Location on maps

Position or location using geographic co-ordinate systems.

It is very important to locate places accurately on a map. We can use a grid of latitude
and longitude lines to locate places on a map. Geographic co-ordinates are given as
decimal degrees. Each location on the Earth has a latitude and a longitude coordinate.
The latitude is always given first.
Lines of latitude
Latitude is the angular distance measured going North or South from the equator. It
is measured in Degrees.
Lines of latitude run right around the Earth and are parallel to the equator and one
another. Lines of latitude run from east to west across a map and they are parallel to
the equator.
Latitude measures the angle of location between any point and the equator. The angle
runs from 0º to 90º. The North Pole 90º N and the South Pole is 90º S.
The equator
It is the 0º line of latitude. It divides the Earth into a northern and southern half called
hemispheres. (Northern and Southern Hemispheres)
Lines of longitude
Longitude is distance measured in degrees east or west of the Greenwich Meridian.
Lines of longitude run from the North Pole to South Pole and meet at these poles.
They indicate position east or west of the Prime Meridian, which is the 0º line of
longitude. Lines of longitude show the position of a place east or west of the Prime
Meridian.
Prime Meridian
It is the main line of latitude and it divides the world into Eastern and Western
hemispheres.
Measures at 0 degrees and runs through Greenwich in England.

LEARNING TIP

The Prime Meridian is also called the Greenwich Meridian because it runs through a town in
the United Kingdom called Greenwich

Zimbabwe lies to the South of the equator and to the east of the Prime Meridian.
Therefore, all co-ordinates for Zimbabwean places have a south latitude and east
longitude.

Grid references
• Finding information on a map can be difficult or boring if it means searching all
over.
• A quick and easy system to accurately locate and describe position have been
worked out by makers (cartographers). It is called the grid system; it involves
the use of horizontal and vertical lines called grid lines.
• When joined together they form a pattern of squares called grid squares.
• A grid is a set of horizontal and vertical lines which are evenly spaced. The
lines are numbered from south-western corner of a country, region, or continent,
and this is called the grid origin.

Finding places and features on maps

In order to find out where a place or a feature is located on a map, we use the eastings
and the northings.
Eastings are vertical lines on the map, and they increase in number the further you
move east (or right) (the numbers increase eastwards).
Northings are horizontal lines on the map, and they increase in number the further
you move north (or up the map) (the numbers increase northwards).
When northings and eastings are put together, they form perfect squares. The
numbers increase eastwards and northwards from the grid origin because this is the
general system among map makers.
.
Four figure grid references
Four figure grid references are good for locating large places like a town, a golf course,
a farm, or a geographical feature like a headland. However, because a four-figure grid
reference covers a large area (normally 1km²), they are not very good for locating
specific places like a church or a post office.
We should always remember to:
• Always start from the bottom left-hand corner of the map.
• To find the number of a square first use the eastings to go along the corridor
until you come to the bottom left-hand corner of the square you want. Then use
the northing to go up the stairs until you find the same corner.
• The eastings always come before the northings.
Bottom left-
hand corner

Steps for finding the grid reference.

1. Locate the grid square of the feature to be found.
2. Look at the bottom left-hand corner of the grid square.
3. Follow the line down to the bottom of the grid and write down these two numbers
(eastings)
4. Follow the line across to the side of the grid and write down these two numbers
(northings)

Try calculating the four-figure grid reference for this feature in this diagram.
(The four-figure grid reference of the feature is 0113 and this is read as zero, one, one,
three each figure must be read separately)

Activity

Find the four-figure grid reference of the following features below and write the answers
in your notebook.
The Six-Figure Grid References
It is used to pinpoint the precise location, such as your own house. You will need to
use a six-figure grid reference.
It pinpoints actual location by involving the subdivision of the eastings and northings
reference into 10 imaginary lines.
Each tiny square represents 1/100 of the original big(grid) square.
First find the four-figure grid reference for the square and write it down with a space
after each set of numbers, like this 12_ 01_.
Steps
1. Locate the grid square of the particular feature to be found.
2. Divide the grid square into 10 equal parts along both the northings and eastings.
3. Number these divisions from 0 to 9 along both northings and eastings.
4. Mark the southwest corner of the feature that you are locating.
5. Estimate how far the feature is from the easting first using the scale in tenths.
6. Estimate how far the feature is from the northing using the scale in tenths.
7. Write the value for easting followed by the northing.

Eastings Northings

The six-figure grid reference for the blue is 12 1 01 1. Find the six-figure grid reference
for the orange ball: 12_01_
In your notes, using a pencil, draw a square which is 4cm x 4cm.
Then divide it into intervals (remember the magic number we divide by). Label the
intervals from 0-9 as shown in the diagram (you may use two different colours).
Label Northings and Eastings as shown in the diagram.
Label the grid references as shown in the diagram.

Activity
Find the 6 figure grid references for squares below:
1) the red square
2) the blue square.