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The 50th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 50 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean.
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At this latitude the sun is visible for 16 hours, 22 minutes during the summer solstice and 8 hours, 4 minutes during the winter solstice. The maximum altitude of the sun on the summer solstice is 63.5 degrees and on the winter solstice it is 16.5 degrees.
At this latitude, the average sea surface temperature between 1982 and 2011 was about 8.5°C (47.3°F).
Around the world
Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 50° north passes through:
Sakhalin island
During the Empire of Japan era, from 1905 to 1945, the 50th parallel marked the border between the Karafuto Prefecture of Japan to the south with the Russian Empire, and later the Soviet Union, to the north in the island of Sakhalin. The entire island came under Soviet control after World War II.