EPSG Library · Saudi Arabia

EPSG:20438 — Ain el Abd / UTM zone 38N

Source: EPSG Dataset via PROJ 9.5.1 · Updated 2026-10-05

Summary

EPSG:20438 (Ain el Abd / UTM zone 38N) is a projected coordinate reference system on the Ain el Abd 1970 datum using the Transverse Mercator method, with coordinates in metres. Area of use: Kuwait - west of 48°E.

Type: projected
Datum: Ain el Abd 1970
Units: metre
Axes: E, N
Central meridian: 45°

Definition

EPSG:20438 as published in the EPSG Dataset (PROJ 9.5.1).
Property	Value
EPSG code	EPSG:20438
Name	Ain el Abd / UTM zone 38N
Type	Projected CRS
Datum	Ain el Abd 1970
Ellipsoid	International 1924 (a = 6,378,388.000 m, 1/f = 297)
Prime meridian	Greenwich
Projection method	Transverse Mercator
Axes	Easting (E, east, metre); Northing (N, north, metre)
Scope	Engineering survey, topographic mapping.
Bounding box	42° to 48.01° longitude, 16.37° to 31.15° latitude

Area of use

Kuwait - west of 48°E. Saudi Arabia - between 42°E and 48°E.

Projection parameters

Transverse Mercator parameters.
Parameter	Value	Unit
Latitude of natural origin	0	degree
Longitude of natural origin	45	degree
Scale factor at natural origin	0.9996	unity
False easting	500,000	metre
False northing	0	metre

Example coordinates

A WGS 84 point at longitude 46.5°, latitude 24.0° (inside the area of use) has these coordinates in EPSG:20438:

Computed with PROJ using the EPSG default operation: unavailable until proj_trans is called.
Axis	Value	Unit
E	652,643.945	m
N	2,655,026.594	m

At this point the projection scale factor is 0.99988756 and the grid convergence is +0.610223°.

Open this conversion in the coordinate converter

Transformations to WGS 84

Candidate operations from the EPSG Dataset, best first as ranked by PROJ.
Operation	Accuracy	Area of use
axis order change (2D) + Ain el Abd to WGS 84 (2) + axis order change (2D)	18 m	Saudi Arabia - onshore.
axis order change (2D) + Ain el Abd to WGS 84 (4) + axis order change (2D)	1 m	Kuwait - onshore.
axis order change (2D) + Ain el Abd to WGS 84 (3) + axis order change (2D)	1 m	Kuwait - onshore.
axis order change (2D) + Ain el Abd to WGS 84 (5) + axis order change (2D)	1 m	Kuwait - onshore north of a line between Al Jahra' and the Kuwait/Iraq/Saudi Arabia border tripoint.
axis order change (2D) + Ain el Abd to WGS 84 (6) + axis order change (2D)	1 m	Kuwait - onshore south of a line between Al Jahra' and the Kuwait/Iraq/Saudi Arabia border tripoint.
axis order change (2D) + Ain el Abd to WGS 84 (1) + axis order change (2D)	44 m	Bahrain - onshore.

Transformations change the datum, so each has an accuracy and an area of use. Choose the most accurate one that covers your data and record its name. See datum transformations.

Definitions and downloads

PROJ string

+proj=utm +zone=38 +ellps=intl +units=m +no_defs +type=crs

A PROJ string cannot carry every EPSG detail (axis order, datum ensemble, transformations). Prefer WKT2 or the EPSG code itself.

Proj4js definition used by the converter

+proj=utm +zone=38 +ellps=intl +units=m +towgs84=-143,-236,7 +no_defs

Datum shift from Ain el Abd to WGS 84 (2) (EPSG accuracy 18 m), the best single Helmert operation for this area of use. Where PROJ prefers a grid-based or multi-step operation (see the table above), results can differ by up to that operation's accuracy.

WKT2:2019

PROJCRS["Ain el Abd / UTM zone 38N", BASEGEOGCRS["Ain el Abd", DATUM["Ain el Abd 1970", ELLIPSOID["International 1924",6378388,297, LENGTHUNIT["metre",1]]], PRIMEM["Greenwich",0, ANGLEUNIT["degree",0.0174532925199433]], ID["EPSG",4204]], CONVERSION["UTM zone 38N", METHOD["Transverse Mercator", ID["EPSG",9807]], PARAMETER["Latitude of natural origin",0, ANGLEUNIT["degree",0.0174532925199433], ID["EPSG",8801]], PARAMETER["Longitude of natural origin",45, ANGLEUNIT["degree",0.0174532925199433], ID["EPSG",8802]], PARAMETER["Scale factor at natural origin",0.9996, SCALEUNIT["unity",1], ID["EPSG",8805]], PARAMETER["False easting",500000, LENGTHUNIT["metre",1], ID["EPSG",8806]], PARAMETER["False northing",0, LENGTHUNIT["metre",1], ID["EPSG",8807]]], CS[Cartesian,2], AXIS["(E)",east, ORDER[1], LENGTHUNIT["metre",1]], AXIS["(N)",north, ORDER[2], LENGTHUNIT["metre",1]], USAGE[ SCOPE["Engineering survey, topographic mapping."], AREA["Kuwait - west of 48°E. Saudi Arabia - between of 42°E and 48°E."], BBOX[16.37,42,31.15,48.01]], ID["EPSG",20438]]

Downloads

20438.prj — ESRI WKT for shapefiles
20438.wkt — OGC WKT2:2019

FAQ

What is EPSG:20438?

Where can EPSG:20438 be used?

Its area of use is: Kuwait - west of 48°E. Saudi Arabia - between 42°E and 48°E.

Is EPSG:20438 in metres or degrees?

EPSG:20438 is projected, so coordinates are easting and northing in metres, not degrees.

How do I convert EPSG:20438 to latitude and longitude?

Transform from EPSG:20438 to EPSG:4326 (WGS 84). In GeoCAD Bridge open the coordinate converter with EPSG:20438 preselected, enter easting and northing, and choose WGS 84 as the target.

What is the central meridian of EPSG:20438?

45° (UTM zone 38), with a scale factor of 0.9996, false easting 500 000 m and false northing 0 m.

How accurate is the transformation from EPSG:20438 to WGS 84?

The most accurate EPSG transformation listed here is “axis order change (2D) + Ain el Abd to WGS 84 (4) + axis order change (2D)”, with a stated accuracy of 1 m for Kuwait - onshore.. Always check the area of use before applying it.

Coordinate systems

Articles

Tools

References

IOGP. EPSG Geodetic Parameter Dataset, epsg.org/crs_20438.
PROJ 9.5.1 / pyproj 3.7.2, used to compute every value on this page.

Cite this page

GeoCAD Bridge. “EPSG:20438 — Ain el Abd / UTM zone 38N.” GeoCAD Bridge EPSG Library, updated 2026-10-05. https://www.geocadbridge.com/epsg/20438/