# Why is North always up on a map? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 29, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-north-always-up-on-a-map/282108 "2004-12-29T16:32:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![keeper0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@keeper0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeper0)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-north-always-up-on-a-map/282108/1 "2004-12-29T16:32:17Z")
In [Cecil’s response to this question](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_159.html) he seemed to gloss over what I think was the main reason. First, the mapmaking tradition we are talking about started in the northern hemisphere. The reason the world puts north on top is because that’s the way the Europeans did it when they ruled the world. Second, if you are in the northern hemisphere, North is the easiest direction to get a good fix on. East is approximately where the sun rises, but the actual direction varies with latitude and time of year. Same with West and where the sun sets. South can be fairly accurately determined as “the direction of the sun when it is at it’s peak in the sky”. But this is a hard thing to measure, and only usable for a short time in the middle of the day. North can be fairly accurately and easily determined by finding Polaris. All of these methods are only usable with clear skies, and the drawback of finding north is that it is only usable at night. But north still seems much easier to find than the other directions. Once the magnetic compass was developed, they could as easily made south the primary direction as north, but I suspect the “compare the compass to Polaris” factor won the day for North. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-north-always-up-on-a-map/282108/2 "2004-12-30T02:47:58Z")
Never mind all that. What shocks me, shocks me, I say, is that in his answer Cecil used “could care less” when he meant “couldn’t care less.” Next he’ll be misusing “oxymoron” and “begging the qustion.” Where will it all end? ---
**Author:** ![EsotericEnigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e274bd/32.png) [@EsotericEnigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EsotericEnigma)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-north-always-up-on-a-map/282108/3 "2004-12-30T12:41:51Z")
I don’t think of north as “up”. I think of it as “forward”, because maps are generally laid flat. It seems obvious to me that north is forward because the compass says so. I know that maps were invented long before the compass was, but one of the points in the article was that the universal north = up sentiment is more recent. Could the compass be part of the reason that maps now have the north/up as a standard? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-north-always-up-on-a-map/282108/4 "2004-12-30T22:07:07Z")
As mentioned by Cecil, here’s a [map of Australia in its “rightful” place.](http://www.odt.org/pictureembed.htm) 🙂🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-north-always-up-on-a-map/282108/5 "2004-12-31T01:58:22Z")
**Cunctator** : All I see in that link is the red X that IE uses to indicate a missing picture. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-north-always-up-on-a-map/282108/6 "2004-12-31T02:33:33Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > **Cunctator** : All I see in that link is the red X that IE uses to indicate a missing picture. What a nuisance. It worked when I first put it up. Try [this one.](http://www.flourish.org/upsidedownmap/) ---
**Author:** ![whatevers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/71e660/32.png) [@whatevers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatevers)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-north-always-up-on-a-map/282108/7 "2004-12-31T03:09:30Z")
cause if you put north on the bottom the names of all the countries are upside down and its hard to read especially when your driving a sleigh with eight tiny reindeer HA! :smack: :wally ---
**Author:** ![aalobode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@aalobode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aalobode)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-north-always-up-on-a-map/282108/8 "2004-12-31T16:41:49Z")
Cecil, have you noticed that the country of origin/manufacture of the map is always the one in the center of a world map? Before coming to the USA, I could have sworn that India was the center of the world. ---
**Author:** ![CheapBastid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CheapBastid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheapBastid)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-north-always-up-on-a-map/282108/9 "2005-01-02T05:06:33Z")
[Mercator](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection) vs. [Gall-Peters](http://www.petersmap.com/) vs. [Plate Carrée](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_Carr%E9e_Projection) vs. [Dymaxion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymaxion_projection)