Geography · 0° latitude
Countries on the Equator
The equator crosses 13 countries — 3 in Americas, 7 in Africa, 2 in Asia and 1 in Oceania — plus the open ocean of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific. Together they are home to about 821.6 million people.
Capitals closest to the equator
- Crossed by the equator
The 13 countries on the equator, by area
| Rank | Country | Capital | Capital latitude | Area | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Brazil |
Brasília | 15.78° S | 8,515,770 km² | 212.8 million |
| 2 |  DR Congo |
Kinshasa | 4.32° S | 2,344,858 km² | 112.8 million |
| 3 |  Indonesia |
Jakarta | 6.17° S | 1,904,569 km² | 285.7 million |
| 4 |  Colombia |
Bogotá | 4.60° N | 1,138,910 km² | 53.4 million |
| 5 |  Somalia |
Mogadishu | 2.07° N | 637,657 km² | 19.7 million |
| 6 |  Kenya |
Nairobi | 1.28° S | 580,367 km² | 57.5 million |
| 7 |  Republic of the Congo |
Brazzaville | 4.25° S | 342,000 km² | 6.5 million |
| 8 |  Ecuador |
Quito | 0.22° S | 283,561 km² | 18.3 million |
| 9 |  Gabon |
Libreville | 0.38° N | 267,667 km² | 2.6 million |
| 10 |  Uganda |
Kampala | 0.32° N | 241,038 km² | 51.4 million |
| 11 |  Sao Tome and Principe |
Sao Tome | 0.33° N | 964 km² | 240,254 |
| 12 |  Kiribati |
Tarawa | 1.35° N | 811 km² | 136,488 |
| 13 |  Maldives |
Malé | 4.17° N | 298 km² | 529,676 |
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Data: CIA World Factbook (public domain); population: World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0).
Where does the equator cross?
Going east from the Greenwich meridian, the equator crosses São Tomé and Príncipe, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the DR Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Somalia in Africa; the Maldives (through its waters), Indonesia and Kiribati in Asia and Oceania; and Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil in South America.
Not on the equator: Equatorial Guinea
Despite its name, Equatorial Guinea is not crossed by the equator: its mainland lies just to the north and its island of Annobón to the south. Ecuador, by contrast, is named after the line, which passes 26 km north of Quito.
Life on the equator
Day and night last about 12 hours all year, there are no summer and winter seasons — only wet and dry ones — and the Earth spins fastest here, at about 1,670 km/h. Most equatorial lowlands are rainforest, but high cities such as Quito and Nairobi have spring-like weather year round.