A compass for a moving Earth
The North That Moves
The north magnetic pole moved 36 kilometres in one year of observation. The needle is the same instrument; its direction depends on place and time.
36
km/yr
the north pole’s average movement between 2025 and 2026 · ≈ 99 m/day (WMM2025: 85.558° N, 135.938° E in 2026; NOAA/BGS, State of the Geomagnetic Field, Dec. 2025)
What does the needle see?
WMM2025 · NOAA/BGS
Declination
+6.3°
In Bucharest, in 2025, magnetic north is 6.3° to the east of geographic north.
01 / two directions
The needle follows the field.
North on a map is a geometric convention. North, as a compass needle finds it, is a reading of the magnetic field — and the field changes.
The difference between those directions is called magnetic declination. In Bucharest, the WMM2025 model estimates 6.26° east in 2025 and 6.59° in 2030 — a difference of 0.33°.
85.762° N
the North Magnetic Pole’s latitude in 2025 (WMM2025)
139.298° E
the North Magnetic Pole’s longitude in 2025 (WMM2025)
On the dial
Geographic north
Magnetic north
The red line moves when you change the place or year. The pale line stays with the geographic reference.