Horse latitudes are subtropical latitudes between 30 and 35 degrees both north and south, characterized by light winds and hot, dry weather. The belt in the Northern Hemisphere is sometimes called the “calms of Cancer” and in the Southern Hemisphere it is called the “calms of Capricorn”. Supposedly, the term originates from ships traveling to the New World that were often stranded in this region and forced to kill onboard horses in order to preserve precious water supplies, or for their meat and blood, but this may be apocryphal. Air often sinks toward the Earth's surface at horse latitudes.

The horse latitudes help to explain the existence of deserts in these regions, such as the Sahara Desert in Africa, the deserts in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, and the dry Middle East in the Northern Hemisphere, and the arid regions of South Africa and the Australian Desert in the south.

See also

• Intertropical convergence zone
• Circle of latitude

Lines of latitude

Koňské šířky | Rossbreite | Hepoasteet