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Latitude & Longitude Degree Length Calculator

Find how many metres one degree, minute or second of latitude and longitude covers where you are.

Where on Earth

Decimal degrees, degrees and decimal minutes, or degrees, minutes and seconds, with an optional N or S: 51.4779, 51 28.5 N, 51°28'40"N
WGS 84 is what GPS and web maps use; the older figures belong to paper maps of their era

One degree across the globe

Both arcs on the selected ellipsoid, and the ratio of longitude to latitude; the same numbers apply in the southern hemisphere. The highlighted row is nearest your latitude.
Latitude1° latitude (m)1° longitude (m)Ratio

A degree is an angle, so its length on the ground depends on where you are. Latitude arcs are measured along a meridian, whose radius of curvature grows from about 6,335 km at the equator to 6,400 km at the poles, so a degree of latitude is 110.574 km at the equator and 111.694 km at the poles. Longitude arcs run along a parallel, a circle of radius N cos(latitude) that shrinks to nothing at the poles, which is why a degree of longitude is 111.319 km at the equator and 0 km at 90°. Each value here is the meridian arc over a span one degree wide centred on the latitude — shifted towards the equator at the poles so the span keeps its full width — computed by Simpson's rule with 64 panels over the meridional radius of curvature; minutes and seconds are the same integral over a 1/60 and a 1/3600 degree span, and longitude uses the exact parallel arc. WGS 84, GRS 80, Airy 1830, Clarke 1866, Bessel 1841 and International 1924 are offered because a map drawn on an older ellipsoid has slightly different arcs, a few hundred metres apart at the same place. These are local geometric values on the ellipsoid: they ignore elevation, the geoid, and the difference between grid and ground distance on a projected map, so use a projection-aware tool before converting map distances. Everything is worked out in your browser with no storage, uploads or network access.