Earth Radius | Rotational Circumference | Distance to Equator and Pole | Earth's Curvature | Time Difference

Calculator for the Distance to the Equator and the Poles

Calculates how far a place on earth is away from the Equator, from the North Pole and from the South Pole. All you have to do is to enter the latitude of the location. The distance between the Equator and one of the poles is 10002 kilometers (6215 miles). Between these lie 90 degrees of latitude, the Equator is at 0 degrees, the North Pole is at 90 degrees, the South Pole is at -90 degrees.
So if you calculate the 10002 km times the degree of latitude and divide it by 90, then you would have the distance to the Equator if the earth were a perfect sphere. Since it is not, but slightly flattened at the poles, this calculation is only an approximation, but a pretty good one. The distance to the closer pole is slightly shorter than calculated here, while that to the equator and the more distant pole is slightly longer. The distance is an imaginary line at sea level; mountains, hills and valleys are ignored.

Latitude:
Distance to Equator:		kmmi
Distance to North Pole:
Distance to South Pole:

Example: Berlin with a latitude of 52.52 is 5836.72 kilometers away from the Equator, 4165.28 kilometers from the North Pole and 15838.72 kilometers from the South Pole. Paris, at latitude 48.96, is almost 400 kilometers closer to the equator, i.e. further south.

In geo-coordinates, the first value is the latitude and the second value is the longitude. The longitude is not important for this calculation. The latitude must be entered in the form of decimal degrees.
One meter was originally defined by the French National Convention as being exactly 10 million from the equator to the North Po, these are ten thousand kilometers. This distance was measured between 1793 and 1795 using the best measuring methods available at the time, which were of course far inferior to today's methods. Hereby, the North Pole did not have to be reached. The result was 1996 meters too long, but this is still an impressive level of accuracy.

Last updated on 06/30/2025. Author: Jürgen Kummer

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