Geographical Coordinates for

Cape Agulhas

In South Africa we went to a light house, The Cape Agulhas light house coordinates are:

34 49' 58'' S

20 00' 12'' E

Cape Agulhas is the most southern point of Africa. It is very special place because the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. It is also a very treacherous place. There were many ship wretches in this area.

GPS sands for Global Positioning System

It is used for navigation and to pinpoint where you are. It is possible to work out location because GPS uses a network of 24 man made satellites. These GPS satellites orbit above Earth and devices that use low powered radio waves can communicate with the satellites in order to accurately find the specific time at a specific location.

This system was set up by the US military and then 30 years ago, they allowed everyone else to use it. But the US military still maintain the system.

GPS uses the lines of longitude and latitude.

The lines of latitude are horizontal, lines that stretch from East to West across the globe. There are 90 lines north of the equator and there are 90 lines south of the equator. Moving north of the equator, each horizontal line increases by 1 degree. Each line north of the equator is annotated with a number and the letter N for North. Each line south of the equator is annotated with a number and the letter S for South. The 90 degree line of latitude north of the equator is represented by a dot at the North Pole and the 90 degree line of latitude south of the equator is represented by a dot at the South Pole.

The lines of longitude are vertical, line that stretch from the North Pole to the South Pole. The main line of longitude is called the Prime Meridian. This line is represented as 0 degrees longitude. Moving east of the meridian each vertical line increases by 1 degree. Each line east of the meridian is annotated with a number and the letter E for East. Each line west of the meridian is annotated with a number and the letter W for West. To the east of the Meridian there are 180 lines going east, this represent the Eastern Hemisphere. To the west there are 180 lines going west, this represents the Western Hemisphere.

Each line represents sixty seconds, I can read and understand the

geographical coordinates for the location of Cape Agulhas.

The 34 means 34 degrees South, the 49' means 49 minutes and the

58'' means 58 seconds and the S stands for South, the first line always

refers to Latitude.

The 20 means 20 degrees East, the 00' means 00 minutes and the 12''

means 12 seconds and the E stands for East.