The 17th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 17 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, Central America, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean.
The parallel is particularly significant in the history of Vietnam (see below).
Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 17° north passes through:
| Co-ordinates | Country, territory or sea | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mali | ||
| Niger | ||
| Chad | ||
| Sudan | ||
| Eritrea | ||
| Red Sea | ||
| Saudi Arabia | Farasan Islands | |
| Red Sea | ||
| Saudi Arabia | ||
| Yemen | ||
| Saudi Arabia | ||
| Yemen | ||
| Oman | ||
| Indian Ocean | Arabian Sea | |
| Oman | ||
| Indian Ocean | Arabian Sea | |
| India | Maharashtra Karnataka Andhra Pradesh |
|
| Indian Ocean | Bay of Bengal | |
| Myanmar (Burma) | ||
| Indian Ocean | Gulf of Martaban | |
| Myanmar (Burma) | ||
| Thailand | ||
| Laos | ||
| Vietnam | ||
| South China Sea | Passing through the disputed Paracel Islands | |
| Philippines | Island of Luzon | |
| Pacific Ocean | Philippine Sea Passing between the islands of Guguan and Sarigan, Northern Mariana Islands into an unnamed part of the Ocean |
|
| Mexico | ||
| Guatemala | ||
| Belize | ||
| Caribbean Sea | Passing just south of the island of Nevis, Saint Kitts and Nevis Passing just north of the island of Redonda, Antigua and Barbuda |
|
| Antigua and Barbuda | Island of Antigua | |
| Atlantic Ocean | ||
| Cape Verde | Santo Antão island | |
| Atlantic Ocean | ||
| Mauritania | ||
| Mali |
The Seventeenth parallel (Vietnamese: vĩ tuyến 17) was the provisional military demarcation line between North and South Vietnam established by the Geneva Accords of 1954. The demarcation line did not exactly coincide with the 17th parallel but ran south of it, approximately along the Ben Hai River in Quang Tri Province to the village of Bo Ho Su and from there due west to the Laos-Vietnam border.
In 1976 the demarcation line was made redundant as Vietnam was unified following the surrender of the South Vietnamese government.
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