• 14 parts
  • Checked October 2026

Parts of a Globe

Name the lines, poles and stand of a classroom globe, one lit part at a time.

Parts of a Globe

Name Date

Which part of the globe is this?

1 of 9

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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. North Pole
  2. South Pole
  3. Equator
  4. Prime meridian
  5. Lines of latitude
  6. Lines of longitude
  7. Axis
  8. Meridian ring
  9. Stand
  10. Tropic of Cancer
  11. Tropic of Capricorn
  12. Arctic Circle
  13. Antarctic Circle
  14. International Date Line

Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01: land outlines from Natural Earth 1:110m public-domain data with every country merged into one shape, the lines computed, the stand from plain geometry. Licence: public domain map data; drawing own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: the four hemispheres

All 14 parts on the diagram

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Poles, lines, axis and stand 9

  1. North Pole The northern end of the axis, at 90 degrees north. Every line of longitude meets here.
  2. South Pole The southern end of the axis, at 90 degrees south. Every line of longitude meets here too.
  3. Equator The line of 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the two poles.
  4. Prime meridian The line of 0 degrees longitude. It runs through Greenwich, England.
  5. Lines of latitude They run east and west and are also called parallels. Each measures a distance north or south of the equator.
  6. Lines of longitude They run from pole to pole and are also called meridians. Each measures a distance east or west of the prime meridian.
  7. Axis The line through both poles that the globe turns on. A globe is usually mounted with it tipped 23.5 degrees from upright.
  8. Meridian ring The ring round the globe that holds it by its two poles.
  9. Stand The column and foot that hold the ring and the globe up.

Tropics, circles, date line 5

  1. Tropic of Cancer The parallel at about 23 degrees north. It is the farthest north the Sun can be seen straight overhead.
  2. Tropic of Capricorn The parallel at about 23 degrees south. It is the farthest south the Sun can be seen straight overhead.
  3. Arctic Circle The parallel at about 66 degrees north. It marks the edge of the Arctic region.
  4. Antarctic Circle The parallel at about 66 degrees south. It marks the edge of the Antarctic region.
  5. International Date Line It roughly follows 180 degrees longitude through the Pacific Ocean. Crossing it changes the calendar date by one day.

How this list was compiled: Read 2026-10-01. (1) The U.S. National Ocean Service, What is latitude?, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/latitude.html : latitude lines start at the equator (0 degrees) and run east and west, parallel to it, to 90 degrees at the North or South poles; lines of latitude are also called parallels; the Tropic of Cancer at roughly 23 degrees north and the Tropic of Capricorn at roughly 23 degrees south; the Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle at roughly 66 degrees north and south, the boundaries of the Arctic and Antarctic regions. What is longitude?, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/longitude.html : longitude measures distance east or west of the prime meridian; lines of longitude, also called meridians, run from pole to pole; the equator is halfway between the poles; the Earth turns on its axis. What is the international date line?, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/international-date-line.html : it roughly follows the 180 degrees line through the mid-Pacific, halfway round the world from the prime meridian, the 0 degrees longitude line in Greenwich, England, and separates two calendar dates. (2) Wikipedia, Globe, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe (most globes are printed with parallels and meridians; a globe is usually mounted with its rotation axis 23.5 degrees from vertical); Circle of latitude, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_latitude (the five major circles: Arctic Circle, Tropic of Cancer, Equator, Tropic of Capricorn, Antarctic Circle; the tropics are the farthest north and south latitudes where the Sun can be directly overhead); Geographic coordinate system, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_coordinate_system (parallels, meridians, the poles); International Date Line, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Date_Line (its course, followed for the drawing). (3) For the ring and the stand, found by full-text search on archive.org: A Catalogue of Early Globes Made Prior to 1850 and Conserved in the United States (1968), https://archive.org/details/catalogueofearly0000yong ("hung in a brass meridian ring, set in a mahogany tripod stand"); Johnston's Handbook to the Celestial Globe (1900), https://archive.org/details/johnstonshandboo00wakjuoft ("Meridian Ring", the ring the globe is mounted in); A Descriptive Catalogue of Indian Astronomical Instruments (2018), https://archive.org/details/a-descriptive-catalogue-of-indian-astronomical-instruments-2018 ("the globe is set up on a stand"; the axis through the two poles is fixed to the meridian ring). Licence: public domain map data; drawing own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01: land outlines from Natural Earth 1:110m public-domain data with every country merged into one shape, the lines computed, the stand from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: public domain map data; drawing own work

How it works

Label the parts of a globe on two drawings. The first has the six a lesson asks for first: North Pole, South Pole, equator, prime meridian, lines of latitude and lines of longitude, with the axis, ring and stand.

Read the full guide

The six parts to learn first

The North and South Poles are the two ends of the axis. The equator runs round the middle, halfway between them. Lines of latitude, or parallels, run the same way as the equator. Lines of longitude, or meridians, run from pole to pole, and the prime meridian is the one numbered 0.

The other side of the globe

The second drawing is turned to the Pacific Ocean. It has the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn on each side of the equator, the Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle near the poles, and the International Date Line.

  • Lines of latitude never touch each other. Lines of longitude all meet at both poles.
  • The International Date Line is the only line here that bends.

Questions and answers

What are the 6 parts of a globe?

A grade-school lesson usually lists the North Pole, the South Pole, the equator, the prime meridian, the lines of latitude (parallels) and the lines of longitude (meridians). All six are on the first drawing.

Why is a globe tilted?

A globe is usually mounted with its axis 23.5 degrees from upright, because that is how far the Earth's own axis leans. The tilt makes it easier to see how the seasons change.

What is the difference between latitude and longitude?

Latitude measures distance north or south of the equator, on lines that run east and west. Longitude measures distance east or west of the prime meridian, on lines that run from pole to pole.

What is the ring around a globe called?

It is the meridian ring. The globe is fixed to it at the two poles and turns inside it, and the ring sits on the stand.

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