38th parallel north

38°

38th parallel north

38th parallel north
Hangul	삼팔선
Hanja	三八線
Revised Romanization	Sampalseon
McCune–Reischauer	Samp'alsŏn

The 38th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 38 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. The 38th parallel north formed the border between North and South Korea prior to the Korean War.

At this latitude the sun is visible for 14 hours, 48 minutes during the summer solstice and 9 hours, 32 minutes during the winter solstice.

Around the world

Starting at the Prime Meridian heading eastwards, the 38th parallel north passes through:

Co-ordinates	Country, territory or sea	Notes
	Mediterranean Sea	Passing just north of the island of Marettimo, Italy (at )
	Italy	Islands of Levanzo and Sicily
	Mediterranean Sea	Strait of Messina
	Italy	Passing through Reggio di Calabria (southern suburbs)
	Mediterranean Sea	Ionian Sea - passing between the islands of Kefalonia (at ) and Zakynthos (at ), Greece
	Greece	Passing through Athens (northern suburbs)
	Aegean Sea
	Greece	Islands of Petalioi and Euboea
	Aegean Sea	Passing just north of the island of Andros (at ), Greece
	Turkey
	Iran
	Caspian Sea
	Turkmenistan
	Iran
	Turkmenistan	Passing just north of Ashgabat
	Uzbekistan
	Tajikistan
	Afghanistan
	Tajikistan
	People's Republic of China	Xinjiang Qinghai Gansu Inner Mongolia Ningxia Inner Mongolia Shaanxi − for around 5 km Inner Mongolia − for around 14 km Shaanxi Shanxi — passing just north of Taiyuan Hebei — passing just south of Shijiazhuang Shandong
	Yellow Sea	Passing just north of Baengnyeong Island (at ), South Korea
	North Korea	Ongjin Peninsula — South Hwanghae Province
	Yellow Sea	Ongjin Bay
	North Korea	South Hwanghae Province North Hwanghae Province passing just north of Kaesong
	South Korea	Gyeonggi Province- Passing through Yeoncheon County, Pocheon Gangwon Province - Passing through Cheolwon County, Hwacheon County, Yanggu County, Inje County, Yangyang County
	Sea of Japan
	Japan	Island of Sado: — Niigata Prefecture
	Sea of Japan
	Japan	Island of Honshū: — Niigata Prefecture — Yamagata Prefecture — Miyagi Prefecture
	Pacific Ocean
	United States	California Nevada Utah Colorado Kansas Missouri Illinois Indiana Kentucky West Virginia Virginia
	Chesapeake Bay
	United States	Maryland Virginia
	Atlantic Ocean	Passing between Pico (at ) and São Miguel (at ) islands, Azores, Portugal
	Portugal	Setúbal District Beja District - passing just south of Beja
	Spain	Andalusia Extremadura Andalusia Region of Murcia - passing just north of Murcia Valencian Community
	Mediterranean Sea

Korea

See also: Division of Korea and Panmunjom

The land on the left side of the boundary in this picture belongs to South Korea while on the right side it belongs to North Korea.

When Japan surrendered in August 1945, the 38th parallel was established as the boundary between Soviet and American occupation zones. This parallel divides the Korean peninsula roughly in the middle. In 1948, this parallel became the boundary between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea), both of which claim to be the government of the whole of Korea. On 25 June 1950, after a series of cross-border raids and gunfire from both the Northern and the Southern sides, the North Korean Army crossed the parallel and invaded South Korea. This sparked a United Nations resolution against the aggression and the Korean War, with United Nations troops (mostly Americans) helping to defend South Korea.

After the Armistice ended the Korean War in 1953, a new border was established based on the territory that each side held at that point. This Military Demarcation Line is surrounded by a Demilitarized Zone. It crosses the 38th parallel, from the southwest to the northeast. The new border is still often described as the 38th parallel, but this is not accurate.

See also

• 37th parallel north
• 38th parallel structures
• 39th parallel north
• Circle of latitude

Further reading

• Oberdorfer, Don. The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History. (1997)
• 38th parallel (geopolitics) at the Encyclopædia Britannica