north and south

     The words "north" and "south" seem to be all over the place, but they do have a definite meaning. Their meaning is easier to grasp when you look at a globe--a map of the Earth in 3 dimensions, shaped like a ball. The North Pole is at the top of the Earth. The South Pole is at the bottom."South", in general terms, means in the direction of, or towards,  the South Pole.  "North" means in the direction of, or towards, the North Pole. Almost every place on Earth ( the poles, mentioned above, are the exception ) is both north and south of some other place. The United States of America is south of Canada, and north of Mexico. Canada is north of the United States. Mexico is south of the United States.
    Only the North Pole is north of every place. The South Pole is south of every place.  Every other place on Earth can be described, or located, in part, by what it is north of, or south of. To actually find the place, we'd also need to know what it's west or east of, but that's another story.