When to Capitalize North, South, East, and West
Capitalization of compass points depends on function and house style. Current OECD and GOV.UK guidance both distinguish generic direction from named or recognized regions: “head south” is directional, while a proper or recognized regional name can take capitals. The exact set of recognized regional names is style- and context-dependent.
Lowercase north, south, east, and west when they are ordinary compass directions; capitalize them when they are part of a proper name or a recognized region under the style guide you are following.
Key details
Important caveats
House Style Boundary
Do not treat capitalization as a universal list detached from context. Different publishers can recognize regional labels differently; follow the governing style guide when editing for an organization.
Further guidance
Generic Direction
Use lowercase for ordinary direction: “drive west,” “the road turns north,” or “south of the station.”
Proper Names And Regions
Capitalize when the compass point is part of a proper name or a recognized regional label under the governing style: examples include names such as “South America” or a designated administrative region.
Reader Check
Ask whether the word merely tells you which way or where something lies, or whether it functions as part of a specific name/recognized region. Direction usually points to lowercase; name/region status may call for a capital.
Worked Examples
Directional: “The river flows east.” Named/recognized region: “South America.” Context-sensitive region: follow the publication’s house style for labels such as “the South” or “the North.”
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- OECD Style Guide (Fourth Edition) — Capitalisation (opens in a new tab)OECD · Current 2025 OECD house style: capitalize compass points for specific regions/proper names or titles and use lowercase for generic direction; this is style guidance, not a universal grammar law.
- A to Z style guide — GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)GOV.UK · Official GOV.UK A-to-Z house style, including day-month-year date formatting and date-range conventions.