Coordinate Converter
Decimal degrees, DMS, DDM, UTM, MGRS, Plus Code, Geohash, Maidenhead and map links | Point on the map | Batch conversion
Result
| # | Input | Lat | Lon | UTM | MGRS | Plus Code | Error |
|---|
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Which coordinate format are you looking at?
The same point, the Colosseum in Rome, written in every format the converter understands:
| Format | Example | Where you find it |
|---|---|---|
| Decimal degrees (DD) | Google Maps, smartphones, GPS, databases | |
| Degrees and decimal minutes (DDM) | Marine, aviation, hiking GPS, geocaching | |
| Degrees, minutes, seconds (DMS) | Topographic maps, legal documents, Wikipedia | |
| UTM (WGS84) | Topographic maps, emergency services, surveying | |
| MGRS | NATO and armed forces, search and rescue, airsoft | |
| Plus Code | Google Maps (“Plus Code”), places without street numbers | |
| Geohash | Databases, apps and geo APIs | |
| Maidenhead locator (QTH) | Amateur radio (QTH locator) |
UTM in a nutshell
The UTM system (Universal Transverse Mercator) splits the Earth into 60 zones, each 6° of longitude wide, from 80° south to 84° north. Inside a zone a point is given in metres: easting and northing.
- Each zone’s central meridian is given an easting of 500,000 m, so values are always positive.
- Northing is the distance from the equator; in the southern hemisphere it starts at 10,000,000 m.
- The letter after the zone (e.g. 30U) is the latitude band, 8° tall.
The UK falls mostly in zones 30 and 31; Italy in 32, 33 and, for the tip of Apulia, 34.
MGRS, the NATO grid
The Military Grid Reference System is the grid reference system used by NATO. It builds on UTM and makes it more compact: 30U VH 87634 00483 reads as:
- 30U – UTM zone and band (grid zone designator)
- VH – the 100 km square inside the zone
- 87634 00483 – easting and northing in metres within that square
Fewer digits mean less precision: 30U VH 876 004 is a 100 m square, 30U VH 8 0 a 10 km one. Digits are truncated, never rounded.
Decimal degrees, DDM and DMS
Three ways of writing the same latitude and longitude:
- DD – decimal degrees, negative for south and west:
-3.198017 - DDM – degrees and decimal minutes:
3°11.8810'W - DMS – degrees, minutes and seconds:
3°11'52.86"W
A degree has 60 minutes and a minute 60 seconds: 11.8810 minutes are 11 minutes and 52.86 seconds. Six decimals in DD give roughly 10 cm precision.
Plus Codes, Geohash and Maidenhead
- Plus Code (Open Location Code) – an open system developed by Google:
9C7RWRX2+RQHidentifies a rectangle of about 3 × 3 m. Short codes such as “WRX2+RQ Edinburgh” need a reference locality. - Geohash – a base-32 string where every extra character narrows the area; widely used in databases.
- Maidenhead locator – the amateur radio “QTH locator”, adopted in 1980:
IO85jwis a rectangle of about 5 × 5 km, enough for VHF contests and contacts.
Datum: why two maps may not match
Coordinates only make sense relative to a datum, a model of the Earth. This converter uses WGS84, the datum of GPS and online maps.
Modern national systems such as ETRS89 differ from WGS84 by less than a metre. Older maps based on OSGB36 (British National Grid), ED50 or other local datums can put the same numbers up to about a hundred metres away.
This tool does not apply datum transformations: for national grids such as the British National Grid use a dedicated transformation tool.