Question: where does north south east and west come from

title: Cardinal direction
text: To keep to a bearing is not , in general , the same as going in a straight direction along a great circle . Conversely , one can keep to a great circle and the bearing may change . Thus the bearing of a straight path crossing the North Pole changes abruptly at the Pole from North to South . When traveling East or West , it is only on the Equator that one can keep East or West and be going straight ( without need to steer ) . Anywhere else , maintaining latitude requires a change in direction , requires steering . However , this change in direction becomes increasingly negligible as one moves to lower latitudes .