The maps above and below show the location of the different concepts of north poles. The so called geographic north pole, that is usually referred to as simply as the North Pole, is marked out be the rotation axis of the Earth. The pole is situated on the sport where this axis penetrates the Earth's surface. It's position can be considered as constant.
The Magnetic North Pole, however, wanders around in the polar area. This is the place on the Earth where the magnetic field of the planet points vertically downwards. The position of this point is continuously changing. The map above shows a couple of its positions in the first two decades of the current century.
The third kind of north pole that is shown on the map is the Geomagnetic North Pole. Theis geomagnetic pole can be described as the intersection point where the theoretical dipole of the Earth's magnetic field intersects the surface. This is different form the Magnetic North Pole and the Geographic North Pole as well. Like the Magnetic North Pole, it is in constant movement compared to the geographic reference system. The difference from the magnetic pole is due to the fact that the Earth's geomagnetic field has a much more complicated shape than a theoretical magnetic field generated by a theoretical bar magnet at the center of the Earth.
