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North Magnetic Pole
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compass: true north Map of the northern polar region showing the tracked movement of Earth's north magnetic pole from 1900 to a projected location in 2020. The pole's positions are marked by labeled dots moving from northern Canada across the Arctic Ocean toward Russia, with nearby landmasses including Alaska, Canada, and Russia indicated.
Learn about the different types of North poles on Earth: the geographic North Pole, the magnetic North Pole, and the geomagnetic North Pole
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North Magnetic Pole

geophysics
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compass: true north
compass: true north From most points on Earth's surface, the geographic and magnetic North Poles differ slightly from one another. When using a compass to determine true geographic north, a user must consider his or her position relative to the two points.

The North Magnetic Pole is a point on Earth's surface where the planet's magnetic field lines point vertically downwards. It is one of the two geomagnetic poles, the other being the South Magnetic Pole. These poles are not fixed but migrate over time, a phenomenon known as polar wandering.123

Earth's magnetic field, primarily dipolar, originates from electric currents within its liquid core, not a giant bar magnet. This field is crucial as it deflects the solar wind, protecting life on Earth. The magnetic poles have not always been in their current locations; they have shifted significantly throughout Earth's history, and the direction of the magnetic field itself has reversed numerous times, with reversals occurring relatively rapidly on a geological timescale.4253

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
5 Britannica Sources
  1. geomagnetic field - Dipolar field
  2. magnetic pole
  3. geomagnetic field
  4. polar wandering
  5. geomagnetic field - Reversals of the main field

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