About latitude and longitude

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Latitude measures how far north or south of the equator a place is located. The equator is situated at 0°, the North Pole at 90° north (or 90°, because a positive latitude implies north), and the South Pole at 90° south (or –90°). Latitude measurements range from 0° to (+/–)90°.

Longitude measures how far east or west of the prime meridian a place is located. The prime meridian runs through Greenwich, England. Longitude measurements range from 0° to (+/–)180°.

The MapPoint Location Sensor can display latitude and longitude coordinates in several formats, depending on the settings you choose in the Options dialog box:

  • Decimal degrees and N/S/E/W— Latitude and longitude are represented as decimal numbers followed by a letter indicating whether the latitude is north (N) or south (S) of the equator and the longitude is east (E) or west (W) of the prime meridian; for example, 37.68455&#176N; 97.34110&#176W;.
  • Decimal degrees and Plus/minus—Latitude and longitude coordinates are represented as decimal numbers. The latitude is preceded by a minus sign ( – ) if it is south of the equator (a positive number implies north), and the longitude is preceded by a minus sign if it is west of the prime meridian (a positive number implies east); for example, 37.68455° –97.34110°.
  • Degrees/minutes/seconds and N/S/E/W—Latitude and longitude are represented as degrees, minutes, and seconds, followed by a letter indicating the direction from the equator or prime meridian. Minutes and seconds are fractions of a degree: Each minute is one-sixtieth of a degree, and each second is one-sixtieth of a minute; for example, 37º41'26"N 97º20'0"W.
  • Degrees/minutes/seconds and Plus/minus—Latitude and longitude are represented as degrees/minutes/seconds and preceded by a minus sign if south of the equator or west of the prime meridian; for example, 37º41'26" –97º20'0".

The default format for latitude and longitude is decimal degrees and plus/minus. You can search for longitude and latitude coordinates by using decimal degrees or degrees, minutes, and seconds (DMS) format on the Lat/Long tab of the Find dialog box.

Note  MapPoint maps are based on the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS 84) datum. Some maps and GPS systems are based on other datum. Latitude and longitude coordinates obtained from a map or GPS system based on other datum appear in a different location on a MapPoint map.

More information

Find a place using latitude and longitude coordinates

Display latitude and longitude coordinates

About the Options dialog box