---
title: "Bearing and distance calculator — Online Compass"
description: "Calculate the initial bearing and great-circle distance between two GPS coordinate pairs. Results use true north and a spherical Earth model."
canonical: "https://onlinecompass.lol/bearing"
---

# Bearing and distance calculator

  

Enter both coordinate pairs. Results use geographic north.

 

 

This is a spherical great-circle estimate, not a surveyed route or a live compass reading. It does not account for terrain, roads, magnetic declination, or obstacles.

 

## How to calculate a bearing from coordinates

 

A bearing is measured clockwise from geographic north: 0° points north, 90° east, 180° south, and 270° west. The initial bearing can change along a long great-circle route. If you are holding a compass, first confirm its north reference and reported accuracy; a magnetic heading cannot be directly compared with a true-north route bearing without a location-specific declination correction.

 

The calculator uses a spherical Earth approximation. It is useful for general orientation, but it is not a replacement for surveyed coordinates or navigation equipment where errors matter. For your current coordinate pair, open the [coordinates tool](https://onlinecompass.lol/coordinates). For an actual device heading, open the [online compass](https://onlinecompass.lol).

 

### Check the direction with an example

 

Enter 0°, 0° as the start and 0°, 1° as the destination. Both points are on the equator, so the initial bearing is 90° east and the estimated distance is about 111.2 km. Reverse the points for 270° west. On other routes, the reverse initial bearing is not always the forward bearing plus 180°.

  [Magnetic north vs. true north](https://onlinecompass.lol/blog/magnetic-and-true-north) [Calculate a bearing between two coordinates](https://onlinecompass.lol/blog/calculate-a-bearing)