Tropic of Cancer

Its Southern Hemisphere counterpart, marking the most southerly position at which the Sun can be seen directly overhead, is the Tropic of Capricorn.

[2] When this line of latitude was named in the last centuries BCE, the Sun was in the constellation Cancer (Latin: Crab) at the June solstice (90° ecliptic longitude).

This wobble means that the Tropic of Cancer is currently drifting southward at a rate of almost half an arcsecond (0.468″) of latitude, or 15 m (49 ft), per year.

Most regions on the Tropic of Cancer experience two distinct seasons: an extremely hot summer with temperatures often reaching 45 °C (113 °F) and a warm winter with maxima around 22 °C (72 °F).

Much land on or near the Tropic of Cancer is part of the Sahara Desert, while to the east, the climate is torrid monsoonal with a short wet season from June to September, and very little rainfall for the rest of the year.

According to the rules of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, for a flight to compete for a round-the-world speed record, it must cover a distance no less than the length of the Tropic of Cancer, cross all meridians, and end on the same airfield where it started.

World map showing the Tropic of Cancer
Relationship of Earth's axial tilt (ε) to the tropical and polar circles
Carretera 83 (Vía Corta) Zaragoza-Victoria, km 27+800. Of the Tropic of Cancer's intersections with Mexican federal highways, this is the only one where it is precisely marked and the drift from 2005 to 2010 can be seen.