Length & Distance Converter - Meters, Miles, Feet, Inches
Convert lengths and distances between meters, kilometers, miles, feet, and inches instantly and locally.
Length / Distance Reference Table
| Unit | Meter (m) | Miles (mi) | Yards (yd) | Fot (ft) | Tommer (in) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 m | 1 | 0.00062 | 1.09361 | 3.28084 | 39.37008 |
| 1 km | 1000 | 0.62137 | 1093.613 | 3280.84 | 39370.08 |
| 1 mi (mile) | 1609.344 | 1 | 1760 | 5280 | 63360 |
| 1 yd (yard) | 0.9144 | 0.00057 | 1 | 3 | 36 |
| 1 ft (fot) | 0.3048 | 0.00019 | 0.33333 | 1 | 12 |
| 1 in (tomme) | 0.0254 | 0.00001 | 0.02778 | 0.08333 | 1 |
Understanding length and distance
The metric system uses meters, kilometers, centimeters, and millimeters as standard. The imperial system uses miles, yards, feet, and inches.
- 1 International Inch (in) = exactly 2.54 cm = 0.0254 m
- 1 Foot (ft) = 12 inches (in) = 0.3048 m
- 1 Yard (yd) = 3 feet (ft) = 0.9144 m
- 1 Mile (mi) = 1760 yards = 5280 feet ≈ 1609.344 m
About this tool
The length converter maps between metric units (mm, cm, dm, m, km), imperial (inch, foot, yard, mile, nautical mile), and specialised units like light-year, parsec, astronomical unit, ångström, pica and point. Useful for travel, DIY projects that come with US measurements, blueprints, typography (pica/point) and astronomy. All computations use high-precision floating point and update in real time.
How to use it
- Type a value in any field.
- See every other unit update instantly.
- Switch to the astronomy tab for light-years, parsecs and AU.
- Copy the result with one click.
Examples
6 feet1.8288 m (182.88 cm)42.195 km26.219 miles4.246 light years4.014 · 10¹³ km (Proxima Centauri)Common use cases
- Convert height (cm ↔ ft/in) for CVs, applications and passports.
- Compute race distances between km and miles.
- Read US building instructions (inches, feet, yards).
- Typography: convert between mm, point and pica for print.
- Astronomy: understand distances in light-years, AU and parsec.
Frequently asked questions
- What is one inch precisely?
- One international inch is exactly 25.4 mm since 1959, when US and UK standards were harmonised. Earlier versions existed (the US Survey inch was slightly longer), still used in some mapping systems.
- Nautical mile vs regular mile?
- One nautical mile = 1852 m, defined as one arc-minute along Earth’s meridian, used in navigation and aviation. One statute mile = 1609.344 m, used on land. Fun fact: the Scandinavian "mil" in everyday speech is 10 km, different from both.
- What is a parsec?
- One parsec (pc) = 3.2616 light-years ≈ 3.0857 · 10¹³ km. Defined as the distance at which one astronomical unit (Earth–Sun distance) subtends a parallax angle of one arc-second. Used in astronomy where light-years are often "too small": the nearest galaxy (Andromeda) is 780 kpc away, the Milky Way is ≈30 kpc across.
- What are pica and point?
- Typographic units from book publishing. One point (pt) = 1/72 inch = 0.3528 mm in the modern PostScript standard. One pica = 12 points = 1/6 inch = 4.2333 mm. Used in CSS (font-size: 12pt), Adobe products, and typography. Historical variants differ: the old Didot point (European) is 0.3759 mm.
Technical background
All conversions use the metre as SI base. The tool’s constants: 1 inch = 0.0254 m (exact), 1 foot = 0.3048 m, 1 yard = 0.9144 m, 1 mile = 1609.344 m, 1 nautical mile = 1852 m (exact), 1 Scandinavian mil = 10,000 m, 1 light-year = 9,460,730,472,580,800 m (exact, IAU 2012), 1 astronomical unit = 149,597,870,700 m (exact, IAU 2012), 1 parsec = 30,856,775,814,913,673 m ≈ 648,000/π AU, 1 ångström = 10⁻¹⁰ m, 1 point (PS) = 0.352777... mm = 25.4/72 mm, 1 pica = 12 points. Computations use JavaScript double-precision (IEEE 754), providing 15–17 significant decimal digits. For extreme values (parsec, ångström), relative error stays below 10⁻¹⁵, well beneath any practical relevance.