The 45th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 45 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane.
It is the line that marks the theoretical halfway point between the equator and the South Pole. (The true halfway point is 16.2 kilometres (10.1 mi) south of this parallel because the Earth is not a perfect sphere but bulges at the equator and is flattened at the poles.)
Unlike its northern counterpart it passes mostly over open ocean. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, Australasia, the Pacific Ocean and South America.
At this latitude the sun is visible for 15 hours, 37 minutes during the December solstice and 8 hours, 46 minutes during the June solstice.
Read more about 45th Parallel South: Around The World
Famous quotes containing the words parallel and/or south:
“The universe expects every man to do his duty in his parallel of latitude.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In the far South the sun of autumn is passing
Like Walt Whitman walking along a ruddy shore.
He is singing and chanting the things that are part of him,
The worlds that were and will be, death and day.
Nothing is final, he chants. No man shall see the end.
His beard is of fire and his staff is a leaping flame.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)