zuiderbreedte

Zuiderbreedte is a Dutch geographic term referring to southern latitude, the angular distance of a location south of the equator. It is the counterpart of noorderbreedte, which denotes northern latitude. In historical and nautical cartography, breedte is used to describe how far a position lies north or south of the equator, with zuiderbreedte indicating values expressed southward of 0 degrees.

Etymology and usage. The word zuiderbreedte is composed of zuider, meaning south, and breedte, a traditional Dutch term for latitude. Historically, maps and nautical charts used zuiderbreedte to indicate latitudinal coordinates, often alongside noorderbreedte. The system contributed to a clear division of the globe into northern and southern zones for navigation and regional description.

Modern context. In contemporary geographic information, coordinates are typically presented in degrees of latitude with a sign convention (positive for north, negative for south) or by stating “south latitude” without the older breedte terminology. The terms noorderbreedte and zuiderbreedte survive in historical texts, museum labels, and some Dutch-language explanations of cartographic history.

See also. Noorderbreedte, geographic coordinate system, latitude, navigation, cartography.