{"id":5129,"date":"2015-06-29T04:00:43","date_gmt":"2015-06-29T09:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gisgeography.com\/?p=5129"},"modified":"2025-04-17T05:37:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T10:37:53","slug":"magnetic-north-vs-geographic-true-pole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/magnetic-north-vs-geographic-true-pole\/","title":{"rendered":"Magnetic North vs Geographic (True) North Pole"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Compass<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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“Standing exactly on the North Pole, which direction would the compass point?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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The Story of the Explorer’s Compass<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Imagine. You are an explorer standing exactly on the North Pole<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s been a long journey and it’s freezing cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You pull out your compass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What direction<\/strong> would the needle on the compass point?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer may not be what you think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to answer this question, you will have to understand the difference between the true geographic north<\/strong> and magnetic north<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because these two north locations are completely different.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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What is the Geographic (True) North Pole?<\/h3>\n\n\n
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\"Longitude\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Earth rotates on the geographic north and south poles. The geographic north and south poles are where lines of longitude<\/a> (meridians) converge in the north<\/strong>. The south and north poles are directly opposite to one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The North Pole is located in the middle of the Arctic Ocean<\/a>. Scientists have tried marking the North Pole. Because the water here is permanently covered with moving sea ice<\/strong>, it’s practically impossible to construct any type of permanent station at the true North Pole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other side of the Earth, the South Pole lies on a continental land mass<\/strong> known as Antarctica. Because the ice on top of Antarctica<\/a> moves only a few meters a year, the United States Antarctica program has installed a marker here to delineate the true South Pole.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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What is the Magnetic North Pole?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Earth is one big magnet<\/strong>. The Magnetic North Pole (also known as the North Dip Pole<\/em>) is a point on Ellesmere Island in Northern Canada<\/strong> where the northern lines of attraction enter the Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A compass needle rests freely in its casing so it can maneuver itself. When you pull out a compass, it aligns itself with the Earth’s magnetic field<\/strong>. The small magnetic pin is how a compass responds to Earth’s magnetism.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Earth<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This means that a compass needle will point to the Magnetic North Pole – which is different from the geographic north.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But how much of a difference is the magnetic north vs. geographic north?<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Where are the Magnetic North Pole and Geographic North Pole?<\/h3>\n\n\n
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\"Magnetic<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The question is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where would a compass needle point if you were standing on the true North Pole?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you were standing on the geographic north pole holding your compass, it would point towards northern Canada at Ellesmere Island. This is a difference of about 500 kilometers between the Geographic North and Magnetic North poles!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This difference is called the magnetic inclination<\/strong>. Magnetic deviation<\/em> is the error of a compass needle including nearby metallic objects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Magnetic inclination varies according to where you are located on the globe. In order to point you in the right direction, users can compensate for magnetic inclination by using charts of declination or local calibration.<\/p>\n\n\n