The cardinal points are the four main bearings to indicate direction, related to the position of the Sun: North, East, South and West.
They are called cardinals because they are the main indications of direction. The Portuguese word cardinal comes from the Latin cardinalis which means main or essential.
In English, the cardinal points can be translated to cardinal points.
The cardinal points serve for geographic orientation and are separated from each other by 90-degree angles. With a map in hand, it is necessary to locate the points to fulfill the displacement in the correct direction.
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. By extending the right arm to the east and the left to the west, we will have the North in front and the South in the back.
Cardinal points are represented internationally by the first letters of each cardinal point written in English:
- N - North
- AND - East
- s - South
- W - West
The cardinal points are illustrated by the wind rose, which also includes the collateral and subcollateral points.
Learn more about the meaning of wind rose.
Collateral points have the same function, indicate the direction, and are located between the cardinals. Between the North and the East, for example, there is the Northeast (NE), between the East and the South the Southeast (SE), between the South and the West the Southwest (SO) and between the West and the North the Northwest ( AT THE).
There are still the subcollateral points, which lie between the cardinals and the collaterals: north-northeast, east-northeast, east-southeast, south-southeast, south-southwest, west-southwest, west-northwest, and north-northwest.