ELECTRIC COMPASS

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric compass whose shape can be miniaturized and which can accurately measure the direction of a line of magnetic force due to earth magnetism. SOLUTION: This compass is provided with a first magnetic impedance effect element 2 (abbreviated as an MI element in the following) detecting the component in the X axis direction of a line of magnetic force due to external magnetic field, a second MI element 3 detecting the component in the Y axis direction of the line of the magnetic force due to the external magnetic field, windings 5, 6 for applying bias magnetization to the first and the second MI elements. The first and the second MI elements are so arranged in the same plane 4 that current paths of the respective applied AC currents perpendicularly intersect with each other. In the first and the second MI elements 2, 3, the main component is Fe, and Fe group metal glass alloy wherein temperature gap ΔTx of supercooling liquid which is shown by a formula δTx=Tx-Tg (where Tx is crystallization starting temperature, and Tg shows glass transition temperature) is at least 20K is used.