The 31st parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 31 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America and the Atlantic Ocean.
Part of the border between Iran and Iraq is defined by the parallel. In the United States, it defines part of the border between the states of Mississippi and Louisiana, and most of the border between Alabama and Florida.
Andrew Ellicott surveyed this parallel in 1797, when it was the border between the United States and Spanish territory.
At this latitude the sun is visible for 14 hours, 10 minutes during the summer solstice and 10 hours, 8 minutes during the winter solstice.
Read more about 31st Parallel North: Around The World
Famous quotes containing the words parallel and/or north:
“The universe expects every man to do his duty in his parallel of latitude.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Let north and south—let all Americans—let all lovers of liberty everywhere—join in the great and good work. If we do this, we shall not only have saved the Union; but we shall have so saved it, as to make, and to keep it, forever worthy of the saving. We shall have so saved it, that the succeeding millions of free happy people, the world over, shall rise up, and call us blessed, to the latest generations.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)