The north pole is the point on a sphere with maximum -coordinate for a given coordinate system. For a rotating sphere like the Earth, the natural coordinate system is defined by the rotation axis, with the north pole given by the point in the northern hemisphere that is farthest from the equator (i.e., midplane of the sphere).

The coordinate in spherical coordinates is measured from the north pole.

CITE THIS AS:

Weisstein, Eric W. "North Pole." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/NorthPole.html