How many miles are in 1 kilometer of a car? What is a nautical mile and what is a knot equal to?

It has been used in our country for quite a long time metric system. It is recognized internationally and is officially a way of expressing various units of length, masses, volume etc. Almost every unit has its own standard, stored in Paris Chamber of Weights and Measures. And, it seems, no questions should arise. But if you often have to meet with foreign sources of information, equipment and documentation (from Great Britain or USA), then you couldn’t help but notice that in these countries they still use such units of measurement as inches, feet, miles . We are interested in the last point. Miles often found on the speedometers of cars that came to us from abroad. They are also mentioned in books and reference books dedicated to navigation. At the same time, you may have heard that these are slightly different units of distance measurement. Are you completely confused? We will try to tell you how many kilometers are in a mile.

All roads lead to Rome

There is a land mile and there is a sea mile

mile is a unit of measurement of distance introduced in ancient Rome. Translated from Latin it means 1,000 steps. The military Romans, walking along the roads of the empire, measured distances in double steps. Initially, the Roman mile corresponded to 1,475 meters. This measure was used in many countries in ancient times. However, with the introduction of the metric system of measures, known as SI, its use declined significantly. One way or another, today in some countries this travel measure of length is still used. It should be noted that the size of a mile varies greatly in different parts of the world from 0.58 km to 11.3 km. Moreover, back in the 18th century in Europe there were about 46 units of measurement, which were called miles.

Today, there are several types of miles in use in different areas. Speaking about the most popular of them, we can name:

• Land miles
• Nautical miles

Let's look at each of them in more detail.

Nautical miles

A nautical mile is a unit of measurement of the distance between destinations traveled by a ship. This measure is widely used in shipping and also in aviation. Essentially this is the average arc length of one arc minute of the meridian. The use of this measure was proposed by Gerard Mercator, a Flemish cartographer and geographer. In Russia, the nautical mile has been used since the time of Peter the Great. And today, when seafarers are asked to switch to kilometers, they answer that they do not plan to do this. However, this is justified. After all, a nautical mile is, in fact, a path corresponding to the distance between two geographical coordinates of one minute of latitude.

How many kilometers are there in a mile? Here are the formulas for converting miles to kilometers and vice versa.

Formula for converting nautical miles to kilometers

1 nautical mile = 1,852 meters = 1,852 kilometers

Let's derive the formula for converting kilometers to nautical miles

1 nautical mile = 1.852 kilometers
1,000 nautical miles = 1,852 kilometers
1 kilometer = 1000/1852 miles (roughly equal to) 0.54 miles

Formula for converting kilometers to nautical miles

1 kilometer = 1000 / 1852 miles? 0.54 miles

Land miles

The land mile is used primarily in English-speaking countries, and corresponds to a value of 1,609 meters. The land mile is used in the United States, for this reason it is sometimes called the American mile. Accordingly, if you need to find out: how many kilometers are in an American mile or, what is the same, how many kilometers are in a US mile, then the above value should be used. This unit can also be found under the names British or statute mile.

Formula for converting land miles to kilometers

1 land mile = 1,609 meters = 1,609 kilometers

Formula for converting kilometers to land miles

1 km = 1000/1609 land mile = 0.6215 land mile

In addition to those described, there are also:

• geographical or German mile equal to 7,420 meters (7.42 km);
• Old Russian mile equal to 7,467.6 meters (7.4676 km).

1 mile is how many kilometers in Russia?

I would also like to note that in Russia this measure of length is not used, because there is nothing to measure in these units of measurement in the Russian Federation. Sailors have global nautical miles (see above).

Often there is a need, for example, when solving a problem to find out: how many miles are in a kilometer or vice versa? Here it is worth clarifying which mile (land or sea) needs to be converted. Or maybe the Old Russian mile or the German one? And depending on this, you can convert this value into the usual kilometers. Let's look at several problems of converting miles to kilometers and back. To be specific, let us clarify that to solve problems we will convert nautical miles to kilometers (1 nautical mile = 1.852 kilometers).

Convert miles to km

How many miles are in N kilometers?

Let's consider the inverse problems of finding the number of km in a mile? And we will convert kilometers into land miles (1 km = 0.6215 miles).

Convert miles to kilometers online

We suggest using our calculator to convert miles to kilometers online.

The British metric system causes a lot of inconvenience for those who are accustomed to simple and understandable kilograms, meters and liters. How the mile in km is determined and why the ancient measure turned out to be so tenacious is discussed in this article.

Historical measures

From the distant past, inches and miles, pounds and yards, bushels and pints came to us. All these units of measurement were directly related to man. Without a standard system of weights and measures at hand, people used what was nearby. What could be closer than your own hands and feet? This is how the first anthropometric measures related to the size of people’s body parts appeared. For example, an inch was the length of the phalanx of the index finger. A foot is the size of an adult man's foot, and so on. But what is 1 mile? How many kilometers is it?

What kind of miles are there?

This well-known measure of length came to us from ancient times. Due to its age, it has many interpretations. When answering the question “1 mile - how many kilometers?”, you should definitely clarify which unit of measurement the interlocutor has in mind. The Egyptian mile is 580 meters long, and the longest, the Norwegian mile, is almost 11 kilometers.

Until the mid-18th century, in Europe alone there were about 46 different miles, which measured completely different distances.

Why is that?

This discrepancy in interpretation of this standard measure of length is easily explained. The word "mile" has Latin roots. This standard measure of length was measured by one thousand steps of the ancient Roman legionnaires.

After the decline of the Roman Empire, a simple and convenient value began to be used throughout Europe. Yes, they just considered it differently. Many peoples agreed on the mile with their national measures of length. For example, the Russian mile was equal to seven versts, the French equated it to their Gallic leagues, and the British measured the mile in furlongs. The proud Scots also used this measure of length, but it varied significantly in its dimensions in different regions of the Highlands and was somewhat longer than the English one.

Link to geography

Later, with the advent of precise measuring instruments, they tried to standardize the wayward mile. Over the centuries, exploration of the surrounding world has given scientists accurate knowledge about the structure of our planet. It turned out to be very convenient to draw the surface of the Earth with parallels and meridians and tie existing units of length to geographical measurements. One of the first in this series was 1 mile. How many kilometers did it cover in geographical units? Everything depended on the name.

Such a different mile

Practical Germans were the first to fall in love with this conformity. From now on, the German mile (also known as the geographical mile) was equal to 1/15 of a degree of the equatorial parallel, which amounted to 7.420 km.

The French separated land and sea miles, but equated both values ​​to the share of the earth's meridian. One land league occupies the 25th part of one degree of the meridian. In the standard system of weights and measures, one French mile is 4.44 km. A nautical mile is slightly longer. The French equated it to 1/20 of a meridian degree. Accordingly, its length will be greater - a French nautical mile is 5.55 km.

The Swedes did it the easiest way. Before the spread of the metric system, they used their own mile, which was equal to 10.6 km. After the approval of the international SI system, the Swedes only slightly shortened their mile and recognized it as equal to 10.0 km.

British (American) mile

Of course, the most widely used is the British mile, often called the American mile. By default, international business documents assume the British 1 mile. How many kilometers of air routes are converted into miles for British and American passengers is known only to employees of international airlines.

After all, according to tradition, the duration of air flights and bonuses for passengers are calculated in American miles. One such unit of length is 1.609 km and is a multiple of eight furlongs, 1760 yards and 5280 feet.

Despite the universal desire of countries around the world for standardization, duplicate measurement systems still exist today. For example, in a number of countries miles and feet are used to measure distances. We are so accustomed to the metric system that distances indicated in miles sometimes confuse the average person. This article is intended to help anyone who is experiencing problems with the imperial system. So, how many kilometers are there in an American mile?

In order not to bore the reader with the history of the origin of this unit of measurement, it is enough to say that it originated in the Roman Empire. Used mainly in English-speaking countries and former British colonies. At one time, even the Russian Empire almost completely switched to a similar system.

The simple question “how many kilometers are in one mile” is quite difficult to answer. Why? Because the meaning will be different in some countries and regions. It is logical to assume that the reader is interested in the standard mile, but there are complications here too: there is both a land mile and a sea mile. It is not recommended to confuse them, because for every 10 “erroneous” miles you will get 2 kilometers of difference - an unacceptable error even for everyday calculations.

First of all, let's figure out how many kilometers there are in a nautical mile - exactly 1852 meters. It wasn't always like this. But we are only interested in the modern meaning. Oddly enough, they are also used in aviation. Such miles are designated “NM”, in contrast to land miles - “M”.

Now it remains to find out how many kilometers there are in one mile. As you noticed, the definition of “land” is missing, because if a definition is not mentioned, the default is to assume that the measurement is in standard British-American miles. Such a mile is equal to 1609 meters (with a small error).

When doing calculations offhand, you can simply multiply the number of miles by 1.5 - this is easier to calculate verbally, but the accuracy of such a calculation is extremely low. This will come in handy when you don’t have time to count or don’t have a calculator at hand. For example, when reading a book, when the actual length does not matter. However, for more serious calculations it is better to use exact values.

Moreover, the translation problem is not one-sided. You will be surprised, but while you ask “how many kilometers are in one mile,” people using the imperial system experience similar helplessness with meters. It all depends on what system a person is used to using. Fortunately, all complex instruments and documents contain two scales for the convenience of users from different countries. In other cases, you will have to rely only on your mathematical abilities and memory. After all, just knowing how many kilometers there are in one mile is not enough; you also need to remember the exact value when needed. Therefore, it won’t hurt to practice a little in transferring from one system to another.

For at least a week, make it a habit to convert all kilometers to miles wherever you see length mentioned. You will see, in a couple of days you will begin to carry out similar calculations without thinking.

Or adventures, in films about desperate sailors, in articles on geographical topics and in conversations between sailors, the term “nautical mile” often slips through. The time has come to figure out what length is equal to in shipping, and why sailors do not use the kilometers we are accustomed to.

What is 1 nautical mile?

Initially, this value corresponded to the length of 1/60 degree of the arc of a circle on the surface of the Earth with the center coinciding with the center of the planet. In other words, if we consider any meridian, then a nautical mile will be approximately equal to the length of one minute of latitude. Since it differs somewhat from the outline of an ideal sphere, the length of 1 minute of a degree of the meridian in question may differ slightly depending on latitude. This distance is greatest at the poles - 1861.6 m, and least at the equator - 1842.9 m. To avoid confusion, it was proposed to unify the length of the nautical mile. The length taken as a basis was 1 minute of degree at 45º latitude (1852.2 m). This definition led to the fact that the nautical mile became convenient for calculating navigation problems. For example, if you need to measure a distance of 20 miles on a map, then it will be enough to measure 20 arc minutes with a compass on any meridian marked on the map.

Beginning in 1954, the United States began using the international nautical mile (1852 m). In practice, it is often rounded to 1800 meters. An official designation for this unit was never adopted. Sometimes the abbreviation "nmi", "nm" or "NM" is used. By the way, “nm” is the generally accepted designation for nanometer. 1/10 international nautical mile = 1 cable = 185.2 meters. And 3 miles are equal to 1 nautical league. In the past, the UK often used its own nautical mile, equal to 1853.184 m. In 1929, an international conference was held in Monaco on various issues of hydrography, at which the length of the nautical mile was determined to be 1852.00 meters. Do not forget that a mile can be not only sea, but also land. In this case, its length is 1.151 times less than sea length.

What is the relationship between a nautical mile and a knot?

The nautical mile, or, as it is sometimes called, geographical or navigational, has become widespread in geography, aviation and navigation. Closely related to it is the concept of a sea knot, used in shipping as the basic unit of speed. One knot is equal to one mile traveled per hour of the ship's movement. The name “knot” is due to the fact that in the old days a log was used on ships to measure speed. It was a log or board in the shape of a triangle to which a load was tied. A line (rope) was attached to this, on which knots were tied at a certain distance. The log was thrown overboard, after which, over a selected period of time (from 15 seconds to 1 minute), the number of knots that went into the water was counted.

There are different versions regarding the distance between nodes. Some believe that it was 25 feet and if one knot left in 15 seconds, the result was one nautical mile (100 feet/min). According to the second version, the knots were tied in 47 feet and 3 inches (14.4018 m), and the countdown took 28 seconds. In this case, one knot showed a speed of 101.25 ft/min.

We hope that now you will not have difficulty understanding maritime terminology, and miles with knots will become as understandable as regular kilometers.