北 and 南: a location to the north and southward travel
Read a forest north of a lake and an instruction to walk south, distinguishing regional extent from the direction checked on a map and the direction traveled.
North as a location reference
北, read きた, means north. 湖の北に森があります。 places a forest north of the lake. It does not locate the forest inside the lake.
敷地の北側に門があります。 says that a gate is on the north side of the grounds. 北側 identifies a side without specifying the gate’s size or the number of gates.
Travel toward the south
南, read みなみ, means south. ここから南へ歩いてください。 asks someone to walk south from here. ここから identifies the starting reference.
南に向かって窓が開いています。 describes a window opening toward the south. This differs from a person traveling to a place in the south.
Regional extent and checking a map
県の北部 and 県の南部 mean the northern and southern parts of a prefecture. 北部 is read ほくぶ and 南部 なんぶ; their readings do not simply preserve standalone きた and みなみ.
地図の北を確認してから南へ進みます。 says that someone will check north on the map before proceeding south. The direction checked first differs from the direction of travel.
Which way does the person travel in 地図の北を確認してから南へ進みます。?
Show the answer and why
South. North is the direction checked on the map, while 南へ marks the direction of travel.