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geographiclib

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library2.1pypypi✓ verified 49d ago

GeographicLib is a Python implementation of the geodesic routines from the larger C++ GeographicLib library. It provides accurate algorithms for solving direct and inverse geodesic problems, as well as calculating areas on an ellipsoid model of the Earth. The current version is 2.1, and it maintains a regular release cadence with updates tagged in its GitHub repository.

data
pip install geographiclib
github ↗package ↗homepage ↗docs ↗
Install & Compatibility
Where this runs
tested against v2.1 · pip install
no network on importno background threads
Install × environment matrix
Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux
musl
py 3.10–3.930 runs
installs and imports cleanly · install 0.0s · import 0.000s · 18.1MB
glibc
py 3.10–3.930 runs
installs and imports cleanly · install 1.5s · import 0.000s · 19MB
16MB installed
● package 16MB
Code
Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

Geodesic
✓ from geographiclib.geodesic import Geodesic
Primary class for geodesic calculations.
GeodesicLine
✓ from geographiclib.geodesicline import GeodesicLine
For creating geodesic lines and computing waypoints.
PolygonArea
✓ from geographiclib.polygonarea import PolygonArea
For measuring areas of geodesic polygons.

This quickstart demonstrates how to use the `Geodesic` class to calculate the inverse (distance and azimuth between two points) and direct (finding a point given a starting point, azimuth, and distance) geodesic problems using the WGS84 ellipsoid.

from geographiclib.geodesic import Geodesic # Define the WGS84 ellipsoid geod = Geodesic.WGS84 # Solve the inverse geodesic problem (distance and azimuth between two points) # From Wellington, NZ (-41.32, 174.81) to Salamanca, Spain (40.96, -5.50) g = geod.Inverse(-41.32, 174.81, 40.96, -5.50) print(f"The distance is {g['s12']:.3f} meters.") # Solve the direct geodesic problem (find a point at a given distance and azimuth) # 20000 km SW of Perth, Australia (-32.06, 115.74) g = geod.Direct(-32.06, 115.74, 225, 20000e3) print(f"The position is ({g['lat2']:.8f}, {g['lon2']:.8f}).")
Debug
Known issues
breakingVersion 2.0 dropped support for Python 2.x. Users must upgrade to Python 3.7 or newer to use `geographiclib` version 2.0 and later.
fix
Migrate your Python environment to Python 3.7+.
affects: >=2.0
gotchaSince version 1.48, the default range for returned longitudes and azimuths changed from `[-180°, 180°)` to `(-180°, 180°]`. Code relying on the exact boundary behavior (e.g., expecting -180° instead of 180° for certain cases) might need adjustment.
fix
Review code that processes longitude or azimuth values near the ±180° boundary and adjust for the new range if necessary.
affects: >=1.48
breakingVersion 2.1 fixed an issue where the `Geodesic.WGS84` attribute might not have been accessible. If you had workarounds for this, they might now be obsolete or cause unexpected behavior.
fix
Remove any custom workarounds for `Geodesic.WGS84` attribute access and use it directly as intended.
affects: 2.1
gotchaVersion 2.0 introduced a more careful treatment of ±0° and ±180° for longitudes and azimuths. Positive values (+0°, +180°) are now reckoned as east-going, while negative values (-0°, -180°) are west-going. This can subtly affect calculations involving these edge cases.
fix
Be aware of the directional implications of positive and negative zero/180° in your calculations, especially for precise azimuth tracking or area computations involving `LONG_UNROLL`.
affects: >=2.0
Errors
Common errors & fixes
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'geographiclib'
The `geographiclib` Python package is not installed in your current Python environment, or the environment where you're running your code is not the one where it was installed.
fix
Install the library using pip: `pip install geographiclib`
ImportError: No module named geographiclib.geodesic
The `geographiclib` package is either not installed or not correctly installed, preventing the `geodesic` submodule from being found.
fix
Ensure the library is installed with `pip install geographiclib`. If already installed, there might be an environment issue, or a conflict; try reinstalling or checking your Python path.
ValueError: Equatorial radius is not positive
This error occurs when initializing a `Geodesic` object with an equatorial radius (parameter `a`) that is not a positive finite number.
fix
Ensure that the `a` (equatorial radius) and `f` (flattening) parameters provided to `Geodesic` are valid positive floating-point numbers, for example, `Geodesic(a=6378137, f=1/298.257223563)`.
GeographicLib.GeographicException: Error reading ... egm96-5.pgm: Index was outside the bounds of the array.
This error typically occurs when performing geoid height calculations using `Geoid` models, indicating that the required geoid data file (e.g., `egm96-5.pgm`) is either missing, corrupted, or not correctly accessible at the specified path, or the coordinates requested are outside the bounds of the loaded geoid model data.
fix
Ensure the geoid data files are correctly downloaded and placed in a directory where `GeographicLib` can find them. For C++ GeographicLib, this is often `/usr/share/GeographicLib/geoids` or a custom path. For Python, ensure the `Geoid` constructor is pointed to the correct data directory if not using the default. Also, if using `NETGeographicLib` in a multi-threaded context, pre-caching the geoid file using `CacheAll()` can resolve concurrency issues.
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Version history
2.1latest on PyPI
Audit
Dependencies
pythonrequiredRequired runtime environment.
Agent activity
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Resources
githubhttps://github.com/geographiclib/geographiclib-python ↗
packagehttps://pypi.org/project/geographiclib/ ↗
homepagehttps://geographiclib.sourceforge.io/Python/ ↗
docshttps://geographiclib.sourceforge.io/Python/doc/ ↗