What is an azimuth?

• A. The degrees out from the center of the map.
• B. The distance from the map center to a feature.
• C. The direction relative to magnetic north.
• D. The scale ratio on the map.

Answer: (A)

Azimuth is an angular direction measured in degrees. In navigation and maps, you set a reference line—usually north—and measure clockwise from that line to the line pointing toward your target. This makes azimuth a way to say which way to go, independent of how far away the point is. Among the options, describing azimuth as “the degrees out from the center of the map” captures that it’s a degree-valued direction rather than a distance or a map scale. The other choices refer to distance, scale, or a specific north reference (magnetic north) rather than the general direction in degrees from a fixed reference.