NCERT Solutions Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 1 Reading coordinates from a globe or atlas — Let's Explore

Book page 17 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
If the globe or atlas in your class has well-marked latitudes and longitudes, try to note down approximate values for the latitude and longitude of (1) Mumbai, (2) Kolkata, (3) Singapore, (4) Paris.
Answer

Find the place, then read the nearest parallel across it and the nearest meridian down it. Rounded to the nearest degree, you should get values close to these:

PlaceLatitudeLongitudeWhat the numbers tell you
Mumbai (Maharashtra)19°N73°ENorth of the Equator, well inside the tropics — hot and humid all year
Kolkata (West Bengal)23°N88°EAlmost on the Tropic of Cancer, and 15° east of Mumbai — the Sun rises there about an hour earlier
Singapore1°N104°EPractically on the Equator — no real winter, rain through the year
Paris (France)49°N2°EFar from the Equator and close to the Prime Meridian — cold winters, long summer days
What the table shows: latitude explains climate — Singapore at 1°N is torrid all year, Paris at 49°N is temperate with a cold winter. Longitude explains time — Singapore (104°E) is ahead of Paris (2°E) by about 6 hours 45 minutes of local time.
Tip: your atlas and your friend's may differ by a degree or two. That is fine — the book itself says these values are “rounded off, not exact”. What matters is that you write N or S with the latitude and E or W with the longitude; “19, 73” by itself means nothing.
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