Quiz: Is This Spot North or South of the Equator?

By: Alia Hoyt
Estimated Completion Time
1 min
Quiz: Is This Spot North or South of the Equator?
Image: Thomas Janisch/Getty Images

About This Quiz

You probably know that the equator is the imaginary line that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. But do you know on which side of 0 degrees latitude these famous landmarks fall?
Which side of the equator is the Taj Mahal on?
north
One of the Seven Wonders of the World, this architectural masterpiece is just under 2,000 miles (3,023 kilometers) north of the equator in northern India.
south

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Let's say you want to visit the island country of the Maldives. Which side of the equator would you be on?
north
south
both
The majority of the Maldives are on the north end of the equator, but a handful of atolls lie just south.

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Where is the famous "Christ the Redeemer" statue located in relation to the equator?
north
south
The 121-foot (36-meter) tall statue, located on a cliff in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, is in the Southern Hemisphere.

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On which side of the equator is the Indonesian city of Pontianak?
north
south
both
Although many countries straddle the equator, Pontianak is the only city in the world located directly on the invisible line. It's nicknamed "Equatorial City" (Kota Khatulistiwa).

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The Mitad monument in Ecuador has a bright yellow line in front of it to separate the Northern Hemisphere from the Southern Hemisphere. There's just one problem:
The yellow line is crooked.
It's in the wrong position.
The Mitad monument features a yellow line to denote the equator's location and attracts thousands of tourists each year. The spot was calculated by a French explorer in 1736. But GPS technology has now shown that the equator is actually 787.4 feet (240 meters) north of the line.
If you go near it, you get an electric shock.

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The Great Wall of China is 5,500 miles (nearly 9,000 kilometers) long. Is it north or south of the equator?
north
The Great Wall, which took more than 2,000 years to build, is north of the equator. Interestingly, the Wall is half the length of the equator, at 13,171 miles (21,196 kilometers).
south

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The Incan landmark of Machu Picchu is located atop the Peruvian Andes. Which side of the equator is this on?
north
south
One of the wonders of the world, Machu Picchu is 13.164 degrees south of the equator (910 miles or 1,464 kilometers from it). It is a hugely popular destination for thrill seekers.

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It's the tallest mountain in the world: Which side of the equator does Mount Everest fall on?
north
The famed peak, which is 50 to 60 million years old, is only about 28 degrees north of the equator.
south
It straddles the equator.

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Where is Easter Island in relation to the equator?
north
south
Known for its large, human-inspired statues, the isolated island is thousands of miles off the coast of Chile and is in the Southern Hemisphere.
It straddles the equator.

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How many countries lie on the equator?
10
25
13
Thirteen countries fit the bill: São Tomé and Principe, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Indonesia, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, the Maldives and Kiribati. The last two are island chains that don't touch the equator but water passing through them does.

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You Got:
/10
Thomas Janisch/Getty Images