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There are actually two "north poles" (and two south poles).

One is denoted as the place around whose axis the planet spins. North and South poles are at coordinates 90 degrees north latitude (alleged home of Santa Claus) and 90 degrees south latitude (south pole).

However, the Earth's magnetosphere radiates from two different locations, and these two locations are known as the north and south magnetic poles.

Ten years ago, the north magnetic pole was 81 N by 111 W (to nearest degree)

(Then, if are still still more bar bets, the Earth's polarity (which reverses itself every 100-200 millennium) is currently reversed, making the north magnetic pole actually the south magnetic pole!) Using this reverse logic, arguers could claim that the North pole was 64 S by 138 E in 2001.

And lastly, your next logical question might be, "Why aren't the two sets of magnetic coordinates dipolar?" I don't know if there is a scientific explanation, but I would imagine the different Earthly terrains might cause the magnetic "wobble".

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13y ago

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