Geographical mile longitude at the equator is thus exactly 60 geographical miles. It was closely related to the nautical mile, which was originally determined as 1 minute of arc along a great circle of the Earth, but is nowadays defined as exactly 1852 metres. The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) notes that: "The international nautical mile of 1 852 meters (6 076.115 49...feet) was adopted effective July 1, 1954, for use in the United States. The value formerly used in the United States was 6 080.20 feet = 1 nautical (geographical or sea) mile." (6080.2 feet is 1853.24496 meters.)
Equator satellite had shown the equatorial "diameter" from longitude 11° West to 169° East to be greater than its "diameter" ninety degrees away. The Equator passes through the land of 11 countries. Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the Equator passes through: Despite its name, no part of Equatorial Guinea lies on the Equator. However, its island of Annobón is south of the Equator, and the rest of the country lies to the north. Seasons result from the tilt of the Earth's axis compared to the plane of its revolution around the Sun. Throughout the year the northern and