Wondering what these numbers mean? Well, they mark our city’s location on Planet Earth. Any point on our planet, from a skyscraper to a tiny car, can be located with two numbers, namely latitude and longitude. Latitude tells you how far north or south it is from the equator, while longitude gives information on how far west or east it is from the prime meridian that divides our planet into two halves. Elevation also is added to these two coordinates when identifying the altitude also becomes necessary, such as that of a car parked on top of a hill.
Probably the most popular use of these two coordinates is for GPS-enabled navigation. Your position expressed as latitude and longitude – and also, if necessary, altitude – coordinates, helps the GPS system locate you on the map. The system can then guide you on, for example, whether to turn left or right to get to the airport from where you are now. Now, how to interpret 11.018333° N, 76.9725° E as the location of Coimbatore? Our city lies 11.018333° to the north of the equator and 76.9725° to the east of the prime meridian. I got these coordinates from the Wikipedia article on Coimbatore. In fact, the Survey of India is the official body that should tell us where Coimbatore lies based on the standard geographical coordinate system. They didn’t seem to have such details with them, at least not on their website. Google Maps, however, took me to a slightly different pair of coordinates, while a simple web search listed some other results as well, which, again, varied slightly from the rest and from each other.
Now, we can’t blame technology for these differences. Rather, the trouble lies with how arbitrary such designations often are. For us, that implies we can’t be sure 11.018333° N and 76.9725° E point to the centre of Coimbatore. We don’t know where exactly the ‘Heart of Coimbatore’ is, despite our hearing it so often mentioned in advertisements and informal conversations. Maybe those who are really familiar with the city can tell, after looking at the various sets of coordinates, how much of a difference they make. I would like to see whether it is a few dozen metres or a couple of blocks wide, or really, really big as a few kilometres.
Probably the most popular use of these two coordinates is for GPS-enabled navigation. Your position expressed as latitude and longitude – and also, if necessary, altitude – coordinates, helps the GPS system locate you on the map. The system can then guide you on, for example, whether to turn left or right to get to the airport from where you are now. Now, how to interpret 11.018333° N, 76.9725° E as the location of Coimbatore? Our city lies 11.018333° to the north of the equator and 76.9725° to the east of the prime meridian. I got these coordinates from the Wikipedia article on Coimbatore. In fact, the Survey of India is the official body that should tell us where Coimbatore lies based on the standard geographical coordinate system. They didn’t seem to have such details with them, at least not on their website. Google Maps, however, took me to a slightly different pair of coordinates, while a simple web search listed some other results as well, which, again, varied slightly from the rest and from each other.
Now, we can’t blame technology for these differences. Rather, the trouble lies with how arbitrary such designations often are. For us, that implies we can’t be sure 11.018333° N and 76.9725° E point to the centre of Coimbatore. We don’t know where exactly the ‘Heart of Coimbatore’ is, despite our hearing it so often mentioned in advertisements and informal conversations. Maybe those who are really familiar with the city can tell, after looking at the various sets of coordinates, how much of a difference they make. I would like to see whether it is a few dozen metres or a couple of blocks wide, or really, really big as a few kilometres.