What is an Equator?

The equator is an imaginary line circling the earth, almost 25,000 miles (40,000 km) long, midway between the North and South poles. Its name comes from the Latin word aequare, meaning "to make equal". The equator divides the earth into two halves, the North Hemisphere and the South Hemisphere. it is also midway between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

The Equator was invented by map-makers because it makes a convenient point from which to measure distances, together with the geographic North Pole and South Pole. On a map, the Equator is positioned at 0 degrees of latitude.

As a line on a map or globe, the equator passes through the countries of Ecuador, Columbia, and Brazil in South America; Gabon, Congo, Zaire, Uganda, Kenya, and Somalia in Africa; Sumatra, Borneo, and other islands in the Pacific Ocean.