{"id":23822,"date":"2025-11-18T11:09:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T19:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geocurrents.info\/?p=23822"},"modified":"2025-11-18T11:09:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T19:09:10","slug":"the-north-south-direction-takes-priority-over-the-east-west-direction-generating-some-confusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.geocurrents.info\/blog\/2025\/11\/18\/the-north-south-direction-takes-priority-over-the-east-west-direction-generating-some-confusion\/","title":{"rendered":"The North\/South Direction Takes Priority Over the East\/West Direction, Generating Some Confusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

As recent GeoCurrents<\/em> posts have argued, latitude is distinctive from longitude, just as the \u00a0north\/south direction is distinctive from the east\/west direction. To put it simply, longitude, like east and west, is relative, whereas latitude, like north and south, is absolute. Partly because of this difference, people tend to prioritize north\/south orientations over east\/west orientations when looking at maps and thinking about spatial relationships. Although this tendency is understandable, it can cause geographical confusion and misperceptions.<\/p>\n

The priority of north & south over east & west is most evident in geographical perceptions of countries with northwest\/southeast orientations. Generally, these places are regarded as being divided into northern and southern regions but not eastern and western ones. Mexico is a prime example. Although the country extends much farther from east to west (3,230 km) than from north to south (2,020 km), people often speak of \u201csouthern Mexico\u201d and \u201cnorthern Mexico\u201d but rarely mention \u201ceastern\u201d Mexico or \u201cwestern Mexico.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Mexico East by West & North by South<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

The same perceptions apply to Italy. Southern Italy is also eastern Italy, but it is almost never regarded as such. \u201cEastern Italy,\u201d to the extent that the term is used, generally denotes the Adriatic side of the peninsula, while \u201cwestern Italy\u201d refers to the side facing the Tyrrhenian and Ligurian seas. But by this understandable way of thinking, some parts of western Italy are east of some parts of eastern Italy. Naples, for example, is well to the east of both Venice and Ravenna. Historically, the Byzantine Empire circa 1000 is conceptualized as having controlled southern Italy, but its holdings were limited to the eastern extremity of the peninsula, with its Italian boundary at the time running in the north\/south direction. It also did not control Sicily.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Italy North by South<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Italy East by West<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Byzantine Italy Was Eastern Italy<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

In the United States, California falls in the same category. Southern California is also eastern California while northern California is also western California, although they are almost never perceived as such. The term \u201cwestern California\u201d is rarely, if ever, used. \u201cEastern California\u201d is occasionally encountered to refer to the eastern part of the central portion of the state, but in this formulation \u201csouthern California\u201d is offset to the east of \u201ceastern California.\u201d Our difficulty in perceiving southern California\u2019s eastern position makes some facts seem surprising. Very few Americans, for example, can correctly answer the following question: \u201cWhat is the largest U.S. city that is east of Reno, Nevada and west of Denver Colorado?\u201d The answer, as can be seen on the final map posted below, is Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
California Regionalized<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Los Angeles Is East of Reno<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

Japan seems like a significant exception to this generalization. Although the country has a larger latitudinal than longitudinal range, the Japanese people almost always divide it east by west rather than north by south. This is partly because its demographic and economic core area has a largely east\/west orientation. Historical factors are also important. Japan\u2019s northernmost island, Hokkaido, was not part of the country until the late 1800s. North\/south trending northeastern Honshu, moreover, was long a peripheral part of the country, and as a result was diminished in size in most traditional Japanese maps. Many modern maps of Japan are tilted to emphasize this east\/west orientation, as can be seen in the final figure posted below.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Japan’s Core Region Runs East\/West<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Eastern Japan Western Japan<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Tilted Maps of Japan<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
East\/West Oriented Historical Map of Japan<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

Non-Japanese people, in contrast, often think of Japan in north\/south terms. In the realm of alternative history and its associated games, maps showing \u201cNorth Japan\u201d and \u201cSouth Japan\u201d are abundant. Most of these maps are based on the counter-factual premise that the country was partitioned after World War II in much the same way that Korea was divided into South Korea and North Korea. Note that on the second map below the imagined \u201cNorth Japan\u201d would have a current population of only 13 million as against the 111 million of the hypothetical \u201cSouth Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Fantasy Maps of Japan Dividing the Country North by South<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As recent GeoCurrents posts have argued, latitude is distinctive from longitude, just as the \u00a0north\/south direction is distinctive from the east\/west direction. To put it simply, longitude, like east and west, is relative, whereas latitude, like north and south, is absolute. Partly because of this difference, people tend to prioritize north\/south orientations over east\/west orientations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":23825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4549,4101,1160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article-grid","category-geographical-education","category-geographical-thought"],"geo":null,"yoast_head":"\nThe North\/South Direction Takes Priority Over the East\/West Direction, Generating Some Confusion - GeoCurrents<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.geocurrents.info\/blog\/2025\/11\/18\/the-north-south-direction-takes-priority-over-the-east-west-direction-generating-some-confusion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The North\/South Direction Takes Priority Over the East\/West Direction, Generating Some Confusion - GeoCurrents\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As recent GeoCurrents posts have argued, latitude is distinctive from longitude, just as the \u00a0north\/south direction is distinctive from the east\/west direction. 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Lewis","author_link":"https:\/\/www.geocurrents.info\/blog\/author\/martin-lewis\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"As recent GeoCurrents posts have argued, latitude is distinctive from longitude, just as the \u00a0north\/south direction is distinctive from the east\/west direction. To put it simply, longitude, like east and west, is relative, whereas latitude, like north and south, is absolute. 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