The 39th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 39 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean.

Line across the Earth
39°
39th parallel north

At this latitude the sun is visible for 14 hours, 54 minutes during the summer solstice and 9 hours, 26 minutes during the winter solstice.[1]

Daylight along the 39th parallel north falls under 10 hours a day starting on 18 November and returns to over ten hours a day beginning 24 January. The growth of crops and other plants is considerably slowed during this period of reduced sunlight.[citation needed]

In the United States, the eastern boundary of the state of California was defined as following the 120th meridian west south from the 42nd parallel north to its intersection with the 39th parallel north, beyond which it follows a diagonal line to where the Colorado River crosses the 35th parallel north.[2] The intersection of the 120th meridian and 39th parallel is in Lake Tahoe.

Around the world

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Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 39° north passes through:

Coordinates Country, territory or sea Notes
39°0′N 0°0′E / 39.000°N 0.000°E / 39.000; 0.000 (Prime Meridian) Mediterranean Sea
39°0′N 1°17′E / 39.000°N 1.283°E / 39.000; 1.283 (Spain)   Spain Island of Ibiza
39°0′N 1°35′E / 39.000°N 1.583°E / 39.000; 1.583 (Mediterranean Sea) Mediterranean Sea Passing just south of the island of Cabrera,   Spain
39°0′N 8°23′E / 39.000°N 8.383°E / 39.000; 8.383 (Italy)   Italy Islands of Sant'Antioco and Sardinia
39°0′N 9°1′E / 39.000°N 9.017°E / 39.000; 9.017 (Mediterranean Sea) Mediterranean Sea Tyrrhenian Sea - passing just north of the island of Stromboli,   Italy
39°0′N 16°8′E / 39.000°N 16.133°E / 39.000; 16.133 (Italy)   Italy
39°0′N 17°10′E / 39.000°N 17.167°E / 39.000; 17.167 (Mediterranean Sea) Mediterranean Sea Ionian Sea
39°0′N 20°42′E / 39.000°N 20.700°E / 39.000; 20.700 (Greece)   Greece Mainland and island of Euboea
39°0′N 23°22′E / 39.000°N 23.367°E / 39.000; 23.367 (Aegean Sea) Aegean Sea Passing just north of the island of Skyros,   Greece
39°0′N 26°17′E / 39.000°N 26.283°E / 39.000; 26.283 (Greece)   Greece Island of Lesbos
39°0′N 26°32′E / 39.000°N 26.533°E / 39.000; 26.533 (Aegean Sea) Aegean Sea
39°0′N 26°48′E / 39.000°N 26.800°E / 39.000; 26.800 (Turkey)   Turkey
39°0′N 44°11′E / 39.000°N 44.183°E / 39.000; 44.183 (Iran)   Iran
39°0′N 45°26′E / 39.000°N 45.433°E / 39.000; 45.433 (Azerbaijan)   Azerbaijan Nakhchivan exclave
39°0′N 46°6′E / 39.000°N 46.100°E / 39.000; 46.100 (Armenia)   Armenia
39°0′N 46°31′E / 39.000°N 46.517°E / 39.000; 46.517 (Azerbaijan)   Azerbaijan
39°0′N 46°41′E / 39.000°N 46.683°E / 39.000; 46.683 (Iran)   Iran
39°0′N 48°21′E / 39.000°N 48.350°E / 39.000; 48.350 (Azerbaijan)   Azerbaijan
39°0′N 49°11′E / 39.000°N 49.183°E / 39.000; 49.183 (Caspian Sea) Caspian Sea
39°0′N 53°2′E / 39.000°N 53.033°E / 39.000; 53.033 (Turkmenistan)   Turkmenistan Island of Ogurja Ada
39°0′N 53°3′E / 39.000°N 53.050°E / 39.000; 53.050 (Caspian Sea) Caspian Sea
39°0′N 53°53′E / 39.000°N 53.883°E / 39.000; 53.883 (Turkmenistan)   Turkmenistan Passing just south of Türkmenabat
39°0′N 64°6′E / 39.000°N 64.100°E / 39.000; 64.100 (Uzbekistan)   Uzbekistan
39°0′N 68°7′E / 39.000°N 68.117°E / 39.000; 68.117 (Tajikistan)   Tajikistan
39°0′N 73°49′E / 39.000°N 73.817°E / 39.000; 73.817 (China)   People's Republic of China Xinjiang
Qinghai
Gansu
Qinghai
Gansu
Qinghai (for about 7 km)
Gansu (for about 30 km)
Qinghai (for about 17 km)
Gansu
Inner Mongolia (for about 16 km)
Gansu (for about 6 km)
Inner Mongolia
Gansu
Inner Mongolia
Ningxia
Inner Mongolia
Shaanxi
Shanxi
Hebei
Tianjin (just south of the city centre)
39°0′N 117°46′E / 39.000°N 117.767°E / 39.000; 117.767 (Yellow Sea) Yellow Sea Bohai Gulf
39°0′N 121°19′E / 39.000°N 121.317°E / 39.000; 121.317 (China)   People's Republic of China Liaoning (Liaodong Peninsula) — passing just north of Dalian
39°0′N 121°51′E / 39.000°N 121.850°E / 39.000; 121.850 (Yellow Sea) Yellow Sea Passing just south of Zhangzi Island and Haiyang Island
39°0′N 125°12′E / 39.000°N 125.200°E / 39.000; 125.200 (North Korea)   North Korea South Pyeongan Province
Passing through Pyongyang-Daedong River
South Pyeongan Province
Gangwon Province - Passing just south of Wonsan
39°0′N 127°50′E / 39.000°N 127.833°E / 39.000; 127.833 (Sea of Japan) Sea of Japan
39°0′N 139°51′E / 39.000°N 139.850°E / 39.000; 139.850 (Japan)   Japan Island of Honshū:
Yamagata Prefecture
Akita Prefecture
Iwate Prefecture
Miyagi Prefecture − for about 1 km
— Iwate Prefecture
39°0′N 141°44′E / 39.000°N 141.733°E / 39.000; 141.733 (Pacific Ocean) Pacific Ocean
39°0′N 123°42′W / 39.000°N 123.700°W / 39.000; -123.700 (United States)   United States California
Nevada - passing through Great Basin National Park
Utah
Colorado - passing just south of Grand Junction
Kansas - passing just south of Topeka
Missouri - passing just south of Kansas City
Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Ohio - passing just south of Cincinnati
West Virginia
Virginia
Maryland - less than a mile north of District of Columbia at 39°0′N 77°2′W / 39.000°N 77.033°W / 39.000; -77.033 (Washington D.C.); cutting through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge at 39°0′N 76°22′W / 39.000°N 76.367°W / 39.000; -76.367 (Chesapeake Bay Bridge)
Delaware
39°0′N 75°20′W / 39.000°N 75.333°W / 39.000; -75.333 (Delaware Bay) Delaware Bay
39°0′N 74°57′W / 39.000°N 74.950°W / 39.000; -74.950 (United States)   United States New Jersey - passing through Cape May Airport
39°0′N 74°47′W / 39.000°N 74.783°W / 39.000; -74.783 (Atlantic Ocean) Atlantic Ocean Passing between the islands of Graciosa (almost crossing its southern tip) and São Jorge, Azores,   Portugal
39°0′N 9°25′W / 39.000°N 9.417°W / 39.000; -9.417 (Portugal)   Portugal Passing about 30km north of Lisbon
39°0′N 6°58′W / 39.000°N 6.967°W / 39.000; -6.967 (Spain)   Spain Passing through Ciudad Real and Albacete
39°0′N 0°9′W / 39.000°N 0.150°W / 39.000; -0.150 (Mediterranean Sea) Mediterranean Sea

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Duration of Daylight/Darkness Table for One Year". U.S. Naval Observatory. 2019-09-24. Archived from the original on 2019-10-12. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  2. ^ Hubbard, Bill (2009). American Boundaries: The Nation, the States, the Rectangular Survey. University of Chicago Press. pp. 156–157. ISBN 978-0-226-35591-7. Retrieved 27 September 2012.