Short · Earth
Why doesn't a compass point to the North Pole?
A compass follows the local magnetic field toward a moving magnetic pole, so its direction can sit more than ten degrees east or west of true north.
Try it yourself
Opens Compass Field. Change the same thing yourself.
Transcript
Your compass doesn't point to the North Pole. It follows Earth's magnetic field to a spot in the Arctic Ocean, hundreds of kilometers away from the pole. That field comes from molten iron churning in Earth's core, and it keeps changing. Lately, magnetic north drifts tens of kilometers a year, toward Siberia. Now walk across the map. The gap between true north and compass north changes with where you stand, by more than ten degrees in parts of the United States. Follow to see how the world works.