Geographical zone

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Geographical zone" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The five main latitude regions of Earth's surface comprise geographical zones,^[1] divided by the major circles of latitude. The differences between them relate to climate. They are as follows:

1. The North Frigid Zone, between the North Pole at 90° N and the Arctic Circle at 66°33′50.3″ N, covers 4.12% of Earth's surface.
2. The North Temperate Zone, between the Arctic Circle at 66°33′50.3″ N and the Tropic of Cancer at 23°26′09.7″ N, covers 25.99% of Earth's surface.
3. The Torrid Zone, between the Tropic of Cancer at 23°26′09.7″ N and the Tropic of Capricorn at 23°26′09.7″ S, covers 39.78% of Earth's surface.
4. The South Temperate Zone, between the Tropic of Capricorn at 23°26′09.7″ S and the Antarctic Circle at 66°33′50.3″ S, covers 25.99% of Earth's surface.
5. The South Frigid Zone, from the Antarctic Circle at 66°33′50.3″ S and the South Pole at 90° S, covers 4.12% of Earth's surface.

On the basis of latitudinal extent, the globe is divided into three broad heat zones.