Distances for latitude are North degrees or South of the Equator.
Explanation:
Latitudinal lines are imaginary lines created by humans to serve their needs. These lines run from east to west as closed lines, or rather circles. Their starting point is the Equator which marks the middle part of Earth, and they spread from it in a northern and southern direction until the poles.
The Equator is at 0 degrees of latitude, and as mentioned it is the starting point for measuring all of the other latitudinal lines. There are latitudinal lines that stretch until 90 degrees North and 90 degrees South. The purpose of these lines is to help in orientation and to help with the absolute location of any place on Earth (in combination with the longitudianl lines). Also, they are very good in roughly representing the climate zones on Earth, the amount of sunlight a place gets, and dividing the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
They are close to the equator, another reason is because of the tropical maritime location, temperature changes throughout the region are generally small.
