The 72nd parallel north is a
circle of latitude that is 72
degrees north of the
Earth's equatorial plane, in the
Arctic. It crosses the
Atlantic Ocean,
Europe,
Asia, the
Arctic Ocean and
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
.
At this latitude, the
sun is visible for 24 hours, 0 minutes during the
summer solstice
The summer solstice, also called the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer ...
and Civil Twilight during the
winter solstice. This is the parallel where
twilight/
nighttime boundary on the
equinoxes.
Around the world
Starting at the
Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 72° north passes through:
:
See also
*
71st parallel north
The 71st parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 71 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane, in the Arctic. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, Asia and North America, and passes through some of the southern seas of the Arctic O ...
*
73rd parallel north
{{geographical coordinates, state=collapsed
n72
Geography of the Arctic