# 38th parallel north

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The 38th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 38 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. The 38th parallel north formed the border between North and South Korea prior to the Korean War.
At this latitude, the Sun is visible for 14 hours, 48 minutes during the summer solstice and 9 hours, 32 minutes during the winter solstice.

## Around the world

Starting at the Prime Meridian heading eastward, the 38th parallel north passes through:
    Coordinates Country, territory or sea Notes 38°0′N 0°0′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 0.000°E﻿ / 38.000; 0.000﻿ (Prime Meridian) Mediterranean Sea Passing just north of the island of Marettimo, Italy (at 37°59′43″N 12°1′47″E﻿ / ﻿37.99528°N 12.02972°E﻿ / 37.99528; 12.02972﻿ (Marettimo)) 38°0′N 12°19′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 12.317°E﻿ / 38.000; 12.317﻿ (Italy)  Italy Islands of Levanzo and Sicily 38°0′N 15°25′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 15.417°E﻿ / 38.000; 15.417﻿ (Mediterranean Sea) Mediterranean Sea Strait of Messina 38°0′N 15°38′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 15.633°E﻿ / 38.000; 15.633﻿ (Italy)  Italy Passing through Reggio di Calabria (southern suburbs) 38°0′N 16°8′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 16.133°E﻿ / 38.000; 16.133﻿ (Mediterranean Sea) Mediterranean Sea Ionian Sea - passing between the islands of Kefalonia (at 38°4′N 20°43′E﻿ / ﻿38.067°N 20.717°E﻿ / 38.067; 20.717﻿ (Kefalonia)) and Zakynthos (at 37°56′N 20°42′E﻿ / ﻿37.933°N 20.700°E﻿ / 37.933; 20.700﻿ (Zakynthos)), Greece 38°0′N 21°16′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 21.267°E﻿ / 38.000; 21.267﻿ (Greece)  Greece Passing through Athens 38°0′N 24°2′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 24.033°E﻿ / 38.000; 24.033﻿ (Aegean Sea) Aegean Sea 38°0′N 24°14′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 24.233°E﻿ / 38.000; 24.233﻿ (Greece)  Greece Islands of Petalioi and Euboea 38°0′N 24°34′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 24.567°E﻿ / 38.000; 24.567﻿ (Aegean Sea) Aegean Sea Passing just north of the island of Andros (at 37°59′57″N 24°47′23″E﻿ / ﻿37.99917°N 24.78972°E﻿ / 37.99917; 24.78972﻿ (Andros)), Greece 38°0′N 27°7′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 27.117°E﻿ / 38.000; 27.117﻿ (Turkey)  Turkey Passing through Konya, Niğde and İzmir (southern suburbs) 38°0′N 44°17′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 44.283°E﻿ / 38.000; 44.283﻿ (Iran)  Iran Passing just south of Tabriz 38°0′N 48°55′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 48.917°E﻿ / 38.000; 48.917﻿ (Caspian Sea) Caspian Sea 38°0′N 53°49′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 53.817°E﻿ / 38.000; 53.817﻿ (Turkmenistan)  Turkmenistan 38°0′N 55°17′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 55.283°E﻿ / 38.000; 55.283﻿ (Iran)  Iran 38°0′N 57°22′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 57.367°E﻿ / 38.000; 57.367﻿ (Turkmenistan)  Turkmenistan Passing just north of Ashgabat 38°0′N 66°38′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 66.633°E﻿ / 38.000; 66.633﻿ (Uzbekistan)  Uzbekistan 38°0′N 68°17′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 68.283°E﻿ / 38.000; 68.283﻿ (Tajikistan)  Tajikistan 38°0′N 70°19′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 70.317°E﻿ / 38.000; 70.317﻿ (Afghanistan)  Afghanistan 38°0′N 71°16′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 71.267°E﻿ / 38.000; 71.267﻿ (Tajikistan)  Tajikistan 38°0′N 74°54′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 74.900°E﻿ / 38.000; 74.900﻿ (China)  People's Republic of China Xinjiang Qinghai Gansu Inner Mongolia Ningxia Inner Mongolia Shaanxi − for around 5 km (3.1 mi) Inner Mongolia − for around 14 km (8.7 mi) Shaanxi Shanxi — passing just north of Taiyuan Hebei — passing just south of Shijiazhuang Shandong 38°0′N 118°58′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 118.967°E﻿ / 38.000; 118.967﻿ (Yellow Sea) Yellow Sea Passing just north of Baengnyeong Island (at 37°59′N 124°41′E﻿ / ﻿37.983°N 124.683°E﻿ / 37.983; 124.683﻿ (Baengnyeong)), South Korea 38°0′N 125°7′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 125.117°E﻿ / 38.000; 125.117﻿ (North Korea)  North Korea Ongjin Peninsula — South Hwanghae Province 38°0′N 125°35′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 125.583°E﻿ / 38.000; 125.583﻿ (Yellow Sea) Yellow Sea Ongjin Bay 38°0′N 125°46′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 125.767°E﻿ / 38.000; 125.767﻿ (North Korea)  North Korea South Hwanghae Province passing just south of Haeju North Hwanghae Province passing just north of Kaesong 38°0′N 126°49′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 126.817°E﻿ / 38.000; 126.817﻿ (South Korea)  South Korea Gyeonggi Province- Passing through Paju, Yeoncheon County, Pocheon, Gapyeong County Gangwon Province - Passing through Hwacheon County, Chuncheon, (passing just north of Soyang Reservoir), Inje County, Yangyang County 38°0′N 128°44′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 128.733°E﻿ / 38.000; 128.733﻿ (Sea of Japan) Sea of Japan 38°0′N 138°14′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 138.233°E﻿ / 38.000; 138.233﻿ (Japan)  Japan Island of Sado: — Niigata Prefecture 38°0′N 138°33′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 138.550°E﻿ / 38.000; 138.550﻿ (Sea of Japan) Sea of Japan 38°0′N 139°14′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 139.233°E﻿ / 38.000; 139.233﻿ (Japan)  Japan Island of Honshū: — Niigata Prefecture Passing just north of Niigata City — Yamagata Prefecture — Miyagi Prefecture 38°0′N 140°55′E﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 140.917°E﻿ / 38.000; 140.917﻿ (Pacific Ocean) Pacific Ocean 38°0′N 123°1′W﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 123.017°W﻿ / 38.000; -123.017﻿ (United States)  United States California - passing through Pinole and Stockton With Sacramento a little to the north Nevada - passing just south of Tonopah Utah - passing through Capitol Reef and Canyonlands National Parks Colorado - passing through Ouray, and then just south of Pueblo Kansas - passing just south of Newton Missouri - passing through Camdenton and just north of Rolla Illinois - passing just south of Mount Vernon Indiana - passing through Evansville Kentucky - passing through Lexington West Virginia - passing just north of Beckley Virginia - passing just south of Charlottesville 38°0′N 76°28′W﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 76.467°W﻿ / 38.000; -76.467﻿ (Chesapeake Bay) Chesapeake Bay 38°0′N 75°53′W﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 75.883°W﻿ / 38.000; -75.883﻿ (United States)  United States Maryland - passing just north of Smith Island and Crisfield Virginia - passing just north of Chincoteague 38°0′N 75°16′W﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 75.267°W﻿ / 38.000; -75.267﻿ (Pacific Ocean) Atlantic Ocean Passing between Pico (at 38°23′N 28°14′W﻿ / ﻿38.383°N 28.233°W﻿ / 38.383; -28.233﻿ (Pico)) and São Miguel (at 37°55′N 25°47′W﻿ / ﻿37.917°N 25.783°W﻿ / 37.917; -25.783﻿ (São Miguel)) islands, Azores, Portugal 38°0′N 8°51′W﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 8.850°W﻿ / 38.000; -8.850﻿ (Portugal)  Portugal Setúbal District Beja District - passing just south of Beja 38°0′N 7°12′W﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 7.200°W﻿ / 38.000; -7.200﻿ (Spain)  Spain Andalusia Extremadura Region of Murcia - passing just north of Murcia Valencian Community 38°0′N 0°39′W﻿ / ﻿38.000°N 0.650°W﻿ / 38.000; -0.650﻿ (Mediterranean Sea) Mediterranean Sea

## Korea

Japan had ruled the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945. When Japan surrendered in August 1945, the 38th parallel was established as the boundary between Soviet and American occupation zones. This parallel divided the Korean peninsula roughly in the middle. In 1948, this parallel became the boundary between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea), both of which claim to be the government of the whole of Korea. On 25 June 1950, after a series of cross-border raids and gunfire from both the Northern and the Southern sides, the North Korean Army crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea. This sparked United Nations Security Council Resolution 82 which called for the North to return its troops to behind the 38th parallel, commencing the Korean War with United Nations troops (mostly American) helping South Korean troops to defend South Korea.
After the Armistice agreement was signed on July 27, 1953, a new line was established to separate North Korea and South Korea. This Military Demarcation Line is surrounded by a Demilitarized Zone. The demarcation line crosses the 38th parallel, from the southwest to the northeast.