Mile two points on the navigational chart, then place the open dividers against the minutes-of-latitude scale at the edge of the chart, and read off the distance in nautical miles. The Earth is not perfectly spherical but an oblate spheroid, so the length of a minute of latitude increases by 1% from the equator to the poles. Using the WGS84 ellipsoid, the commonly accepted Earth model for many purposes today, one minute of latitude at the WGS84 equator is 6,046 feet and at the poles is 6,107.5 feet. The average is about 6,076 feet (about 1,852 metres or 1.15 statute miles).
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