The parallel 36°30' north is a circle of latitude that is 36.5 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane, and is particularly significant in the history of the United States as the line of the Missouri Compromise. It crosses the Mediterranean Sea, Africa, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, the Atlantic Ocean and Europe.

United States

In the United States, the parallel forms the boundary between the State of Tennessee and the Commonwealth of Kentucky between the Tennessee River and the Mississippi River, the boundary between the State of Missouri and the State of Arkansas west of the White River, and the northernmost boundary between the State of Texas and the State of Oklahoma. Many other state boundaries lie on or between the parallel 36° north and the parallel 37° north.

The parallel 36°30' north is part of a nearly straight east-west line of state borders (with small variations) starting on the Atlantic Ocean with the Virginia-North Carolina border (although this border lies a few miles north of 36°30' in at least some places) and extending to the Arizona-Utah-Nevada border.

In southeast Missouri, the Bootheel along the Mississippi River drops about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south to the 36th parallel north for about 30 miles (50 km) because communities along the river felt they had more in common other Mississippi River towns in Missouri than with the Arkansas Territory to which it would have been assigned. The parallel 36°30' north forms the rest of the border between Missouri and Arkansas.

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 established the latitude 36°30' north as the northernmost limit for slavery in the western territories. In 1850, the parallel 36°30' north was established as the northernmost boundary of the slave state of Texas. The creation of the New Mexico Territory and the Utah Territory in 1850, the Kansas Territory in 1854, and the Colorado Territory in 1861 moved the boundaries of the western territories north to the 37th parallel north. The gap between the northern boundary of Texas on the parallel 36°30' north and the southern boundaries of Kansas and Colorado on the parallel 37° north created the No Man's Land of the Oklahoma Panhandle.

During the American Civil War, all of the states south of the parallel 36°30' north, plus Virginia and except California, joined the Confederate States of America while all states north of the parallel stayed in the Union, although Kentucky and Missouri had Confederate governments in exile.

Geography

Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 36°30' north passes through:

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See also

• Missouri Compromise
• Royal Colonial Boundary of 1665
• Territorial evolution of the United States
• 36th parallel north
• 37th parallel north

References

Co-ordinates
Country, territory or sea
Notes
Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
Passing just south of the island of Sicily,
Mani Peninsula, island of Elafonisos and Cape Malea
Aegean Sea
Passing just south of the island of Folegandros, /> Passing just north of the island of Santorini, /> Passing just south of the island of Astypalaia,
Island of Kandelioussa
Aegean Sea
Passing just south of the island of Nisyros, /> Passing just north of the island of Tilos, /> Passing just south of the island of Symi, /> Passing just north of the island of Rhodes,
Mediterranean Sea
Gulf of Antalya
Mediterranean Sea
Gulf of İskenderun
Kashmir
Area administered by , claimed by
Yellow Sea
Sea of Japan (East Sea)
Passing just north of the island of Dōgo,
Island of Honshū
Pacific Ocean
California /> Nevada /> Arizona /> New Mexico /> Oklahoma / Texas border /> Oklahoma /> Missouri / Arkansas border /> Missouri /> Kentucky (Kentucky Bend) / Tennessee border (for about 3 miles) /> Missouri (for about 4 miles) /> Kentucky / Tennessee border /> Tennessee /> North Carolina
Atlantic Ocean
Mediterranean Sea