Line across the Earth
38°
38th parallel north
38th parallel north
Hangul
삼팔선
Hanja
三八線
Revised RomanizationSampalseon
McCune–ReischauerSamp'alsŏn

The 38th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 38 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. The 38th parallel north formed the border between North and South Korea prior to the Korean War.

At this latitude, the Sun is visible for 14 hours, 48 minutes during the summer solstice and 9 hours, 32 minutes during the winter solstice.[1]

Around the world

Starting at the Prime Meridian heading eastward, the 38th parallel north passes through:

Co-ordinates Country, territory or sea Notes
38°0′N 0°0′E / 38.000°N 0.000°E / 38.000; 0.000 (Prime Meridian) Mediterranean Sea Passing just north of the island of Marettimo,  Italy (at 37°59′43″N 12°1′47″E / 37.99528°N 12.02972°E / 37.99528; 12.02972 (Marettimo))
38°0′N 12°19′E / 38.000°N 12.317°E / 38.000; 12.317 (Italy)  Italy Islands of Levanzo and Sicily
38°0′N 15°25′E / 38.000°N 15.417°E / 38.000; 15.417 (Mediterranean Sea) Mediterranean Sea Strait of Messina
38°0′N 15°38′E / 38.000°N 15.633°E / 38.000; 15.633 (Italy)  Italy Passing through Reggio di Calabria (southern suburbs)
38°0′N 16°8′E / 38.000°N 16.133°E / 38.000; 16.133 (Mediterranean Sea) Mediterranean Sea Ionian Sea - passing between the islands of Kefalonia (at 38°4′N 20°43′E / 38.067°N 20.717°E / 38.067; 20.717 (Kefalonia)) and Zakynthos (at 37°56′N 20°42′E / 37.933°N 20.700°E / 37.933; 20.700 (Zakynthos)),  Greece
38°0′N 21°16′E / 38.000°N 21.267°E / 38.000; 21.267 (Greece)  Greece Passing through Athens (northern suburbs)
38°0′N 24°2′E / 38.000°N 24.033°E / 38.000; 24.033 (Aegean Sea) Aegean Sea
38°0′N 24°14′E / 38.000°N 24.233°E / 38.000; 24.233 (Greece)  Greece Islands of Petalioi and Euboea
38°0′N 24°34′E / 38.000°N 24.567°E / 38.000; 24.567 (Aegean Sea) Aegean Sea Passing just north of the island of Andros (at 37°59′57″N 24°47′23″E / 37.99917°N 24.78972°E / 37.99917; 24.78972 (Andros)),  Greece
38°0′N 27°7′E / 38.000°N 27.117°E / 38.000; 27.117 (Turkey)  Turkey Passing through Konya, Niğde and İzmir (southern suburbs)
38°0′N 44°17′E / 38.000°N 44.283°E / 38.000; 44.283 (Iran)  Iran Passing just south of Tabriz
38°0′N 48°55′E / 38.000°N 48.917°E / 38.000; 48.917 (Caspian Sea) Caspian Sea
38°0′N 53°49′E / 38.000°N 53.817°E / 38.000; 53.817 (Turkmenistan)  Turkmenistan
38°0′N 55°17′E / 38.000°N 55.283°E / 38.000; 55.283 (Iran)  Iran
38°0′N 57°22′E / 38.000°N 57.367°E / 38.000; 57.367 (Turkmenistan)  Turkmenistan Passing just north of Ashgabat
38°0′N 66°38′E / 38.000°N 66.633°E / 38.000; 66.633 (Uzbekistan)  Uzbekistan
38°0′N 68°17′E / 38.000°N 68.283°E / 38.000; 68.283 (Tajikistan)  Tajikistan
38°0′N 70°19′E / 38.000°N 70.317°E / 38.000; 70.317 (Afghanistan)  Afghanistan
38°0′N 71°16′E / 38.000°N 71.267°E / 38.000; 71.267 (Tajikistan)  Tajikistan
38°0′N 74°54′E / 38.000°N 74.900°E / 38.000; 74.900 (China)  People's Republic of China Xinjiang
Qinghai
Gansu
Inner Mongolia
Ningxia
Inner Mongolia
Shaanxi − for around 5 km (3.1 mi)
Inner Mongolia − for around 14 km (8.7 mi)
Shaanxi
Shanxi — passing just north of Taiyuan
Hebei — passing just south of Shijiazhuang
Shandong
38°0′N 118°58′E / 38.000°N 118.967°E / 38.000; 118.967 (Yellow Sea) Yellow Sea Passing just north of Baengnyeong Island (at 37°59′N 124°41′E / 37.983°N 124.683°E / 37.983; 124.683 (Baengnyeong)),  South Korea
38°0′N 125°7′E / 38.000°N 125.117°E / 38.000; 125.117 (North Korea)  North Korea Ongjin PeninsulaSouth Hwanghae Province
38°0′N 125°35′E / 38.000°N 125.583°E / 38.000; 125.583 (Yellow Sea) Yellow Sea Ongjin Bay
38°0′N 125°46′E / 38.000°N 125.767°E / 38.000; 125.767 (North Korea)  North Korea South Hwanghae Province
passing just south of Haeju
North Hwanghae Province
passing just north of Kaesong
38°0′N 126°49′E / 38.000°N 126.817°E / 38.000; 126.817 (South Korea)  South Korea Gyeonggi Province- Passing through Paju, Yeoncheon County, Pocheon, Gapyeong County
Gangwon Province - Passing through Hwacheon County, Chuncheon, (passing just north of Soyang Reservoir), Inje County, Yangyang County
38°0′N 128°44′E / 38.000°N 128.733°E / 38.000; 128.733 (Sea of Japan) Sea of Japan
38°0′N 138°14′E / 38.000°N 138.233°E / 38.000; 138.233 (Japan)  Japan Island of Sado:
Niigata Prefecture
38°0′N 138°33′E / 38.000°N 138.550°E / 38.000; 138.550 (Sea of Japan) Sea of Japan
38°0′N 139°14′E / 38.000°N 139.233°E / 38.000; 139.233 (Japan)  Japan Island of Honshū:
— Niigata Prefecture
Passing just north of Niigata City
Yamagata Prefecture
Miyagi Prefecture
38°0′N 140°55′E / 38.000°N 140.917°E / 38.000; 140.917 (Pacific Ocean) Pacific Ocean
38°0′N 123°1′W / 38.000°N 123.017°W / 38.000; -123.017 (United States)  United States California - passing through Pinole and Stockton
Nevada - passing just south of Tonopah
Utah - passing through Capitol Reef and Canyonlands National Parks
Colorado - passing through Ouray, and then just south of Pueblo
Kansas - passing just south of Newton
Missouri - passing through Camdenton and just north of Rolla
Illinois - passing just south of Mount Vernon
Indiana - passing through Evansville
Kentucky - passing through Lexington
West Virginia - passing just north of Beckley
Virginia - passing just south of Charlottesville
38°0′N 76°28′W / 38.000°N 76.467°W / 38.000; -76.467 (Chesapeake Bay) Chesapeake Bay
38°0′N 75°53′W / 38.000°N 75.883°W / 38.000; -75.883 (United States)  United States Maryland - passing just north of Smith Island and Crisfield
Virginia - passing just north of Chincoteague
38°0′N 75°16′W / 38.000°N 75.267°W / 38.000; -75.267 (Pacific Ocean) Atlantic Ocean Passing between Pico (at 38°23′N 28°14′W / 38.383°N 28.233°W / 38.383; -28.233 (Pico)) and São Miguel (at 37°55′N 25°47′W / 37.917°N 25.783°W / 37.917; -25.783 (São Miguel)) islands, Azores,  Portugal
38°0′N 8°51′W / 38.000°N 8.850°W / 38.000; -8.850 (Portugal)  Portugal Setúbal District
Beja District - passing just south of Beja
38°0′N 7°12′W / 38.000°N 7.200°W / 38.000; -7.200 (Spain)  Spain Andalusia
Extremadura
Region of Murcia - passing just north of Murcia
Valencian Community
38°0′N 0°39′W / 38.000°N 0.650°W / 38.000; -0.650 (Mediterranean Sea) Mediterranean Sea

Korea

UN Forces crossing the 38th parallel line in Korea during the Korean War
The Korean Peninsula first divided along the 38th parallel, later along the demarcation line

Japan had ruled the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945. When Japan surrendered in August 1945, the 38th parallel was established as the boundary between Soviet and American occupation zones. This parallel divided the Korean peninsula roughly in the middle. In 1948, this parallel became the boundary between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea), both of which claim to be the government of the whole of Korea. On 25 June 1950, after a series of cross-border raids and gunfire from both the Northern and the Southern sides, the North Korean Army crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea. This sparked United Nations Security Council Resolution 82 which called for the North to return its troops to behind the 38th parallel, commencing the Korean War with United Nations troops (mostly American) helping South Korean troops to defend South Korea.[2]

After the Armistice agreement was signed on July 27, 1953, a new line was established to separate North Korea and South Korea. This Military Demarcation Line is surrounded by a Demilitarized Zone. The demarcation line crosses the 38th parallel, from the southwest to the northeast. The Demarcation Line is often confused with 38th parallel, but as can be seen in the image of the map, the two are not the same.

See also

References

  1. "Duration of Daylight/Darkness Table for One Year". aa.usno.navy.mil. Archived from the original on 2019-10-12. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  2. Nash, Gary B., The American People (6th edition), Pearson Longman (New York), 2008.

Further reading

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