Tropics

The tropics is the area in the world between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn (23° 26' north and south). Many tropical regions have wet climates that are known as tropical climates.

Regions

The tropics include the following regions:

Southern Mexico (Bajío, Central Mexico, Pacific Coast, Yucatán and the South)
The Caribbean and Central Africa
Northern South America (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela)
Most of Africa
Southern Middle East (Oman, Yemen, southern Saudi Arabia)
Peninsular India (Central India, Eastern India, Southern India, Western India)
Southern Bangladesh
Most islands of the Indian Ocean
Southeast Asia, South China and Southern Taiwan
Northern Australia and Papua New Guinea
Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia

Cities

The Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn forming the borders of the tropics and the Equator bisecting it are often local attractions — not the only reason for travelling to that part of the world but probably worth checking out if you're in the region. Here are some destinations on or near these latitudes:

Tropic of Cancer
- North America — Todos Santos, Mazatlan, Ciudad Victoria, Exuma, Long Island (Bahamas)
- Africa — Ad Dakhla, Aswan
- Asia — Muscat, Bhuj, Gandhinagar, Ujjain, Bhopal, Ranchi, Dhaka, Comilla, Jianshui, Guangzhou, Shantou, Chiayi
Equator
- South America — Galapagos Islands, Quito, Macapá
- Africa — São Tomé, Kasese, Entebbe, Kisumu, Meru
- Asia — Singapore, Pontianak
Tropic of Capricorn
- South America — Antofagasta, Concepción (Paraguay), Maringá (Paraná), Londrina, Sorocaba, São Paulo/Guarulhos
- Africa — Rehoboth (Namibia), Toliara
- Australia — Darwin, Longreach, Rockhampton, Cairns, Daintree National Park

Understand

At the Equator, day and night are about 12 hours each around the year, with pretty much no twilight (the sun rises and sets very rapidly). Elsewhere in the tropics the day and night differ slightly depending on the time of the year but very little compared to temperate latitudes. In the tropics the sun will reach zenith on two days every year (it depends on latitude).

Climate

Save for high mountain areas, expect warm or hot weather around the year in the tropics. Seasons are defined as dry and wet; during dry season it might not rain at all, while wet seasons sometimes bring more rain in a month than in a whole year in many temperate destinations. The dry season corresponds to winter and spring (November to April in the Northern Hemisphere, May to October in the Southern Hemisphere), and the wet season corresponds to summer and autumn (May to October in the Northern Hemisphere, November to April in the Southern Hemisphere).

There are some deserts in the tropics where hardly any rain falls at all, and while 40 °C (104 °F) is almost never exceeded at the equator, in deserts such temperatures are very likely during the hottest months of the year.

See and do

In the tropics you can experience jungles, steppe and deserts and vegetation and wildlife typical to these environments. Overall tropical areas tend to be the most biodiverse in the world. When hearing the word "safari", the first thing you think of is probably a tropical environment.

Stay safe

On the downside, the biodiversity also includes plenty of poisonous or otherwise dangerous animals and plants, as well as infectious diseases spread in various ways. Another risk is the sun and heat; the world's highest levels of UV-radiation can be found in high-altitude tropical locations, so always protect your skin in when outside in daylight. Finally, the advice for developing countries applies to almost everywhere in the tropics.

This article is on an extra-hierarchical region, describing a region that does not fit into the hierarchy Wikivoyage uses to organise most articles. These "extraregion" articles usually provide only basic information and links to articles in the hierarchy. This article can be expanded if the information is specific to the page; otherwise new text should generally go in the appropriate region or city article.