Cardinal direction

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This article is about Cardinal point. For the use in optics, see Cardinal point (optics). For SUNY Plattsburgh newspaper, see Cardinal Points.

A compass rose showing the cardinal directions

In geography, the four cardinal directions are north, east, south and west. North and south are oriented toward the respective poles of the Earth. The Earth's rotation defines the orientation of east and west.

The four cardinal directions correspond to the following degrees of a compass: North: 0° (= 360°), East: 90°, South: 180° and West: 270° (see azimuth).

Children are sometimes taught the order of these directions (clockwise, from North) by using a mnemonic, such as "Never Eat Soggy Waffles" or "Never Eat Shredded Wheat".

In mathematics, cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four principal directions or points of the compass in a plane.

An ordinal, intercardinal or intermediate direction is one of the four compass directions located halfway between the cardinal directions: northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest.

1 Germanic origin of names
2 Cardinal directions in world cultures
3 Non-compass directional systems
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Germanic origin of names

During the Migration Period, the Germanic languages' names for the cardinal directions entered the Romance languages, where they replaced the Latin names borealis (or septentrionalis), australis (or meridionalis), occidentalis and orientalis. See French language. It is possible that some northern people used the Germanic names for the intermediate directions. A viking compass would thus have had a 45 degree rotation of cardinal directions.<ref>See e.g. Weibull, Lauritz. De gamle nordbornas väderstrecksbegrepp. Scandia 1/1928; Ekblom, R. Alfred the Great as Geographer. Studia Neuphilologia. 14/1941-2; Ekblom, R. Den forntida nordiska orientering och Wulfstans resa till Truso. Förnvännen. 33/1938; Sköld, Tryggve. Isländska väderstreck. Scripta Islandica. Isländska skällskapet årsbok 16/1965.</ref>

[edit] Cardinal directions in world cultures

Many cultures not descended from European traditions use cardinal directions, but have a number other than four. Many associate properties such as colors and emotions with the various cardinal directions.

[edit] Asia

Traditional Chinese culture and some other Central Asian cultures view the center as a fifth principal direction. Each direction is often identified with a color, and geographical or ethnic terms may contain the name of the color instead of the name of the corresponding direction [1] [2]. These traditions were also carried west by the westward migration of the Turkic peoples.

North: Black

Heilongjiang "Black Dragon River" province in Northeast China, also the Amur River

Black Sea: north of Turkey

Kara-Khitan Khanate

Black Wallachia

South: Red

Red River (Vietnam): south of China

Red Sea: south of Turkey

East: Green or Blue (青 "qīng" corresponds to green or blue)

Qingdao (Tsingtao) "Green Island": a city on the east coast of China

West: White

White Sheep Turkmen

Ak Deniz "White Sea" in Turkish indicates the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea, or the Mediterranean Sea

Belarus: "White Russia", western region of Rus

Center: Yellow

Huangshan "Yellow Mountain" in central China

Golden Horde: "Central Army" of the Mongols

[edit] Americas

[edit] Five directions

In Mesoamerica and North America, many traditional indigenous beliefs include four cardinal directions and a center. Each direction was associated with a color, which varied between groups but which generally corresponded to the hues of corn (green, black, red, white, and yellow).^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Seven directions

In some Native American cultures and New Age practices, there are seven primary directions: north, south, east, west, heaven (or up), land (or down), and center (or self, now).^{[citation needed]}

[edit] New Age movement

In the New Age movement (which is derived from various ancient cultures of the world including the Native Americans) there are generally only four cardinal points: North, South, East and West. Each of these directions is associated with an element, an emotion or feeling, a color and a traditional animal or symbol (which can also be related to the zodiac). The cardinal directions and their representations are as follows:

North

Element: Earth

Color: Green

Emotion: Safety, security, peace of mind

Symbol: Spring, trees, ivy, parrots (especially alexandrine and other exotic birds)

South

Element: Fire

Color: Red

Emotion: Love, happiness

Symbol: Autumn, leaves, Cupid's bow and arrow, roses, bees and beeswax

East

Element: Air

Color: Light blue and occasionally yellow

Emotion: Religious peace, peace, unity, contentment

Symbol: dove, olive branch, Buddhist stance

West

Element: Water

Color: Deep blue with a tint of green

Emotion: Knowledge, power

Symbol: Waves, ocean, seaweed

Alternatively, some associate North with the element Air and East with Earth.

[edit] Non-compass directional systems

Use of the compass directions is common and deeply embedded in European culture, and perhaps even more so in Chinese culture. Some other cultures make greater use of other referents, such as towards the sea or towards the mountains (Hawaii, Bali), or upstream and downstream (Yurok, Karok).