Question 1

What is the Haversine formula?

Accepted Answer

It calculates the great-circle distance between two coordinates on Earth's surface, assuming a sphere of radius 6,371 km. Accuracy is within 0.5% — sufficient for general distance use cases.

Question 2

What does the bearing mean?

Accepted Answer

The initial bearing from start to end point: 0°=North, 90°=East, 180°=South, 270°=West. The result also shows a 16-point compass label (e.g., NE, ESE).

Question 3

Is this the same as road distance?

Accepted Answer

No — this is straight-line (great-circle) distance. Real road/flight/sea distance is usually longer. Use the Kakao/Google Maps link for driving directions.

Question 4

How do I enter negative coordinates?

Accepted Answer

Southern hemisphere uses negative latitude, western hemisphere uses negative longitude. E.g., Sydney -33.86, 151.21 / NY 40.71, -74.01. Try the NY-LA preset on the page.

Question 5

What unit is the distance shown in?

Accepted Answer

Under 1 km it shows meters; above, kilometers with 3 decimal places — suitable for technical use.

Question 6

Can I use non-WGS84 coordinates?

Accepted Answer

This tool only accepts WGS84 decimal degrees. For KATEC/UTM-K, use the separate coordinate-converter tool first.

📏 Distance & Bearing Calculator

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