Decimal degrees

Decimal degrees are the latitude and longitude geographic coordinates as decimal fractions.

Positive latitudes are north of the equator and less than zero latitudes are south of equator. Positive longitudes are east of the prime meridian and less than zero longitudes are to the west of the prime meridian. Latitude and longitude are usually listed as "Latitude, Longitude", in that order.

Precision

The radius of the semi-major axis (the distance from the center of Earth to the outside at the equator line) of Earth at the equator is 6,378,137.0 meters resulting in a circumference of 40,075,161.2 meters. The number of decimal places required for a particular precision at the equator is:

Degree precision versus length

decimal places	decimal degrees	DMS	Object that can be unambiguously recognized at this scale	N/S or E/W at equator	E/W at 23N/S	E/W at 45N/S	E/W at 67N/S
0	1.0	1° 00′ 0″	country or large region	111.32 km	102.47 km	78.71 km	43.496 km
1	0.1	0° 06′ 0″	large city or district	11.132 km	10.247 km	7.871 km	4.3496 km
2	0.01	0° 00′ 36″	town or village	1.1132 km	1.0247 km	787.1 m	434.96 m
3	0.001	0° 00′ 3.6″	neighborhood or street	111.32 m	102.47 m	78.71 m	43.496 m
4	0.0001	0° 00′ 0.36″	individual street	11.132 m	10.247 m	7.871 m	4.3496 m
5	0.00001	0° 00′ 0.036″	a tree	1.1132 m	1.0247 m	787.1 mm	434.96 mm
6	0.000001	0° 00′ 0.0036″	a human	111.32 mm	102.47 mm	78.71 mm	43.496 mm
7	0.0000001	0° 00′ 0.00036″	commercial mapping	11.132 mm	10.247 mm	7.871 mm	4.3496 mm
8	0.00000001	0° 00′ 0.000036″	specialized mapping	1.1132 mm	1.0247 mm	787.1 µm	434.96 µm