• 16 points
  • Checked September 2026

Label the Compass Rose

Name the points of a compass rose: north, east, south and west, then the points between.

Label the Compass Rose

Name Date

Which direction is this point?

1 of 8

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Write the name of each numbered point.Answer key

  1. North
  2. East
  3. South
  4. West
  5. Northeast
  6. Southeast
  7. Southwest
  8. Northwest
  9. North-northeast (NNE)
  10. East-northeast (ENE)
  11. East-southeast (ESE)
  12. South-southeast (SSE)
  13. South-southwest (SSW)
  14. West-southwest (WSW)
  15. West-northwest (WNW)
  16. North-northwest (NNW)

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a point is answered.

Next step Next: the parts of a compass

All 16 points on the diagram

Show the list

Cardinal directions 4

  1. North A cardinal direction, drawn at the top of this rose. 0 degrees.
  2. East A cardinal direction, a quarter turn clockwise from north. 90 degrees.
  3. South A cardinal direction, opposite north. 180 degrees.
  4. West A cardinal direction, opposite east. 270 degrees.

Intercardinal directions 4

  1. Northeast An intercardinal direction, halfway between north and east.
  2. Southeast An intercardinal direction, halfway between south and east.
  3. Southwest An intercardinal direction, halfway between south and west.
  4. Northwest An intercardinal direction, halfway between north and west.

The points between 8

  1. North-northeast (NNE) Between north and northeast. The cardinal name comes first.
  2. East-northeast (ENE) Between east and northeast.
  3. East-southeast (ESE) Between east and southeast.
  4. South-southeast (SSE) Between south and southeast.
  5. South-southwest (SSW) Between south and southwest.
  6. West-southwest (WSW) Between west and southwest.
  7. West-northwest (WNW) Between west and northwest.
  8. North-northwest (NNW) Between north and northwest.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30 in two independent places. (1) Nathaniel Bowditch, American Practical Navigator (US Hydrographic Office, 1910 printing, a US government work in the public domain), article 27, Boxing the Compass, https://archive.org/details/navigatorpracti00bowdrich (the four principal points are the cardinal points, North, South, East and West, 90 degrees apart; midway between them, at 45 degrees, are the inter-cardinal points, Northeast, Southeast and so on; midway between each cardinal and inter-cardinal point, at 22 and a half degrees, is a point named by joining the cardinal name to the inter-cardinal name, North-Northeast, East-Northeast, East-Southeast and so on; the card has 32 points in all; boxing the compass is naming the points in order). (2) Wikipedia, Points of the compass and Compass rose, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Points_of_the_compass and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass_rose (four cardinal directions 90 degrees apart; four intercardinal directions halfway between; the eight half-winds NNE, ENE, ESE, SSE, SSW, WSW, WNW and NNW, each named with the cardinal first; together the sixteen-point rose; a full compass has 32 points; a compass rose shows the cardinal directions and their intermediate points on maps, charts and compasses). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry. Own original drawing; nothing is traced or copied. Licence: own work

How it works

Label the compass rose one ring of points at a time. The four long points are the cardinal directions. The four medium points are the intercardinal directions, and eight short points lie between.

Read the full guide

How the names are built

North, east, south and west are a quarter turn apart. Halfway between two of them the names join, with north or south first: northeast, southeast, southwest, northwest. Halfway again, the nearer cardinal name goes in front: north-northeast lies between north and northeast.

Print it for class

For a label the compass rose worksheet, print the rose blank and write a direction at each point. The print with names is the answer key.

  • Going clockwise from north, the cardinal directions run north, east, south, west.
  • Naming every point in order, clockwise from north, is called boxing the compass.

Questions and answers

What are the four cardinal directions?

North, east, south and west. Each is 90 degrees, a quarter turn, from the next.

What are the intercardinal directions?

Northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest. Each lies halfway between two cardinal directions, 45 degrees from both.

What does NNE mean on a compass?

North-northeast, the direction halfway between north and northeast. The eight points of this kind are NNE, ENE, ESE, SSE, SSW, WSW, WNW and NNW.

How many points does a compass rose have?

It depends on the rose. Simple ones show four or eight points, this one shows sixteen, and a full mariner’s compass has 32.

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