Find places with lines of latitude and longitude
- Open MapMaker.
- On the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, click Open map.
- In the Open map window, in the search bar, type Latitudes and Longitudes.
- On the map card for the Latitudes and Longitudes map, click the Information button.
- Read the map description. When you're finished reading, click the map card to open the map.
The Latitudes and Longitudes map opens.
In 2D, the grid created by lines of latitude and longitude looks like a coordinate plane. You can find places using coordinates just like you would on a coordinate plane by first moving along the X axis, then moving along the Y axis.
- Using the lines of latitude and longitude, find (0, 0) on the map, or the place where the Equator crosses the Prime Meridian.
Lines of longitude (the X coordinate) can have values from –180 to 180. These values may also be written using E (East) and W (West) notation to show their position relative to the Prime Meridian. Lines of latitude (the Y coordinate) can have values from –90 to 90. These values may also be written using N (North) and S (South) notation to show their position relative to the Equator. For example, the North Pole is at 90 degrees latitude, or 90N.
- Using the lines of latitude and longitude, find (120E, 30N).
Where did you end up?
Tip:
Move your cursor along the Equator until you find 120E, then move your cursor north until you find 30N. Zooming in will show more detailed lines of latitude and longitude.
As you get to higher latitudes, the lines are spaced farther apart. This is because of the way the map is projected, or flattened onto a 2D surface.
- On the toolbar, click 3D.
The map opens in 3D, showing the world as a globe.
- Pan and tilt the globe to see how lines of longitude and latitude look on the 3D globe.
- When finished, on the toolbar, click 2D.
- Using the lines of latitude and longitude, find (-60, -35) on the map.
Where did you end up?
Tip:
Move your cursor along the Equator until you find 60W, then move your cursor south until you find 30S.
Find coordinates for a place
To look up the location of a place, you can find its coordinates using tools like MapMaker. These coordinates can be copied, shared, and converted into other formats. In addition to X,Y coordinates, location can be expressed using angular measurements like degrees, minutes, seconds (DMS) and more localized grids, like Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM).
- On the toolbar, click Measure and choose Measure.
The Measure pane opens. The default tool is the distance measurement tool.
- In the Measure pane, click the map pin button.
- While watching the Measure pane, move your cursor over the map.
As you move around the map, the X,Y coordinates change to show you where you are.
- In the upper left corner of the map, click the Open search button.
- Use the search bar to find your school or house.
- In the Measure pane, next to the coordinates, click Expand, then click Capture mode.
- On the map, click your school or house.
What are the coordinates?
Once you've placed a point on the map, the coordinates don't change if you move your mouse. Once you've captured a set of coordinates, you can copy them, convert them to other formats, and more.
- In the Measure pane, point to the coordinates and click Copy.
You can also see these coordinates in other formats.
- Click Add conversion and choose DDM.
The coordinates are now also displayed in degrees decimal minutes (DDM) format. DDM is another way of writing coordinates that expresses location based on the Earth as a sphere having 360 degrees of rotation.
In this tutorial, you learned how to find places using lines of latitude and longitude. You also learned how to find the coordinates for specific locations and to convert them into other formats.
You can find more tutorials in the tutorial gallery.
