42nd parallel north

This article is about the circle of latitude. For the novel "The 42nd Parallel" by John Dos Passos, see U.S.A. trilogy.

42°

42nd parallel north

The 42nd parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 42 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean.

At this latitude the sun is visible for 15 hours, 15 minutes during the summer solstice and 9 hours, 7 minutes during the winter solstice.

Around the world

Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 42° north passes through:

Co-ordinates	Country, territory or sea	Notes
	Spain	Passing just north of Girona
	Mediterranean Sea
	France	Island of Corsica
	Mediterranean Sea	Tyrrhenian Sea
	Italy	Passing just north of Rome
	Mediterranean Sea	Adriatic Sea
	Montenegro
	Albania
	Kosovo or Serbia	Kosovo is a partially recognised state. Some nations consider its territory to be part of Serbia.
	Macedonia	Passing through Skopje
	Bulgaria
	Turkey
	Bulgaria
	Turkey	For about 3 km
	Bulgaria
	Black Sea
	Turkey
	Black Sea
	Turkey
	Black Sea
	Georgia
	Russia	Dagestan - For about 2 km
	Georgia	For about 3 km
	Russia	Dagestan
	Caspian Sea
	Kazakhstan
	Turkmenistan
	Kazakhstan
	Uzbekistan
	Turkmenistan
	Uzbekistan
	Kazakhstan
	Uzbekistan
	Kyrgyzstan
	People's Republic of China	Xinjiang Gansu Inner Mongolia
	Mongolia
	People's Republic of China	Inner Mongolia Hebei Inner Mongolia Hebei Inner Mongolia Hebei Inner Mongolia Liaoning Inner Mongolia Liaoning Jilin
	North Korea	Passing through Baekdu Mountain
	People's Republic of China	Jilin (for about 8 km)
	North Korea	North Hamgyeong Province - Kaema Plateau Passing just south of Raseon
	Sea of Japan	Passing just south of Okushiri Island, Japan
	Japan	Island of Hokkaidō
	Pacific Ocean
	Japan	Island of Hokkaidō
	Pacific Ocean
	United States	Oregon / California border Oregon / Nevada border Idaho / Nevada border Idaho / Utah border Wyoming Nebraska Iowa Illinois - passing through Chicago
	Lake Michigan
	United States	Michigan
	Lake Erie
	Canada	Ontario
	Lake Erie
	United States	Pennsylvania (Erie County) New York / Pennsylvania border New York Connecticut - running just south of the border with Massachusetts Rhode Island - running just south of the border with Massachusetts Massachusetts
	Cape Cod Bay
	United States	Massachusetts (Truro, Cape Cod)
	Atlantic Ocean
	Spain
	Portugal
	Spain

United States

The 42nd parallel north defining borders between states in the United States

Crossing the parallel in Girard, Pennsylvania

The parallel 42° north forms most of the New York-Pennsylvania border, although due to imperfect surveying in 1785–1786, this boundary wanders around on both sides of the true parallel. The area around the parallel in this region is known as the Twin Tiers.

The 42nd parallel became agreed upon as the northward limit of the Spanish Empire by the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819 with the United States, which established the parallel as the border between the Viceroyality of New Spain of the Kingdom of Spain and the western territory of the United States of America from the meridian of the headwaters of the Arkansas River west to the Pacific Ocean. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848 then ceded much of what was then northern Mexico to the United States; as a result, the northernmost U.S. states which were created from Mexican territory (California, Nevada, and Utah) have the parallel 42° north as their northern border, and the adjoining U.S. states of Oregon and Idaho have the parallel as their southern border.

The parallel passes through the states of Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and passes through (or near - within three-tenths degree of latitude) the following cities in the United States:

• Crescent City, California
• Yreka, California
• Ames, Iowa
• Chicago, Illinois
• Kalamazoo, Michigan
• Binghamton, New York
• Erie, Pennsylvania
• Kingston, Massachusetts
• Springfield, Massachusetts
• Hartford, Connecticut
• Worcester, Massachusetts
• Providence, Rhode Island

Canada

The parallel 42° north passes through the southern end of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie. Part of the water boundary between Canada and the United States passes south of the 42nd parallel, and the southern tip of the Canadian province of Ontario just barely goes south of it - this is located at Point Pelee and Pelee Island.

See also

• 41st parallel north
• 43rd parallel north
• The Twin Tiers region of New York and Pennsylvania
• The "Jefferson" region of Oregon and California