📍 Coordinate Converter
Switch a latitude or longitude between decimal degrees and degrees/minutes/seconds — the two notations every mapping, surveying, and navigation workflow moves between.
🗺️ Decimal Degrees ⇄ DMS
What is a Coordinate Converter?
It translates a geographic coordinate between the two ways people write it: the single-number decimal degrees that software understands, and the degrees/minutes/seconds notation printed on maps and charts. The point on the ground never moves — only how the angle is written.
Analysts reach for it constantly: pulling coordinates off a scanned survey or aeronautical chart into a GIS, or presenting a computed location back in the classic DMS format a field crew expects.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between decimal degrees and DMS?
Both describe the same location. Decimal degrees (DD) write it as a single signed number, e.g. 40.5°, and are what most GIS software, APIs, and spreadsheets expect. Degrees/minutes/seconds (DMS) split that fraction into 60 minutes per degree and 60 seconds per minute, e.g. 40° 30′ 00″ — the traditional form on paper maps and nautical charts.
How do I convert decimal degrees to DMS by hand?
Take the whole number as the degrees. Multiply the remaining fraction by 60 — the whole part is the minutes. Multiply that leftover fraction by 60 again for the seconds. For example 40.5° → 40°, 0.5 × 60 = 30′, 0 × 60 = 0″, giving 40° 30′ 00″.
How do hemispheres and signs relate?
In decimal degrees, north and east are positive while south and west are negative. So 73.5° W is stored as −73.5, and 33.9° S as −33.9. When you convert DMS back to DD, choose the hemisphere and the tool applies the sign for you.
Which format should I paste into my GIS?
Use decimal degrees for QGIS, ArcGIS, Leaflet, GeoJSON, and virtually every geospatial API — they parse DD natively. Convert DMS from legacy maps, survey notes, or aviation charts into DD first, and keep enough decimal places (5–6) to preserve the precision you need.