Tikal

What the code says

The Grid Point Code for Tikal is #GL2DW-2PTF5. It names a cell 2.56 m north to south and 3.27 m east to west, centred on 17°13'19.52"N, 89°37'25.03"W, and it turns back into that cell on any phone or computer by arithmetic alone: no network, no account, no lookup table.

What it is

Ruins of major ancient Maya city

Code

#GL2DW-2PTF5

With a check character

#GL2DW-2PTF5*X

Short form

2PTF5

Cell centre

17.222089, -89.623619

Cell size

2.56 m by 3.27 m

Region

Petén Department

Country

Guatemala

How to give this address

On a sign, a form or a delivery note

The whole code, #GL2DW-2PTF5. It needs nothing else: no city, no street, no network to read it back.

Said aloud, in Petén Department

Tikal 2PTF5: a name both people know, then the last five characters. They give back the exact code for anywhere within 4.0 km north or south and 5.1 km east or west of Tikal. Further away the same five name somewhere else, which is why the whole code is what goes on a sign.

Copied by hand, or read over a phone

#GL2DW-2PTF5*X. The character on the end catches any single mistyped symbol and any two neighbours swapped.

As a link or a square code

Open it on the map, move to the exact door, and add directions if the code needs help: "blue gate, second floor". The link and the square code carry them. Nothing is kept on this site.

From the city to the door

The first four characters name a cell about 40 km by 51 km here. Each one after that picks one of 25 inside the last, so the whole ten name a spot about the size of a doorway.

1. DGL2DMetropolitan area40 km by 51 km
2. WGL2DWDistrict8 km by 10.2 km
3. 2GL2DW2Suburb1.6 km by 2.04 km
4. PGL2DW2PA few streets320 m by 408 m
5. TGL2DW2PTBuilding64 m by 81.7 m
6. FGL2DW2PTFEntrance12.8 m by 16.3 m
7. 5GL2DW2PTF5Doorway2.56 m by 3.27 m

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