175 World cities by latitude: Things line up in surprising ways
While this site mostly deals with the economics of world travel, we’ve also included typical weather and climate information for each destination for each month of the year. Hopefully this is useful to those who are planning a trip so they can compare what to expect weather-wise between each destination with just one click.
So building on the weather part, I always thought it would be interesting to see exactly where all the major tourist destinations of the world line up with regard to latitude (distance from the equator). The data below might contain some surprising facts, as it seems like most of us picture the globe in ways that may not match reality.
Southern Hemisphere cities are in italics alongside the Northern Hemisphere cities
And since it seems more interesting to compare cities by absolute distance from the equator rather than purely from north to south, I’ve added the Southern Hemisphere cities in with their northern counterparts, so, for example, Melbourne, Australia is listed (in italics) with San Francisco, as they are the same distance from the equator.
Most interesting cities at similar latitudes
Venice, Italy and Montreal, Canada – Most people would be surprised to see that Canada’s northernmost major tourist city is on the same latitude line as Italy’s famous lagoon city.
Nice, France and Toronto, Canada – Toronto is farther south than most would assume when they are not looking at a map, and that puts it in line with France’s Côte d’Azur along its southern Mediterranean coast.
Chicago, USA and Barcelona, Spain and Istanbul, Turkey – Since Chicago is famous for being far north in the US, it seems surprising to line up with Barcelona in the far north of Spain, and also Istanbul, which many of us picture almost in the Middle East.
Beijing, China and Ibiza, Spain – I don’t know about you, but even though I’ve been to both, I’d never have guessed that they are on the same latitude based on what they feel like when you are there.
San Francisco, USA and Athens, Greece – Again, San Francisco is known for its year-round mild climate while Athens is known for being in a desert-like part of the Mediterranean.
175 popular destinations by latitude
Southern Hemisphere cities are in on the same list, in italics.
64°
60°
Helsinki, Finland
Bergen, Norway
59°
Oslo, Norway
Stockholm, Sweden
Tallinn, Estonia
St. Petersburg, Russia
57°
55°
Edinburgh, Scotland
Copenhagen, Denmark
Moscow, Russia
Vilnius, Lithuania
53°
Galway, Ireland
Dublin, Ireland
Hamburg, Germany
52°
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Berlin, Germany
Warsaw, Poland
51°
London, England
Bruges, Belgium
50°
Brussells, Belgium
Prague, Czech Republic
Krakow, Poland
49°
Vancouver, Canada
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
48°
Paris, France
Munich, Germany
Vienna, Austria
Salzburg, Austria
Bratislava, Slovakia
47°
Zurich, Switzerland
Budapest, Hungary
Interlaken, Switzerland
Lucerne, Switzerland
46°
45°
Montreal, Canada
Milan, Italy
Venice, Italy
Belgrade, Serbia
Zagreb, Croatia
Queenstown, New Zealand
44°
Bucharest, Romania
Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina
Monaco, Monaco
Christchurch, New Zealand
43°
Toronto, Canada
Nice, France
Florence, Italy
Split, Croatia
42°
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Sofia, Bulgaria
Boston, USA
41°
Chicago, USA
Barcelona, Spain
Rome, Italy
Istanbul, Turkey
Bariloche, Argentina
40°
New York City, USA
Madrid, Spain
Naples, Italy
Sorrento, Italy
39°
Beijing, China
Ibiza, Spain
Valencia, Spain
Pyongyang, North Korea
38°
Washington DC, USA
Lisbon, Portugal
Mar del Plata, Argentina
Rotorua, New Zealand
37°
San Francisco, USA
Athens, Greece
Seoul, South Korea
Granada, Spain
Malaga, Spain
Seville, Spain
Mykonos, Greece
Faro, Portugal
Antalya, Turkey
Melbourne, Australia
36°
Las Vegas, USA
Rhodes, Greece
Santorini, Greece
Valletta, Malta
Kas, Turkey
Auckland, New Zealand
35°
Tokyo, Japan
Kyoto, Japan
Osaka, Japan
34°
Los Angeles, USA
Fez, Morocco
Xian, China
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Montevideo, Uruguay
Sydney, Australia
Punta del Este, Uruguay
33°
Beirut, Lebanon
Santiago, Chile
Cape Town, South Africa
Mendoza, Argentina
Santiago, Chile
Valparaiso, Chile
32°
31°
Marrakech, Morocco
Amman, Jordan
Shanghai, China
Perth, Australia
30°
29°
28°
Delhi, India
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt
Tenerife, Spain
27°
Kathmandu, Nepal
Brisbane, Australia
25°
Miami, USA
Dubai, UAE
Taipei, Taiwan
24°
23°
Los Cabos, Mexico
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Sao Paulo, Brazil
22°
Macau, Macau
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Sapa, Vietnam
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
21°
Honolulu, USA
Cancun, Mexico
Hanoi, Vietnam
Cozumel, Mexico
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
19°
Mexico City, Mexico
Luang Prabang, Laos
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
18°
Mumbai, India
Chiang Mai, Thailand
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Montego Bay, Jamaica
17°
Antigua, Guatemala
San Pedro, Belize
Vientiane, Laos
Yangon, Myanmar
Hue, Vietnam
16°
La Paz, Bolivia
Cairns, Australia
15°
14°
Dakar, Senegal
Manila, Philippines
13°
Bangkok, Thailand
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Pattaya, Thailand
Nha Trang, Vietnam
Cusco, Peru
12°
Boracay Island, Philippines
Lima, Peru
11°
10°
Cartagena, Colombia
Caracas, Venezuela
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
9°
8°
Panama City, Panama
Kuta, Bali, Indonesia
Recife, Brazil
7°
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Zanzibar City, Tanzania
Jakarta, Indonesia
6°
Medellin, Colombia
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
3°
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Arusha, Tanzania
1°
Singapore, Singapore
Nairobi, Kenya
0°
Nice list, Roger, thanks. I had to prove to myself that Rome is farther north than NYC!
Beirut, Lebanon is in the wrong category.
They aren’t in categories. They are listed according to latitudes. -Roger
why do so many people keep telling the author that hes missed some cities ! he aint gonna list evey bloody city !
Hi, very interesting page. Just some minor mistakes: Jakarta and Kuta should be italicised since they are on the southern side of equator.
Cheers, Hans.
Hans,
Thank you, and you are right. Good catch. I’ll fix that now. -Roger
Add Porto Alegre and Curitiba from Brazil, both over 1.2 million in municipality and 4 million in metro area.
Because the list needs more high 20s / low 30s latitudes cities from the southern hemisphere.
Sorry, meant to say South African cities. Like Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Chrissie B,
Thanks, but Cape Town is there, along with 8 other African cities. The list mainly focuses on cities where tourists go, so you’ll find Cairo and Marrakech on the list, but there are also cities in Tanzania, Kenya, and Senegal on the list. -Roger
Very interesting and some were a bit surprising.
BUT!!! There are no African cities, why?
Great idea and fun to compare. You missed the italics on a few Southern Hemisphere cities: Bariloche, Mendoza and Mar del Plato in Argentina as well as Rotorua, New Zealand. Also Montevideo and La Paz are listed twice. Thanks for the thought-provoking list.
– Jim
James,
Thank you for the notes. We recently added about 70 cities and I will fix the mistakes that you pointed out. -Roger
Well, actually, you cannot guess climate by only latitude, it also depends on how mild/continental ckimate is which depends on how far from the sea you are and how warm or cold sea currents are if you are close to the sea. For example same latitudes in North America and in Siberia are much colder than in Europe, especially Western Europe. For example, here in S. Petersburg climate is mild and winter temperatures are from -10 to +5 C, but same latitudes in Siberia often have -30 to -40 C
Kate,
Thank you for the comment, but you seem to have summarized exactly what is above in the article and the list. -Roger
Interesting site. I think that you should include Usuahia in Argentina and Punta Arenas in Chile the most austral cities of the world.