[header] How to determine latitude and longitude [title] Understand latitude. [step] Latitude measures how far a point is north or south of the equator. Since the earth is round, distance from the equator is measured in angular degrees with the equator being 0 degrees and the northernmost point--the north pole--being at 90 degrees. 
The southernmost point--the south pole--is also at 90 degrees. [substeps] Latitude is measured in degrees north when in the northern hemisphere and degrees south when in the southern hemisphere.