. The area north and south of the equator between these ... ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

tropics- — EN tropics The region of the earth s surface lying between two parallels of latitude on the earth, one 23°’°27 north of the equator and the other 23°’°27 south of the equator,… … Technical Translator's Handbook

tropics- A belt on the earth's surface lying between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn (i.e. between 23°30′N and 23°30′S) where the sun's rays fall vertically for at least two days a year... Geography Dictionary

- [from Greek. tropikós (kýklos) turning (circle)], parallels with latitudes 23°07 North, or the Tropic of Cancer, and South, or the Tropic of Capricorn. On the day of the summer solstice (June 21-22), the Sun at noon is at its zenith over the Tropic of the North, similarly ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Latitudes 23°28 from the equator to the north (northern T.) and to the south (southern T.). The tropics are as far from the equator in latitude as the polar circles are from the poles. On T., the sun is at its zenith at solar noon for the summer solstice of this ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

Books

• Tropics, Tupikova A. (thin.). In the "New Universe" series you will find many wonderful relaxing coloring pages. Feel like a real artist and fill the pictures with harmony…
• Tropics, . In the "New Universe" series you will find many wonderful relaxing coloring pages. Feel like a real artist and fill the pictures with the harmony of colors! For elementary school kids…

There are 13 such countries. These are Australia, Algeria, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Egypt, not all recognized Western Sahara, China, Libya, the UAE, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and Chile.

In these states, the so-called trade winds arise - winds that walk through the tropics all year round. In the Northern Hemisphere they blow from the northeast, and in the Southern Hemisphere from the southeast.

Residents of the above countries, like no other, feel the influence of pronounced seasonal changes in ambient temperature. And they are especially strong not on the islands, but in the zone: the deeper, the stronger.

As for precipitation, they are not too plentiful - only 50-150 millimeters per year. Exceptions to this rule are only the coasts of the continents, to which the long-awaited moisture comes from the oceans. For example, in the tropical zone of the African continent, precipitation falls in winter, and in summer they are almost completely absent.

Countries with more than half of their area in the belt

This one is more extensive. The largest of them are Ethiopia, banana Ecuador, Philippines, Uganda, Chad, Thailand, Tanzania, Sudan, USA, Somalia with its pirates, Rwanda, Peru, Panama, Oman, Nicaragua, Mali, Malaysia, Congo, Kenya, Cameroon, Zambia , Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Yemen, Brunei and others. There are more than 40 such countries in total.

Tropical territories provide about a quarter of the world's land with various types of soil formation, diverse flora and fauna.

Geographers attribute part of the tropical to the ancient continent Gondwana, and, according to the present location of land on, it is in this zone that most of the earth's coral reefs, including the Great Barrier Reef, are located.

The Great Barrier Reef, which stretches along the northeast coast of Australia, is considered the largest coral formation in the world. The length is 2.5 thousand kilometers, the area is 344 square kilometers.

There are also mountainous states in the tropical zone, and in both hemispheres. They have a more variable climate than countries without noticeable elevations. Nevertheless, there are relatively few such territories, since semi-desert and desert landscapes still prevail.

It is the hot climate in the tropical zone that makes many states located in it a “tidbit” for tourists who love to bask in the sun and swim in salty sea water.

Among the parallels of the planet, there are three very important parallels, the existence of which is due to the laws of physics and geometry - these are the equator, the tropic and the polar circle. Like any other parallel, these are imaginary lines that do not exist on the surface of the Earth in reality, but knowing where these parallels come from is very important for understanding the entire course of geography. So, what is it, let's start with the simplest:

Equator

The equator is an imaginary line that divides the Earth into two equal hemispheres - North and South. The earth has a practically spherical shape, while it rotates stably around its axis. This allows us to find a plane that would divide the Earth into two equal halves. The earth's axis will be perpendicular to this plane, and the line that is formed when this plane intersects with the surface of the planet will be the equator. The equator is also the longest parallel on Earth, with an approximate length of 40,000 kilometers. What is the equator is mathematically clear - a line dividing the Earth into equal halves, but what is the significance of the equator for geography? The fact is that the equator is also a very important line for understanding climatic processes. The equatorial region of the Earth, namely, the part of the planet located between the tropics (see below), receives the most sunlight and heat. This is not surprising, because this part of the Earth is always turned towards the Sun so that the rays fall on it almost vertically. This leads to a very strong heating of the equatorial parts of the planet throughout the year, the hottest equatorial air mass saturated with moisture is formed here due to strong evaporation. At the equator itself, the Sun rises to the zenith twice a year, that is, it shines vertically down, rising to the highest point in the sky (in Russia, for example, we will never be able to observe such a phenomenon), it is noteworthy that at the equator this happens on days equinoxes, when day equals night on the entire planet. The equinoxes occur on the 20th of March and the 20th of September, although the days of the equinoxes are considered to be March 21 and September 23.

Tropics

A tropic is a parallel where the sun is at its zenith once a year - on the day of the solstice. There are two tropics on Earth - North and South. If you look at the picture, you will see that June 22 (on the day of the summer solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is maximally turned towards the Sun)

The sun is at its zenith over the Northern Tropic, on December 22 (when the Southern Hemisphere is maximally turned towards the sun) - over the Southern. The North and South Tropics are also sometimes named after the zodiac constellations in which the Sun appears on these days - the North Tropic is called the Tropic of Cancer, and the South Tropic of Capricorn (June and December, respectively). Perhaps someone has already noticed that the latitude of the tropic coincides with the angle of inclination of the earth's axis and is equal to 23.5 °. This value is not accidental and is determined precisely by the tilt of the planet's axis. Indeed, at any point on the planet, the sun above the horizon changes its height during the year, this is due to the tilt of the earth's axis, since the planet maintains an inclination during the year, it turns to the Sun for half a year with one hemisphere, and half a year with another. On the days of the equinoxes, the axis is turned so that the Sun shines on it, as it were, from the side, illuminating the planet from pole to pole, at the poles, by the way, at this moment it occurs at one sunset, and at the other, the sunrise is a phenomenon that occurs there once a year (! ). At equinoxes, the hemispheres of the planet are equally illuminated, and in the sky at astronomical noon, the Sun occupies its average position in the year. Due to the tilt of the earth's axis of 23.5 ° from the average position in summer, the sun in the sky in the sky will be able to rise a maximum of another 23.5 ° higher, and in winter it will fall below its position at the equinox by 23.5 °. What does this lead to? This leads, in particular, to the fact that a region appears on the planet where twice a year the Sun is at an altitude of 90 ° - at the zenith. This area is located just between the tropics - the tropics limit it. In the tropics themselves, the sun in the sky is at its zenith only once a year. That is why for everyone who lives north of the North and south of the South Tropic, it will not work to observe the sun at its zenith in their area.

arctic circles

The Arctic Circle is the parallel above which the phenomena of polar day and polar night are observed. The value of the latitude at which the polar circles of the planet are located is also mathematically determined. It is equal to 90° minus the tilt of the planet's axis. For the Earth, the latitude of the polar circles is 66.5°. To the north of the Northern and to the south of the Southern Arctic Circle, a very interesting phenomenon of the polar day and polar night is observed. Residents of temperate latitudes are also unable to observe these phenomena, although the change in the length of daylight hours during the year is felt much stronger here than in tropical and especially equatorial latitudes. At the latitude of St. Petersburg, "white nights" are observed in summer, however, this should not be confused with a polar day. A real polar day is observed at the latitude of Murmansk and Norilsk, when the sun does not set below the horizon at all during the longest days of the year (days around June 22). Unfortunately, in winter, you have to "pay" for such round-the-clock coverage during the polar night, when during the longest nights of the year (days around December 22) - the sun does not rise at all - it is night all day and night. In the Southern Hemisphere, everything happens the same way, but on opposite dates. The closer to the pole we move, the longer these phenomena will last. As mentioned above, at the poles of the Earth, the polar day and polar night last exactly half a year, and the sun rises and sets here only once a year. For the climate of the planet, such an arrangement of these zones leads to a very strong cooling during the long dark winter, even the sun shining all day is not able to warm the air here in summer, because it rises very low. This leads to the formation of the coldest polar air mass here and, as a result, the coldest regions of the Earth.

In a broad sense, the tropics and subtropics are the climatic zones of our planet. Tropics are also called two geographical parallels, which serve as the boundaries of the climatic zone of the same name.


These parallel lines are located at 23.43722° South and North latitudes and are called the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer, respectively. Subtropics do not have such an interpretation.

Geographic meaning

Such exact coordinates for determining the tropical region were chosen for a reason. It is within these latitudes that it reaches its maximum height in the sky (rises to the zenith), as a result of which the rays of light fall on the surface of the earth almost perpendicularly.

This intense exposure creates a hot and dry climate.

Weather conditions in a tropical climate

The determining factors of the tropical climate are increased atmospheric pressure and the action of constant easterly winds (). This forms such characteristic features of the considered climatic zone as a small amount of precipitation (no more than 200 mm per year), the hottest temperature regime on the planet (hotter than at the equator) and low cloudiness.

In the tropics, it is customary to distinguish not four, but two seasons: the rainy season (winter) and the dry season (summer). The average temperature of "winter" rarely drops below +10 °C, and "summer" fluctuates within +35 °C.

At the same time, several abnormally hot "spots" are distinguished, the temperature in which often rises to +53 ... +58 ° С.

Weather conditions in a subtropical climate

The subtropical climatic zone replaces the tropical one as you move north, where it then gives way to a colder temperate zone. It does not have strict geographical boundaries, but on the map it includes areas located between 45 ° and 30 ° south and north latitude.


In summer, in subtropical regions, the temperature most often stops at +20 °С, in winter it does not fall below +4 °С. Under the influence of cold polar air, short frosts may occur, during which the air temperature can drop to -10 °C. Scientists do not determine the average precipitation rate for the subtropics, since for different locations this parameter varies greatly depending on many factors.

Due to significant climate changes within the zone itself, three main climatic subtypes are distinguished in it: monsoonal, Mediterranean and continental. In the monsoon climate zone, there is a large amount of precipitation in summer and almost complete absence of precipitation in winter. The consequence of this phenomenon is a significant fluctuation of air humidity in summer and winter.

In the Mediterranean climate, the situation is reversed: the proximity of the Mediterranean Sea leads to a decrease in the amount of precipitation in the warm months to a minimum level, while snowfalls are also observed in winter. Thus, almost the entire annual precipitation rate (700-800 mm) falls during this cold period. The temperature regime is characterized by a high level of stability, with slight fluctuations in summer and winter periods.

The continental subtype of the subtropical climate is the most severe. There is a sharp difference between the annual minimum and annual maximum temperatures. To this is added drought in the summer months, and heavy precipitation (in the form of snow) in the winter. However, the proximity of large seas and oceans can significantly mitigate these unfavorable conditions.


The subtropical climate provides the most favorable conditions for human life. That is why the first state formations that existed for hundreds and thousands of years (Ancient Egypt, Babylon, Greek city-states, the Roman Empire, etc.) were born in this climatic zone.