EPSG:21896 · Colombia

Bogota 1975 / Colombia West zone to KML & KMZ

Bogota 1975 / Colombia West zone (EPSG:21896) is a Transverse Mercator coordinate system on the Bogota 1975 datum, with coordinates in metres. Its official area of use is: Colombia - mainland onshore west of 1°30'W of Bogota (75°34'51.30"W of Greenwich).

  • Converter already set to EPSG:21896
  • Latitude and longitude on WGS 84, as Google Earth uses
  • Download the point as KML
Loading converter…

Good to know

  • Datum: Published 3-parameter shift (typically a few metres).

Convert a whole spreadsheet

  1. Open the web app or the Windows app, and paste your rows from Excel or open a CSV file.
  2. Under Coordinate system, search for “21896” and pick Bogota 1975 / Colombia West zone.
  3. Check one point you know on the map, then press Save KML or Save KMZ and open it in Google Earth.

Check points for EPSG:21896

Five points inside the area of use of Bogota 1975 / Colombia West zone, with their latitude and longitude on WGS 84 and their easting and northing in this grid (metres). Enter an easting and northing in the converter above: you should get the latitude and longitude shown, to a few centimetres.

PointLatitudeLongitudeEastingNorthing
Middle of the area of use5.12000° N77.34000° W970,906.021,057,927.18
Towards the north-west8.17400° N78.39600° W854,704.031,395,897.33
Towards the north-east8.17400° N76.28400° W1,087,452.301,395,747.60
Towards the south-west2.06600° N78.39600° W853,319.75720,273.86
Towards the south-east2.06600° N76.28400° W1,088,290.92720,235.50

Common mistakes with Bogota 1975 / Colombia West zone

  • Easting and northing swapped. In Bogota 1975 / Colombia West zone the middle of the grid is near easting 970,906.02 and northing 1,057,927.18. If your easting column holds numbers like 1,057,927.18, the columns are the wrong way round and every point lands far away: swap them before converting.
  • Feet entered as metres. Bogota 1975 / Colombia West zone is in metres. Coordinates copied from a drawing in feet must be converted first, or every point moves outwards from the grid's origin.
  • Forgetting the datum. Bogota 1975 / Colombia West zone is not on WGS 84: published 3-parameter shift (typically a few metres). Picking a WGS 84 grid with the same projection instead leaves the points off by that amount.
  • Points outside the grid's area. Bogota 1975 / Colombia West zone is meant for Colombia - mainland onshore west of 1°30'W of Bogota (75°34'51.30"W of Greenwich). Points well outside that area convert with growing error; the converter flags them so you can choose the right grid.
  • A local site grid. If every point is off by the same distance and direction, the drawing may be on a local site grid. Calibrate on three or more known control points instead.

New to this? Read how to convert easting and northing to latitude and longitude.