This distance calculator gives you the distance between two coordinates and the bearing from the first point to the second. Enter two latitude and longitude pairs and it returns the WGS84 geodesic distance in metres, kilometres, miles and feet, together with the initial bearing, final bearing and back bearing. Everything runs in your browser — no login, no upload.
Coordinates in decimal degrees. Need DMS or degrees-decimal-minutes? Use the decimal degrees to DMS converter first.
Latitude must be between −90 and 90, longitude between −180 and 180.
The shortest path between two points on the Earth's surface is a geodesic, not a straight line on a flat map. This tool solves the Vincenty inverse problem on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the same reference frame used by GPS. Vincenty's method iterates until the difference between successive longitude estimates falls below 10−12 radians, then returns the geodesic distance to sub-millimetre accuracy on the ellipsoid.
The bearing is the forward azimuth of that geodesic at the start point, expressed as a compass angle measured clockwise from true north. Because a geodesic continuously changes heading, the bearing on arrival at point B differs slightly from the bearing on departure from point A — that is why both the initial and the final bearing are reported. The back bearing is simply the reverse direction, useful for checking a closed traverse.
If the two points are very close together or nearly antipodal, the iterative solution may not converge. In that case the calculator automatically falls back to the haversine formula on a spherical Earth of mean radius 6 371 008.8 m and displays a note so you know which model produced the number.
A map shows two points, but a distance measured with a ruler is not the distance on the ground — the projection has already stretched or compressed the surface. This page gives the true distance between two points on a map by working on the ellipsoid rather than the flat sheet: enter the coordinates of each point and it returns the geodesic, the shortest path over the curved surface. For points a few kilometres apart the difference from a flat-plane calculation is small, but it grows with distance and latitude and stops being negligible for property boundaries or long routes.
If all you have is a paper map or a screen with a scale bar, measure the map distance first and convert it with the map scale calculator. Use this page when you hold coordinates rather than a measured line.
A GPS distance calculator turns two sets of fixes into a distance and a course. Survey and outdoor GNSS receivers — and phone apps — record positions as latitude and longitude in decimal degrees, which is exactly the input this page expects: paste the two coordinate pairs and read the distance and the bearing between them. Because the calculation runs on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the same reference frame the GPS constellation itself uses, no extra datum shift is needed for positions that are already in WGS84.
For a single pair of fixes that is enough for a field note, a quick setting-out check or a hike estimate. If you need a whole traverse with closure error and adjustment, use the traverse calculator instead.
The value reported here as a bearing is the forward azimuth of the geodesic: an angle measured clockwise from true north. In everyday use "bearing" and "azimuth" often mean the same number, but in survey practice they diverge — a bearing is a quadrant direction such as N 45° E, while an azimuth is the whole-circle angle, 45° or 315° depending on the quadrant. To switch between the two formats, use the bearing to azimuth converter, which covers all four quadrants and normalises the result to the 0–360° range.
Enter the latitude and longitude of both points in decimal degrees. The calculator applies the Vincenty inverse formula on the WGS84 ellipsoid, giving the true geodesic distance rather than a flat-plane approximation.
The initial bearing is the heading you set off on; the final bearing is the heading you arrive on. They differ because a geodesic constantly changes heading, except when travelling exactly north, south or along the equator.
The back bearing points from the destination back to the start — the initial bearing ± 180°, normalised to 0–360°. Surveyors use it to check traverse closure.
Yes. Vincenty on WGS84 is accurate to roughly 0.5 mm on the ellipsoid. For near-antipodal points where the iteration does not converge, it automatically falls back to the haversine formula and flags the result.
All four at once: metres, kilometres, statute miles and feet, describing the same geodesic distance.
This calculator expects decimal degrees. Convert DMS or DDM values to decimal degrees first with the free DMS converter, then paste the result here.
Read the coordinates of each point from the map, then enter them here. The tool returns the true geodesic distance over the WGS84 ellipsoid rather than a flat-map distance. If you only have a measured map distance, convert it with the map scale calculator instead.
Yes. Paste the latitude and longitude of two GPS fixes — in decimal degrees, in WGS84 — and the tool returns the distance and the bearing between them. No datum shift is needed for positions already recorded in WGS84.
Calculations use the WGS84 ellipsoid and run locally in your browser. Verify critical coordinates against your project's coordinate reference system before field use. About · Privacy & cookies · Terms of use · Developers