EPSG Library · Europe

EPSG:23033 — ED50 / UTM zone 33N

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

Summary

EPSG:23033 (ED50 / UTM zone 33N) is a projected coordinate reference system on the European Datum 1950 datum using the Transverse Mercator method, with coordinates in metres. Area of use: Europe - between 12°E and 18°E onshore and offshore - Denmark (including Bornholm); Italy including San Marino and Vatican City State; Malta; Norway including Svalbard.

Type: projected
Datum: European Datum 1950
Units: metre
Axes: E, N
Central meridian: 15°

Definition

EPSG:23033 as published in the EPSG Dataset (PROJ 9.5.1).
Property	Value
EPSG code	EPSG:23033
Name	ED50 / UTM zone 33N
Type	Projected CRS
Datum	European Datum 1950
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	12° to 18.01° longitude, 34.49° to 84.42° latitude

Area of use

Europe - between 12°E and 18°E onshore and offshore - Denmark (including Bornholm); Italy including San Marino and Vatican City State; Malta; Norway including Svalbard.

Projection parameters

Transverse Mercator parameters.
Parameter	Value	Unit
Latitude of natural origin	0	degree
Longitude of natural origin	15	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 16.5°, latitude 50.0° (inside the area of use) has these coordinates in EPSG:23033:

Computed with PROJ using the EPSG default operation: unavailable until proj_trans is called.
Axis	Value	Unit
E	607,569.275	m
N	5,539,904.127	m

At this point the projection scale factor is 0.99974193 and the grid convergence is +1.149176°.

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) + ED50 to WGS 84 (1) + axis order change (2D)	10 m	Austria; Belgium; Denmark; Finland; Faroe islands; France; Germany (west); Gibraltar; Greece; Italy; Luxembourg; Netherlands; Norway; Portugal; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland.
axis order change (2D) + ED50 to WGS 84 (23) + axis order change (2D)	1 m	Norway - offshore north of 62°N. Also Svalbard - onshore and offshore.
axis order change (2D) + ED50 to WGS 84 (18) + axis order change (2D)	1 m	Denmark - offshore North Sea; Ireland - offshore; Netherlands - offshore; United Kingdom - UKCS offshore.
axis order change (2D) + ED50 to WGS 84 (2) + axis order change (2D)	6 m	Austria; Denmark; France; Germany (west); Netherlands; Switzerland.
axis order change (2D) + ED50 to ETRS89 (1) + ETRS89 to WGS 84 (1) + axis order change (2D)	2 m	Norway - offshore north of 65°N. Also Svalbard.
axis order change (2D) + ED50 to WGS 84 (7) + axis order change (2D)	7 m	Finland and Norway - onshore.
axis order change (2D) + ED50 to WGS 84 (17) + axis order change (2D)	2 m	France - onshore and offshore, mainland and Corsica (France métropolitaine including Corsica).
axis order change (2D) + ED50 to WGS 84 (3) + axis order change (2D)	999 m	Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Syria - 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.

Grid-based operations not bundled with standard PROJ installs: ED50 to WGS 84 (41).

Definitions and downloads

PROJ string

+proj=utm +zone=33 +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=33 +ellps=intl +units=m +towgs84=-87,-98,-121 +no_defs

Datum shift from ED50 to WGS 84 (1) (EPSG accuracy 10 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["ED50 / UTM zone 33N", BASEGEOGCRS["ED50", DATUM["European Datum 1950", ELLIPSOID["International 1924",6378388,297, LENGTHUNIT["metre",1]]], PRIMEM["Greenwich",0, ANGLEUNIT["degree",0.0174532925199433]], ID["EPSG",4230]], CONVERSION["UTM zone 33N", METHOD["Transverse Mercator", ID["EPSG",9807]], PARAMETER["Latitude of natural origin",0, ANGLEUNIT["degree",0.0174532925199433], ID["EPSG",8801]], PARAMETER["Longitude of natural origin",15, 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["Europe - between 12°E and 18°E onshore and offshore - Denmark (including Bornholm); Italy including San Marino and Vatican City State; Malta; Norway including Svalbard."], BBOX[34.49,12,84.42,18.01]], ID["EPSG",23033]]

Downloads

23033.prj — ESRI WKT for shapefiles
23033.wkt — OGC WKT2:2019

FAQ

What is EPSG:23033?

Where can EPSG:23033 be used?

Its area of use is: Europe - between 12°E and 18°E onshore and offshore - Denmark (including Bornholm); Italy including San Marino and Vatican City State; Malta; Norway including Svalbard.

Is EPSG:23033 in metres or degrees?

EPSG:23033 is projected, so coordinates are easting and northing in metres, not degrees.

How do I convert EPSG:23033 to latitude and longitude?

Transform from EPSG:23033 to EPSG:4326 (WGS 84). In GeoCAD Bridge open the coordinate converter with EPSG:23033 preselected, enter easting and northing, and choose WGS 84 as the target.

What is the central meridian of EPSG:23033?

15° (UTM zone 33), with a scale factor of 0.9996, false easting 500 000 m and false northing 0 m.

How accurate is the transformation from EPSG:23033 to WGS 84?

The most accurate EPSG transformation listed here is “axis order change (2D) + ED50 to WGS 84 (23) + axis order change (2D)”, with a stated accuracy of 1 m for Norway - offshore north of 62°N. Also Svalbard - onshore and offshore.. Always check the area of use before applying it.

Coordinate systems

Articles

Tools

References

IOGP. EPSG Geodetic Parameter Dataset, epsg.org/crs_23033.
PROJ 9.5.1 / pyproj 3.7.2, used to compute every value on this page.

Cite this page

GeoCAD Bridge. “EPSG:23033 — ED50 / UTM zone 33N.” GeoCAD Bridge EPSG Library, updated 2026-10-05. https://www.geocadbridge.com/epsg/23033/