North, South, East, West: Are Directions Capitalized?
Don’t capitalize compass points like north, south, east, and west (and derivative words such as northern, northerly, and eastbound) when using them simply to indicate a direction.
- The whooping crane migrates north in the spring.
- We crossed the border into Mexico and drove south.
- The storm came down upon us from the east.
- Farley wanted to travel west but boarded a train that was eastbound.
- It gets cold in the northern part of the province, when northerly winds bring snow in winter.
- The herd traveled eastward to escape drought.
Also don’t capitalize names of directions (and words derived from them) when they indicate location.
- Maya traveled by bus to the north of Slovakia.
- Tremors were felt in the northern region of the country.
- The persimmon thrives in southern climes.
- Our eastern borders have been left unguarded.
- The mines are located in the western part of the plateau.
- The scientists measured lava flows located to the northeast of Tharsis Tholus.
- We hid amid the trees in the southwest corner of the park.
When used to refer to direction or location, words like north and west (and northern and western) act simply as common nouns, adjectives, or adverbs, requiring no capitalization. However, such words are sometimes used as proper nouns in names of regions or places and in cultural references. They are then capitalized, as discussed below.
Names of regions
Capitalize words like north, east, northeast, and eastern when they occur in names of regions. They then form proper nouns, which are capitalized.
- She published a coffee-table book on the lighthouses of the Northeast.
- Indigenous peoples have occupied the Pacific Northwest for millennia.
- The Eastern Plains of Colorado receive little rainfall through the year.
- The West Coast is culturally quite different from the East Coast.
- North America and South America are joined by a narrow strip of land.
- Several major world religions originated in the Middle East.
Common nouns derived from names of regions are usually lowercased.
- He remains at heart a northeasterner.
- She was a westerner backpacking through Asia.
Names of places
Capitalize words like north, northern, and south when they occur in names of places, which are proper nouns.
- Maya has moved to Northern Ireland.
- She was born in South Africa in 1993.
- From Indonesia, we went by bus to East Timor.
- Nesbit grew up in what was then West Germany.
Check whether the word is being used in the name of a specific place (i.e., a proper noun) or just to refer to a location or direction, in which case it should be lowercased.
- The climate is subtropical in northern Africa.
- Tea is grown in the eastern region of the country.
- I wish I were an Arctic tern, migrating south for the winter.
- He vacationed last summer on Scotland’s west coast.
Eastern and Western Europe
The words eastern and western used with Europe are lowercased when used to mean location but capitalized when they refer to a specific region based on the political divisions of Europe.
- This railway line spans the entire continent from western to eastern Europe.
- Serbia is a beautiful country in Eastern Europe.
- Anita has published a paper on the rise of populism in Western Europe.
Names of hemispheres
Names of hemispheres may be capitalized or lowercased, although capitalizing is more common, particularly in academic writing. The Chicago Manual of Style suggests capitalizing, while Merriam-Webster, in its dictionary entries, shows the names of hemispheres lowercased, with the capitalized forms listed as variants.
- Correct: Wind systems twist clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.
- Correct: A map centered on the Eastern Hemisphere instead of the Western Hemisphere will have the Indian Ocean at its center.
- Correct: Wind systems twist clockwise in the southern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere.
- Correct: A map centered on the eastern hemisphere instead of the western hemisphere will have the Indian Ocean at its center.
Pick a style, and follow it consistently throughout your document.
North and South Poles
North Pole and South Pole, as names of places, are capitalized, but the terms northern lights and southern lights (for the aurora borealis and aurora australis) are generally lowercased.
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Last year, Maya went to the North Pole to see the northern lights.
- You can see the southern lights in parts of Chile close to the South Pole.
East and West as cultural references
Capitalize “East” and “West” (or “Eastern world” and “Western world”) when used to refer to the peoples and cultures of the world.
- Mozart is one of the greatest composers of Western music.
- My friend is a doctor of Eastern medicine.
- The film has been accused of pandering to the West, offering to viewers an exotic, romanticized version of the East.
- Her recipes are a wonderful fusion of East and West.
- In college, I took a course on Eastern philosophy.
- He devoted his life to the study of Western religions.
Note that such words are lowercased when used as common nouns.
- Oases are found in the western region of the desert.
- We should grow yams in the eastern section of the field.
- In summer, the wind blows from west to east.
- We love holidaying in the eastern Mediterranean.
- She is a westerner traveling through Asia.
The American West and South
References to the American West and the American South (when referring to the regions and cultures of the United States) are generally capitalized.
- Farley is dressed like a cowboy straight out of a Western.
- Maya has written a book of stories and songs of the West.
- On Sundays, they cook a traditional Southern dinner.
- His book presents a realistic portrait of the South as it was in the 1860s.
Time zones
Names of time zones and time standards may either be capitalized or lowercased, depending on the style you follow. Any proper nouns (like Greenland) that occur within the name of the time zone are always capitalized, but capitalization of compass points or names of directions stays consistent with the overall style.
- Correct: Eastern Time
- Correct: Eastern Standard Time
- Correct: East Greenland Time
- Correct: Australian Western Daylight Time
- Correct: eastern time
- Correct: eastern standard time
- Correct: east Greenland time
- Correct: Australian western daylight time
In the shortened form of a standard time, either capitalize or lowercase the region, but don’t capitalize the word time.
- Correct: Poco wants the report by three o’clock, Eastern time.
orCorrect: Poco wants the report by three o’clock, eastern time.
Style guides vary in their recommendations about whether to capitalize time zones. The Chicago Manual of Style suggests lowercasing them (eastern standard time), while the AP Stylebook recommends capitalization (Eastern Standard Time). Check which style manual your publication follows, and remember to stay consistent in usage within a document.
Other proper nouns
Capitalize names of directions when they are part of a proper noun, like the name of a company, publication, or university.
- The East India Company was an agent of imperialism in the nineteenth century.
- For sailors, the North Star marks the way due north.
- Maya’s poem was just published in The Southern Review.
- She graduated in 1998 from the University of West Nusquam.