Cities with same latitude as Anchorage

The map above does an excellent job of illustrating the relative latitudes of European and North American cities by transposing them on the opposite continent.

As with our previous look at the Counterintuitive Comparison Of Relative Population Latitudes Of US, Canada & Europe, there are quite a few interesting things to note.

Just a few observations:

• London (51°30′N) is farther north than Calgary (51°03′N) with Amsterdam, Berlin and Dublin being located even further north.
• Montreal is south of Paris.
• Phoenix is placed close to the Ancient city of Carthage, which was a Phoenician city-state. People from Phoenix today are known as Phoenicians. (Credit: reddit users twomancanoe and svaachkuet)
• Miami is at the same latitude as Saudi Arabia.
• Honolulu at the same latitude as the Sahara desert.
• Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Houston are all at the same latitude as North Africa.
• Anchorage is further south than Reykjavik.
• Winnipeg has been placed near Lviv, Ukraine and coincidentally has a large Ukraine population. Even the city’s flag has Ukraine colours. (credit: reddit user ajyablo)
• Reykjavik’s average temperature in January is -0.6°C (31°F) and is warmer than Boston’s average January temperature of -1.7°C (29°F) despite Reykjavik being over 20 degrees further north (64°08′N vs 42°21′N).
• Missoula is placed roughly where Geneva is.
• The map also shows just how wide America and Canada are compared to Europe, stretching the equivalent distance from Spain to the Caspian Sea.

The reason many European cities have milder climates than equivalent cities in North America at the same latitude is of course the Gulf Stream.

Curious what the map for the Southern hemisphere might look like? Well Reddit user Yearlaren has created the following map of South American cities transposed with Australian and New Zealand ones:

Want to learn more about the Gulf Stream and relative latitudes? Then have a look at the following books:

• The Gulf Stream: Tiny Plankton, Giant Bluefin, and the Amazing Story of the Powerful River in the Atlantic
• A Portrait of the Gulf Stream: In Praise of Currents
• The World Today: Concepts and Regions in Geography

Notice anything else interesting about either map? Please leave your comments below.