Coordinate Converter

This free coordinate converter calculates the distance between two GPS coordinates with the Haversine formula and converts between decimal degrees (DD) and degrees-minutes-seconds (DMS). Use it to find coordinates, locate a place from coordinates or find a location by coordinates — a precise GPS coordinate converter for travel, mapping, navigation and geography, running entirely in your browser.

What Are Coordinates? How Do You Find Them?

The simplest answer to what coordinates are is this: a coordinate is a pair of latitude and longitude values that define the geographic position of any point on Earth. Latitude is the angular distance north or south of the Equator; it ranges from -90° to +90°. Longitude is the angular distance east or west of the Greenwich meridian; it ranges from -180° to +180°. Positive latitudes are in the Northern Hemisphere, negative latitudes in the Southern; positive longitudes are in the Eastern Hemisphere, negative longitudes in the Western.

The most common way to find coordinates is with Google Maps: right-click any point on desktop, or long-press on mobile. The decimal coordinates (DD format) of that point appear and can be copied. GPS devices and smartphone apps can also find your current coordinates instantly. The Compass app on iOS and free tools like GPS Coordinates on Android give the coordinate of your current location at once.

Find Location by Coordinates and Locate a Place from Coordinates

To locate a place from coordinates — or find a location by coordinates — you use coordinate values to pinpoint that exact spot on a map. If you type values in the "lat, lon" format into the Google Maps search bar (e.g. 40.7128, -74.0060), the map centers directly on that location and drops a pin. Researchers, photographers, field crews and emergency coordinators use this daily. Sharing coordinates is especially critical in open country, forests or at sea, where an address is not enough.

A coordinate converter converts between two coordinate formats. Decimal degrees (DD) is preferred in modern apps, while degrees-minutes-seconds (DMS) is still standard in old maps, navigation, aviation and some professional GPS devices. As a GPS coordinate converter, the Format Conversion tab lets you convert DD → DMS and DMS → DD. For example, New York's DD coordinate is 40.7128, -74.0060, while in DMS it is 40° 42' 46" N, 74° 0' 22" W.

Coordinates of Major World Cities

The table below shows major world cities in both decimal (DD) and degrees-minutes-seconds (DMS) coordinate formats. You can use these values directly when locating places, or use the quick-example buttons in the tool to calculate distance.

Distance Between Two Coordinates — the Haversine Formula

The straight-line distance between two GPS coordinates is calculated with the Haversine formula, which accounts for the curvature of the Earth to compute the spherical surface distance between two points. The steps are:

• a = sin²(Δlat/2) + cos(lat₁) × cos(lat₂) × sin²(Δlon/2)
• c = 2 × atan2(√a, √(1−a))
• d = R × c — where R = 6,371 km (Earth's mean radius)

The calculated distance is a straight-line (as-the-crow-flies) distance. The real road distance is usually 20–50% longer depending on the route and traffic. For example, the straight-line distance from New York to Los Angeles is about 3,940 km, while the driving distance exceeds 4,500 km. For road distance use Google Maps. This tool also shows the value in nautical miles (nm) alongside km and miles.

Uses of Coordinates and GPS Location

The uses of coordinates and location technology today are extremely broad:

• Navigation and transport: car GPS systems and phone navigation constantly use coordinate data; route calculation is based on latitude-longitude pairs.
• Photography and drones: EXIF data holds location coordinates; locating from coordinates reveals where a photo was taken.
• Construction and surveying: GPS coordinates define parcel boundary points in land surveys; in property records, coordinate values carry legal weight.
• Emergency services: ambulance and search-and-rescue teams quickly find an incident through shared coordinates; in mountains, forests or at sea, coordinates save lives.
• Maritime and aviation: waypoint coordinates are the basis of route planning; the DMS format is the common standard in these sectors.
• Geocaching: finding hidden objects by GPS coordinates is played by millions worldwide and builds coordinate-reading skills.
• Scientific research: in meteorology, geology and ecology, observation points are recorded with coordinates and analysed on a coordinate system.

What Are Latitude and Longitude? How Does the System Work?

Latitude is the position angle on the horizontal lines (parallels) relative to the Equator. The Equator is 0°, the North Pole is +90°, and the South Pole is -90°. One degree of latitude corresponds to about 111 km; this value is constant along all meridians.

Longitude is the position angle on the vertical lines (meridians) relative to the 0° meridian through Greenwich, England. Eastern longitudes are positive (+), western are negative (−). The distance per degree of longitude varies with latitude; it is about 111 km at the Equator and decreases toward the poles. Combining these two values gives a coordinate pair that uniquely identifies any point on Earth.

Modern GPS systems use the WGS-84 (World Geodetic System 1984) datum, the accepted international reference standard for satellite navigation. Google Maps, Apple Maps and all similar digital maps are based on the WGS-84 coordinate system. Coordinate precision is directly proportional to the number of decimal places: 4 places give about 11 metres, 5 places about 1 metre and 6 places about 0.1 metre of accuracy.

Coordinate-Sharing and Location Tips

In emergencies or field work, accurate coordinate sharing can save lives. These tips make both finding coordinates and locating from coordinates easier:

• Google Maps mobile: long-press anywhere → coordinates appear in the bottom panel → tap to copy.
• Google Maps desktop: right-click → "What's here?" → click the coordinate values to copy.
• iOS Compass app: shows the coordinates and altitude of your current location instantly.
• Android GPS apps: free apps like "GPS Coordinates" and "My GPS Coordinates" give your current coordinate.
• Format conversion: use the Format Conversion tab to convert 40° 42' 46" N into the 40.7128 decimal form.
• Emergency sharing: when sharing coordinates by SMS or WhatsApp, prefer the "40.7128, -74.0060" format; both Google Maps and Apple Maps accept it directly in the search box.

Frequently Asked Coordinate Questions

• What unit measures coordinates? Coordinates are measured in degrees (°); minutes (') and seconds (") express more precise values. In DD format, a single decimal number is used.
• How many digits of precision should coordinates have? 4–5 decimal places give about 1–11 metres of accuracy, which is enough for everyday use. For professional surveying, 6–7 places are preferred.
• What does a negative coordinate mean? A negative latitude means the Southern Hemisphere, and a negative longitude means the Western Hemisphere. For example, Sydney, Australia is at -33.8688, 151.2093.
• What's the difference between a coordinate and an address? An address is human-readable and translatable; a coordinate is a universal, math-based position value. An address can change over time, but a coordinate is fixed. That's why field work prefers coordinates.
• What's the difference between GPS and GNSS? GPS is the United States' Global Positioning System. GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) is the umbrella term covering GPS, Europe's Galileo, Russia's GLONASS and China's BeiDou. Modern smartphones include a receiver that supports multiple GNSS systems, which improves location accuracy.

How to Use This Coordinate Tool

On the "Distance Between Two Points" tab, enter the latitude and longitude for both points and click "Calculate Distance"; the tool computes the distance in km, m, miles and nautical miles using the Haversine formula and shows the direction. On the "Format Conversion" tab you can use the DD ↔ DMS coordinate converter: convert a decimal coordinate to degrees-minutes-seconds or back and click "Convert Coordinate". Copy the results with the "Copy Result" button to use in map apps or geography projects. See the FAQ for more on what coordinates are, how to find them and how to locate a place from them.