What is the difference between decimal degrees and DMS?

Geographic coordinates can be written in two common formats. Decimal degrees (DD) express latitude and longitude as a single signed number, such as 40.7128, -74.0060, making them easy to use in code, spreadsheets, and mapping APIs. Degrees-minutes-seconds (DMS) breaks each coordinate into degrees, minutes, and seconds with a hemisphere letter, such as 40°42'46.08"N, 74°0'21.6"W, which is the traditional format used on paper maps, GPS devices, and nautical charts.

Both formats describe the exact same location — DMS is just a sexagesimal (base-60) subdivision of a degree, where 1 degree equals 60 minutes and 1 minute equals 60 seconds. Converting between the two is a matter of splitting or recombining the fractional part of the decimal value.

Tool description

Decimal Degrees DMS Converter converts geographic coordinates between decimal degrees and degrees-minutes-seconds (DMS) notation. Enter a latitude/longitude pair in either format and instantly get the equivalent in the other, with automatic hemisphere detection (N/S for latitude, E/W for longitude) and input validation to catch out-of-range values.

Features

  • Bidirectional conversion — switch freely between decimal degrees and DMS formats
  • Flexible DMS parsing — accepts common symbol variants (°, d, ', ′, m, ", ″, s) and hemisphere letters
  • Range validation — flags latitudes outside ±90° and longitudes outside ±180°

Supported formats

  • Decimal degrees: latitude, longitude (e.g. 40.7128, -74.0060)
  • DMS: degrees°minutes'seconds"hemisphere, degrees°minutes'seconds"hemisphere (e.g. 40°42'46.08"N, 74°0'21.6"W)