:''This article is about the
circle of latitude. For the USA trilogy, see
U.S.A. trilogy.''
The 'parallel 42° north' is an imaginary
circle of latitude that is 42
degrees north of the
Earth's equatorial plane.
Starting at the
Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 42° north passes through
Spain, the
Mediterranean Sea,
France (
Corsica),
Italy, the
Adriatic Sea,
Montenegro,
Albania,
Serbia (
Kosovo),
Macedonia,
Bulgaria,
Turkey (European part), the
Black Sea,
Turkey (Asian part),
Georgia,
Russia, the
Caspian Sea,
Kazakhstan,
Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan,
Kyrgyzstan,
People's Republic of China,
Mongolia,
North Korea, the
Sea of Japan,
Japan (
HokkaidÅ), the
Pacific Ocean,
the United States,
Canada, the
Atlantic Ocean and
Portugal.
United States
The parallel 42° north forms most of the
New York - Pennsylvania Border, although due to imperfect surveying in
1785-
1786, this boundary wanders around on both sides of the true parallel.
The
Adams-OnÃs Treaty of
1819 established the parallel 42° north as the border between the
Viceroyality of New Spain of the
Kingdom of Spain and the western territory of the
United States of America from the
meridian of the
headwaters of the
Arkansas River west to the
Pacific Ocean. The
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of
1848 ceded northern
Mexico to the
United States. As a result, the
U.S. states of
Oregon and
Idaho have the parallel 42° north as their southern border and the
U.S. states of
California,
Nevada, and
Utah have the parallel 42° north as their northern border.
The parallel 42° north passes through the southern end of
Lake Michigan and
Lake Erie. Part of the water boundary between the
United States and
Canada passes south of the 42nd parallel, and the southern tip of the Canadian province of
Ontario just barely goes south of it - this is located at
Point Pelee and
Pelee Island.
The parallel also passes through the states of
Wyoming,
Nebraska,
Iowa,
Illinois,
Michigan,
Pennsylvania,
New York,
Connecticut,
Rhode Island and
Massachusetts.
U.S. cities lying on or near the 42nd Parallel North
★
Chicago, Illinois
★
Toledo, Ohio
★
Erie, Pennsylvania
★
Binghamton, New York