Latitude and longitude identify an exact position on Earth. Latitude is written first and tells you how far north or south a location is, while longitude is written second and tells you how far east or west it is.
Read the first number as latitude and the second number as longitude.
A standard geographic coordinate pair is normally written in this order:
Latitude measures how far a location is north or south of the Equator.
Longitude measures how far a location is east or west of the Prime Meridian.
Decimal coordinates use positive and negative signs instead of always writing N, S, E and W.
Consider the following coordinates:
-33.868800 is latitude. Because it is negative, the location is south of the Equator.
151.209300 is longitude. Because it is positive, the location is east of the Prime Meridian.
The point is in the Southern Hemisphere and the Eastern Hemisphere.
Click anywhere on the world map to see latitude, longitude, DMS coordinates and hemisphere information, or use the converter to change coordinate formats.
Latitude and longitude can be written in more than one format. Two common formats are Decimal Degrees (DD) and Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS).
Decimal Degrees use positive and negative decimal values and are commonly used by maps, GPS systems, APIs and software applications.
DMS divides each degree into 60 minutes and each minute into 60 seconds, followed by a direction such as N, S, E or W.
In a standard coordinate pair, latitude normally comes first and longitude second. Reversing them can point to a completely different location.
A negative latitude means south, while a negative longitude means west. Removing the negative sign moves the coordinate to another hemisphere.
Decimal Degrees and DMS express the same geographic concept differently. Make sure the software or map you are using expects the format you provide.
Latitude cannot exceed 90 degrees north or south, and longitude cannot exceed 180 degrees east or west.
Explore related concepts to better understand how geographic coordinates work.
Use these interactive FindLatLong tools to apply what you have learned.