Cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four main directions or points of the compass: north, east, south and west. These direction are also written in short form as N, E, S and W.
North and south are directed towards the north and south poles of the Earth. The Earth's rotation defines east and west. The sun rises in the morning on east, and sets in the evening on west.
If a needle is magnetised and allowed to move freely (for example floated on water) it will align itself with the Earth's magnetic field which is almost in the same direction with north. The direction of the needle in this situation is called magnetic north which differs from geographical north by few degrees.
Cardinal directions in world cultures[senisim | edit source]
Through history, different cultures have given different values to each direction. For example, long culture bilong Esia, each daireksion is given a kola, as follows:
(Dispela pes Kadinol daireksion em i liklik tumas. Yu inap raitim moa sapos yu laik halivim Wikipedia. Hau?)