- Geographical zone
Each of the five main latitude regions of the earth's surface is said to be a geographical zone, divided by the major
circles of latitude . The differences between them relate to climate, and the behaviour of the sun. They are as follows:*The North Frigid Zone, north of the
Arctic Circle
*The North Temperate Zone, between the Arctic Circle and theTropic of Cancer
*The Torrid Zone, between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn
*The South Temperate Zone, between theTropic of Capricorn and theAntarctic Circle
*The South Frigid Zone, south of the Antarctic CircleIn the Torrid Zone, also known as the
Tropics , the sun is directly overhead at least once during the year - at the edges of the tropics this occurs at the summersolstice , and over theequator , at theequinoxes . This is the hottest part of the earth, and there are two annual seasons: a dry and a wet. The Torrid Zone includes most ofAfrica , southernIndia , southernAsia ,Indonesia ,New Guinea , northernAustralia , southernMexico ,Central America and northernSouth America .In the two Temperate Zones, the sun is never directly overhead, and the climate is mild, generally ranging from warm to cool. The four annual seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter occur in these areas. The North Temperate Zone includes
Great Britain ,Europe , northern Asia,North America and northernMexico . The South Temperate Zone includes southern Australia,New Zealand , southernSouth America andSouth Africa .The two Frigid Zones, or polar regions, experience the
midnight sun and thepolar night for part of the year - the edge of the zone experiences one day at thesolstice when the sun doesn't rise or set for 24 hours, while in the centre of the zone (the pole), the day is literally one year long, with six months of daylight and six months of night. The Frigid Zones are the coldest parts of the earth, and are covered with ice and snow. The North Frigid Zone (theArctic ) includes northernCanada andAlaska ,Greenland , northernScandinavia , northernRussia , and the Arctic ice. The South Frigid Zone (TheAntarctic ) is filled by the continent ofAntarctica ; the next closest mainland is the southern tip of Chile and Argentina, followed by New Zealand.The edges of the Temperate Zones are also sometimes referred to as the
Subtropics ,Subarctic andSubantarctic .History
The idea of a geographical zone was first hypothesized by the ancient Greek scholar
Aristotle . He said that the earth was divided into three types of climatic zones, based on their distance from the equator.Thinking that the area near the equator was too hot for habitation, Aristotle dubbed the region around the equator (from 23.5° N to 23.5° S) as the "Torrid Zone." He reasoned that from the Arctic Circle to the pole was permanently frozen. He called this uninhabitable zone the "Frigid Zone." The only area that Aristotle believed was livable was the "Temperate Zone", lying between the "Frigid Zone" and the "Torrid Zone". One of the reasons Aristotle believed that the Temperate Zone was the best for life could come from the fact that he lived in that zone.
As knowledge of the earth's geography improved a second "Temperate Zone" was discovered south of the equator, and a second "Frigid Zone" was discovered around the
Antarctic .Aristotle's map was vastly oversimplified, although the general idea was correct. Today, the most commonly used climate map is the
Köppen climate classification , developed by German climatologist and amateur botanistWladimir Köppen (1846-1940), which divides the world into six major climate regions, based on average annual precipitation, average monthly precipitation, and average monthly temperature.ee also
*
Circles of latitude
*Climate classification
*Tropics
*Temperate
*Polar region
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