Equator and Tropics: Countries, States and Exam Facts

Four lines of latitude are drawn on every map and asked in every general studies paper: the Equator at zero degrees, the Tropic of Cancer at about 23 and a half degrees north, the Tropic of Capricorn at about 23 and a half degrees south, and the two polar circles at about 66 and a half degrees. This chapter deals with the first three and, more exactly, with the countries they cross. The questions are almost always of one kind: a group of countries is given and you must say which line passes through all of them, or which continent escapes all three lines.

Why these three lines matter

The tilt of the earth on its axis, about 23 and a half degrees, fixes the two tropics. The sun can be vertically overhead only between them, so this belt is called the torrid zone. On 21 June the noon sun is overhead at the Tropic of Cancer, the summer solstice of the northern hemisphere; on 22 December it is overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn. On the two equinoxes, about 21 March and 23 September, it is overhead at the Equator and day and night are equal everywhere. At the Equator itself the day is close to twelve hours throughout the year, twilight is very short and the midday sun is always high, which is why equatorial lands are hot and wet with little seasonal change.

Countries through which the Equator passes

The Equator crosses the continents of South America, Africa and Asia, besides island groups in the Pacific. Learn the list in that order. In South America it passes through Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil. In Africa it passes through Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Somalia. In Asia and the Pacific it passes through the Maldives, Indonesia and Kiribati. Two traps are set here again and again. First, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Nigeria are often slipped into the list although the Equator misses all three. Second, the Equator does not touch Europe, North America, Australia or Antarctica. Ecuador takes its very name from the line, and its capital Quito is the large capital city closest to it.

Countries on the Tropic of Cancer

Running from west to east, the Tropic of Cancer crosses Mexico and the Bahamas in North America; Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, Algeria, Niger, Libya and Egypt in Africa; and Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China and Taiwan in Asia. In India it almost halves the country and passes through eight states, which are worth memorising from west to east: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram. Remember that it misses Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, the usual distractors.

Countries on the Tropic of Capricorn

The Tropic of Capricorn crosses fewer countries because the southern hemisphere has less land. In South America it passes through Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil; in Africa through Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique and Madagascar; and in Oceania through Australia. Brazil is the one country crossed by both the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn, a favourite one mark question. Of the three lines, the Tropic of Capricorn is the only one that crosses Australia, and none of the three crosses Europe or Antarctica.

Summary table

Points often tested together

• The belt between the two tropics is the torrid zone; between a tropic and a polar circle lies the temperate zone, and beyond the polar circles the frigid zone.
• No land lies at the crossing of the Equator and the Prime Meridian; that point is in the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean.
• Indonesia is the country through which the Equator passes with the greatest land spread, and Brazil has the longest stretch of the Equator over land in South America.
• The standard meridian of India, 82 degrees 30 minutes east, is a longitude and should not be confused with the Tropic of Cancer, which is a latitude.