Tropics
The tropics are the region of the Earth near to the equator and between the Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N) in the northern hemisphere and the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5° S) in the southern hemisphere. This region is also referred to as the tropical zone and the torrid zone.
This area includes all the areas of the Earth where the sun reaches a point directly overhead at least once a year. The word "tropics" comes from Greek tropos meaning "turn", because the apparent position of the Sun moves between the two tropics within a year.
The word Tropical specifically means places near the equator. The word is also sometimes used in a general sense for a tropical climate, a climate that is warm to hot and moist year-round. This includes tropical rainforests with lush vegetation. However, there are mountains in the tropics that are anything but "tropical" in this sense, with even alpine tundra and snow-capped peaks, including Mauna Kea, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and the Andes as far south as the northernmost parts of Chile and Argentina. Places in the tropics which are hot and dry include the Atacama Desert, Sahara Desert, Central Africa, most parts of Western Africa and Northern Australian Outback.
Some parts of Eurasia are also in the tropical zone.
People in some tropical places call their seasons "dry"/"hot" and "rainy"/"wet", especially where the seasons are made by monsoons. Tropical cyclones form in tropical ocean areas, and some move from there into the temperate zone. Tropical plants and animals are native to the tropics or the Torrid zone.
Tropics Media
World map with the intertropical zone highlighted in crimson
Areas of the world with tropical climates
Relationship of Earth's axial tilt (ε) to the tropical and polar circles: the Tropic of Cancer is a subsolar point only at the June solstice, and the Tropic of Capricorn is only at the December solstice
A graph showing the zonally averaged monthly precipitation The tropics receive more precipitation than higher latitudes. The precipitation maximum, which follows the solar equator through the year, is under the rising branch of the Hadley circulation. The sub-tropical minima are under the descending branch and cause the formation of desert areas.
Aerial view of Bora Bora, French Polynesia
Tropical sunset over the sea in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Distribution of tropical wet forests
Dragon Fruit, a tropical fruit from several different cacti originally from the Americas
Giant Water Lily, one can support up to 32 kilograms of weight
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