Positive and Negative Coordinates Explained

In decimal coordinates the sign carries the direction. A positive latitude is in the northern hemisphere, a negative latitude is in the southern hemisphere, a positive longitude is east of the prime meridian and a negative longitude is west of it. There is no deeper meaning to the minus sign: it simply replaces the letters N, S, E and W.

The simple rule

Value	Positive	Negative
Latitude	North of the equator (N)	South of the equator (S)
Longitude	East of the prime meridian (E)	West of the prime meridian (W)

So 40.7128, -74.0060 means 40.7128 degrees north and 74.0060 degrees west. The same point written with letters is 40.7128 N, 74.0060 W. If you drop the letters, you must keep the sign, otherwise the position moves to a different part of the globe.

Examples around the world

• Cities in Europe and Asia, such as London or Tokyo, usually have positive latitude. London is slightly west of the prime meridian so its longitude is a small negative number, while Tokyo is positive.
• Cities in South America, such as Buenos Aires, have negative latitude and negative longitude.
• Australian cities have negative latitude and positive longitude.
• North American cities have positive latitude and negative longitude.

Because of this, a quick glance at the signs tells you roughly which quarter of the world a pair is in.

Common mistakes

Dropping the minus sign. Entering 74.0060 instead of -74.0060 sends you to central Asia rather than New York. This is the most frequent copy and paste error.

Using letters and signs together. Write either -33.87 or 33.87 S, not -33.87 S. Combining them is ambiguous and many tools reject it.

Swapping the order. If a point lands in the ocean or on the wrong continent, check the sequence as described in latitude first or longitude first.

Converting between formats

To turn letters into signs, make S and W negative and keep N and E positive. To go from signs to letters, take the absolute value and add the letter that matches the sign. If your numbers are in degrees, minutes and seconds, convert them first using how to convert DMS to decimal degrees.

Valid ranges

Latitude must be between -90 and 90 and longitude between -180 and 180. A value outside those ranges is invalid, which is a handy check when validating user input. For the broader idea behind these numbers, start with what latitude and longitude are.