Do you capitalize directions north, south, east west

Lesson: when to capitalize north, south, east, and west

We have to drive southwest to get to the zoo.
He’s going to the Southwest for a business meeting.

Why is the word southwest lowercased in the first sentence, but capitalized in the second sentence?

When using north, south, east, and/or west (and variations) lowercase them when referring to directions and capitalize them when referring to regions.

In the first sentence, southwest is a direction, so it remains lowercased.
In the second sentence, Southwest is a region, so it gets capitalized.

Here are two more examples:
We’re driving west to search for gold.
Pam wants to live in the Midwest and start a farm.

Again, west is a direction, so it remains lowercased; and, Midwest is a region, so it gets capitalized.

With names of nations
Unless the direction is part of the country’s actual name, it remains lowercased.

Examples: southern France, northern Canada. However, if, like Northern Ireland and North Korea, the direction is part of the proper name, it should be capi

do directions need to be capitalized

should directions be capitalised