Latitude, longitude and charts

Any place on Earth can be given by latitude (0–90° north or south of the equator) and longitude (0–180° east or west of Greenwich). Kuala Lumpur is about 3.1° N, 101.7° E; KLIA (WMKK) is about 2.7° N, 101.7° E.

One degree of latitude is 60 nautical miles (NM); one minute of latitude = 1 NM ≈ 1.852 km. That is why aviation and sailing use nautical miles and knots (NM per hour).

Aeronautical charts show airports, airspace (controlled, restricted and danger areas), radio navigation aids, high ground and obstacles. Airports have four-letter ICAO codes — Malaysia's start with WM (Peninsular, e.g. WMKK KLIA, WMSA Subang) and WB (Sabah, Sarawak, e.g. WBKK Kota Kinabalu, WBGG Kuching).