Distance & Bearing Between Coordinates
Great-circle distance and bearing between two latitude/longitude points (haversine), the midpoint, and the destination on a bearing — km, miles, nautical miles.
The distance in your unit, initial and final true bearing with a compass point, the midpoint, and in destination mode the arrival coordinates.
Example: Paris (48.8566, 2.3522) → London (51.5074, −0.1278): 343.6 km, initial bearing 330.0° (NNW), final 328.1°, midpoint 50.19°, 1.15°. D°M'S" with N/S/E/W is accepted.
A sphere,
and how far it is wrong.
The haversine formula, the bearing along a great circle, and the ellipsoid it ignores.
Haversine
On a sphere the shortest path between two points is a great-circle arc. With Δφ and Δλ the differences in latitude and longitude, a = sin²(Δφ/2) + cos φ₁·cos φ₂·sin²(Δλ/2) and the distance is 2R·asin √a — a form that stays accurate for short distances where the plain cosine law loses digits. R is 6 371.0088 km, the IUGG mean radius of the WGS 84 ellipsoid.
Bearing and destination
The initial bearing is atan2(sin Δλ·cos φ₂, cos φ₁·sin φ₂ − sin φ₁·cos φ₂·cos Δλ), measured clockwise from true north; along a great circle it changes, so the final bearing (the reverse bearing from the far end, turned 180°) is shown too. The destination for a bearing and distance uses the spherical direct formula; the midpoint is the mean position on the arc.
The ellipsoid
The Earth is flattened by about 1/298: spherical distances differ from the WGS 84 ellipsoid (Vincenty) by up to about 0.3 %, more near the poles than the equator. That is fine for routes, fuel and delivery estimates and useless for surveying or property lines. Bearings are true, not magnetic; declination is yours to add. Nothing leaves the browser; the same four anonymous usage counts as the rest of the site apply.
SOURCES
- Haversine on a sphere of radius 6 371.0088 km (IUGG mean radius of WGS 84); bearing θ = atan2(sin Δλ·cos φ₂, cos φ₁·sin φ₂ − sin φ₁·cos φ₂·cos Δλ); destination by the spherical direct formula
Last reviewed 21 September 2026. How results are checked: How we verify.