https://ikml.com/tags/coordinates/ Recent content in Coordinates on ikml.com Hugo en-us Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://ikml.com/swapped-latitude-and-longitude-sends-points-to-the-wrong-side-of-the-world/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://ikml.com/swapped-latitude-and-longitude-sends-points-to-the-wrong-side-of-the-world/ <p>KML writes every position as longitude first, then latitude: <code>34.78,32.08</code> is a point in Tel Aviv. Most people say coordinates the other way round, &ldquo;latitude, longitude&rdquo;, because that&rsquo;s how maps and phones show them. So when somebody types a few points into a KML file by hand, or a script builds one from a spreadsheet with the columns in the wrong order, the numbers go in backwards.</p> <p>The file is still valid. Every number is in range. It opens without an error. And every point lands somewhere else entirely: <code>32.08,34.78</code> read as longitude 32.08, latitude 34.78 is in the sea just off the west coast of Cyprus. Swap the numbers for Zurich and you get a point in the Horn of Africa.</p>