Latitude runs from 0 at the equator to 90N or 90S at the poles. Lines of latitude run in an east-west direction. They are called parallels because they run parallel to each other. Longitude Lines of longitude are called meridians. They run in a north-south direction from pole to pole.
Longitude is the angular measurement of a place east or west of the prime meridian.
The Prime meridian is also known as the Greenwich Meridian because it runs through the original site of the Royal Observatory Greenwich just outside London, England. Latitude and Longitude are measured in degrees, minutes and seconds. One degree of latitude equals approximately 111 km. One minute is just over a mile, and one second is around 35 metres. The north and south poles are the earth's geographic poles, located at each end of its axis of rotation.