United States
The parallel 42° north forms most of the New York-Pennsylvania border, although due to imperfect surveying in 1785–1786, this boundary wanders around on both sides of the true parallel. The area around the parallel in this region is known as the Twin Tiers.
The 42nd parallel became agreed upon as the northward limit of the Spanish Empire by the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819 with the United States, which established the parallel as the border between the Viceroyality of New Spain of the Kingdom of Spain and the western territory of the United States of America from the meridian of the headwaters of the Arkansas River west to the Pacific Ocean. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848 then ceded much of what was then northern Mexico to the United States; as a result, the northernmost U.S. states which were created from Mexican territory (California, Nevada, and Utah) have the parallel 42° north as their northern border, and the adjoining U.S. states of Oregon and Idaho have the parallel as their southern border.
The parallel passes through the states of Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and passes through (or near - within one-half degree of latitude) the following cities in the United States:
- Crescent City, California
- Yreka, California
- Hartford, Connecticut
- Chicago, Illinois
- Des Moines, Iowa
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Springfield, Massachusetts
- Worcester, Massachusetts
- Detroit, Michigan
- Kalamazoo, Michigan
- Albany, New York
- Binghamton, New York
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Toledo, Ohio
- Medford, Oregon
- Erie, Pennsylvania
- Providence, Rhode Island
Read more about this topic: 42nd Parallel North
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