EPSG:4269 — NAD83
NAD83 — the official horizontal datum for the United States, Canada (gradually being replaced) and Central America.
PROJ definition
+proj=longlat +datum=NAD83 +no_defs +type=crs
Geographic bounds
W 167.65° S 14.92° E -40.73° N 86.45°
Convert coordinates with EPSG:4269
Official EPSG transformations for NAD83
Datum transformations involving EPSG:4269 published in the EPSG dataset, with parameters, accuracy and area of use:
- ATS77 → NAD83±0.5 m
- NAD27 → NAD83±0.15 m
- NAD27(76) → NAD83±1 m
- NAD27(CGQ77) → NAD83±1 m
- NAD83 → NAD83(2011)±1 m
- NAD83 → NAD83(CSRS)±2 m
- NAD83 → NAD83(CSRS)v2±0.1 m
- NAD83 → NAD83(CSRS)v3±0.1 m
- NAD83 → NAD83(CSRS)v4±0.1 m
- NAD83 → NAD83(CSRS)v6±0.1 m
- NAD83 → NAD83(CSRS)v7±0.1 m
- NAD83 → NAD83(HARN)±0.05 m
- NAD83 → WGS 84±1.5 m
- Old Hawaiian → NAD83±0.2 m
- Puerto Rico → NAD83±0.05 m
- St. George Island → NAD83±0.15 m
- St. Lawrence Island → NAD83±0.5 m
- St. Paul Island → NAD83±0.5 m
About EPSG:4269
EPSG:4269 is the geographic CRS based on the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). It uses the GRS 80 ellipsoid and is the native datum for nearly all federal and state geospatial data in the United States — Census TIGER, USGS topographic maps, NHD hydrography, NLCD land-cover and most state plane systems are published in NAD83 or one of its realisations.
Although NAD83 was originally aligned with the global ITRF at the 1986 epoch, the North American plate has since drifted ~1.5 m relative to ITRF. This means NAD83 differs from WGS 84 by a measurable amount that grows over time. For sub-metre work always treat NAD83 and WGS 84 as different — the conversion uses a Helmert transformation (NAD83 ↔ ITRF) and ignoring it can introduce 1-2 m error.
NAD83 has multiple realisations (NAD83(1986), NAD83(HARN), NAD83(CORS96), NAD83(NSRS2007), NAD83(2011)) each with its own EPSG code. The U.S. National Geodetic Survey is replacing NAD83 with the 2022 NATRF/NAPGD2022 framework; legacy data will continue to reference EPSG:4269 for years.
Common use cases
- Working with U.S. federal datasets (Census, USGS, NHD)
- State plane projections (which all use NAD83)
- Canadian provincial mapping (until CSRS migration completes)
- Cross-checking data tagged 'NAD83' without an explicit realisation
Common transformations from EPSG:4269
- EPSG:4269 → EPSG:4326NAD83 → WGS 84
- EPSG:4269 → EPSG:3857NAD83 → WGS 84 / Pseudo-Mercator
- EPSG:4269 → EPSG:3395NAD83 → WGS 84 / World Mercator
- EPSG:4269 → EPSG:4978NAD83 → WGS 84
- EPSG:4269 → EPSG:7789NAD83 → ITRF2014
- EPSG:4269 → EPSG:4267NAD83 → NAD27
- EPSG:4269 → EPSG:6318NAD83 → NAD83(2011)
- EPSG:4269 → EPSG:4322NAD83 → WGS 72
- EPSG:4269 → EPSG:26910NAD83 → NAD83 / UTM zone 10N
- EPSG:4269 → EPSG:26911NAD83 → NAD83 / UTM zone 11N
- EPSG:4269 → EPSG:26912NAD83 → NAD83 / UTM zone 12N
- EPSG:4269 → EPSG:26913NAD83 → NAD83 / UTM zone 13N
Frequently asked questions
- Is NAD83 the same as WGS 84?
- No. They were near-identical in 1986 but have diverged by roughly 1-2 metres due to plate motion. Treat them as different datums for any work below metre precision.
- Should I use EPSG:4269 or EPSG:6318?
- EPSG:6318 is NAD83(2011) — the most recent realisation, accurate to a few centimetres. EPSG:4269 is the generic 'NAD83' code; many federal datasets are still tagged this way, but new high-accuracy work should use the explicit realisation.
- What is the proj4 string for EPSG:4269?
- The proj4 definition for EPSG:4269 is: +proj=longlat +datum=NAD83 +no_defs +type=crs
- Where is EPSG:4269 used?
- EPSG:4269 (NAD83) is defined for the area: North America - NAD83.