Geographic Coordinate System

maps · geography · navigation · math

Lines that circle Earth. Latitude lines run east to west around Earth like rings, measuring how far north or south you are from the middle line called the equator. Longitude lines run north to south like orange slices, measuring how far east or west you are from a special line that runs through Greenwich, England.

Angles, not distances. Instead of measuring in miles or kilometers like you might think, latitude and longitude work with angles and degrees, kind of like how you measure angles in geometry class. This clever system works the same no matter where you are on the round Earth.

Oldest way to navigate. People have been using latitude and longitude for hundreds of years to find their way across oceans, mountains, and deserts. It is the simplest and most popular way to describe where something is located on our planet.

Powers your GPS. Every time you use Google Maps, your phone's GPS receiver, or any navigation app, it is using latitude and longitude behind the scenes to figure out exactly where you are. The system lets computers and phones instantly understand locations all over the world.

Works for other worlds too. Astronomers use versions of this same coordinate system to map the Moon, Mars, and other planets, just replacing Earth with whichever space object they are studying.