The Equator line is the one that divides the planet Earth into two hemispheres, the north and the south. These lines are also known by the name of parallel of origin and whose orientation is from east to west, which decreases until it becomes a point at the poles. It was from the Equator that 90 degrees north (+90) and south (-90) were established.
The term equator comes from the Latin "aequator" and its meaning is equalizer. Its origin comes from aequitas which is (equity), (the diphthong ae was pronounced e in Low Latin) and is part of a fairly broad group of words, which maintains its original meaning constant.
The first Geodesic Mission to measure the planet reached the Royal Audience of Quito in 1736 and was made up of the French Pedro Bouger, Luis Godin and Carlos María de la Condamine, as well as the Spanish Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa and the native of the lands Ecuadorian women Vicente Maldonado. All of them wanted to scientifically verify the roundness of the Earth.
After the Mission's visit, the studies lasted nine years. The lands around Quito began to be called "Equator Lands", the parallel aequator that divides the planet into two hemispheres being a reference. Then later a second mission arrived on Ecuadorian soil in 1802, led by the French Charles Perrier and established in the region and confirmed the data obtained by the first group of researchers.
After several investigations were carried out, it was established that the country Ecuador owes its name to the zero parallel, called Ecuador. As a counterpart, it can also be established that the zero parallel does not get its name from the country.
Recent studies, made with satellite technology and the use of GPS, revealed that the zero parallel (Latitude 0º 0 ′ 00 ″) is located about 244 meters further south of where the obelisk of Pichincha is located. Now the new half of the world is in Quito but it is represented today by a huge sundial, located in the so-called Qu project.
