Ace the 2026 US History Terra Nova Test – Rewrite the Past, Conquer Your Future!

Latitude lines run east-west around the globe, forming circles that are parallel to the equator. They measure how far north or south you are, using degrees from the equator up to 90° at the poles. On a map, these lines appear as horizontal bands across the page, which is why they’re described as running in an east-west direction. This is different from longitude lines, which run north-south and measure east or west from the Prime Meridian. The east-west orientation of latitude lines is precisely what makes them the right way to describe positions north or south of the equator.