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This area lies approximately between 23.5° N latitude and 23.5° S latitude, and includes all the parts of the Earth where the sun reaches a point directly overhead at least once during the solar year (north of the Tropic of Cancer and south of the Tropic of Capricorn the sun never reaches an azimuth of 90° or directly overhead). The word "tropics" comes from Greek tropos meaning "turn", because the apparent position of the Sun oscillates between the two tropics with a period which we call a year.

Tropical plants and animals are those species native to the tropics. Tropical is also sometimes used in a general sense of a place that is warm and moist year-round, often with the sense of lush vegetation. However, there are places in the tropics that are anything but "tropical" in this sense, even with alpine tundra and snow-capped peaks! (See, for example, Mauna Kea).

In Köppen's scheme of climate classification, a tropical climate is defined as a non-arid climate in which all twelve months have mean temperatures above 18 °C (64.4 °F).

1 Examples of tropical cities

• Bombay, India (19.1º N)
• Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China PRC comprises most of the cultural, historic, and geographic area known as China. Since its founding in 1949, it has been led by the Communist Party of China (CPC). It is the world's most populous country, with a population (22.3º N)
• NairobiNairobi is the capital of Kenya. It is one of the largest cities in Africa with a population of around 2 million. Nairobi's name comes from the Maasai Enkarenairobi meaning "cool waters". The city is located at latitude 1° 16' South and longitude 30° 53', KenyaKenya (pronounced KEN-ya; the pronunciation KEEN-ya is archaic) is a country of eastern Africa, bordering Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and the Indian Ocean. Nairobi is its capital and largest city. Republic of Kenya ( In Detail) (Full size) (1.3º S)
• Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro (meaning River of January in Portuguese) is the name of both a state and a city in southeastern Brazil. The city is famous for the hotel-lined tourist beaches Copacabana and Ipanema, for the giant statue of Jesus Christ the Redeemer ("Crist, BrazilThis article is about Brazil, the country. For other article subjects named Brazil see Brazil (disambiguation). The Federative Republic of Brazil Republica Federativa do Brasil in Portuguese) is the largest and most populous country in South America. (22.9º S)
• SingaporeThe Republic of Singapore ( Chinese , pinyin: Xinjiapo Gonghegu Malay Republik Singapura Tamil , Cingkappur Kudiyarasu , is an island city-state in Southeast Asia, at latitude 1°17'35"N longitude 103°51'20"E, situated on the southern tip of Malay Peninsul (1.4º N)
• ManilaFor other meanings of the word, see Manila (disambiguation). Manila Maynila in Filipino) is the capital city of the Philippines. The city stands on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on the island of Luzon. Despite pockets of grinding poverty, it is one of t, PhilippinesThe Republic of the Philippines is an island nation consisting of an archipelago of 7,107 islands, lying in the tropical western Pacific Ocean about 100 kilometers southeast of mainland Asia. Spain (1521-1898) and the United States (1898-1946), colonized