/norske-mal

Norwegian Units: mil to km, mål to m2, pund to kg

Convert typical Norwegian units: mil (10 km), mål/dekar (1000 m²) and pund (500 g) to metric units, both ways.

Mil and kilometres

Mål, dekar and square metres

Pund and kilos

How it works

In Norway (and Sweden), "mil" means 10 kilometres, not the English mile of about 1.6 km. So "5 mil" is 50 km. For land area, Norwegians use mål, which is the same as dekar (daa) and equals 1000 m². Ten mål make one hectare (ha).

About this tool

The Norwegian units converter turns traditional Norwegian units into modern SI units in three panels: mil to kilometres (1 Norwegian mil = 10 km, so much longer than an English mile), mål/dekar to square metres (1 mål = 1 dekar = 1,000 m², and 10 dekar = 1 hectare), and pund to kilograms (1 old Norwegian pund = 0.5 kg = 500 grams). Useful for maps, property, old recipes and historical documents where these units still appear.

How to use it

  1. Select the right panel: length (mil ↔ km), area (mål ↔ m²) or weight (pund ↔ kg).
  2. Type a number in one box; the other updates live.
  3. Click the arrow between fields to swap direction if needed.
  4. Copy the value with Ctrl+C to paste elsewhere.

Examples

Hike length in mil
Input2.5 mil on a marked trail in Nordmarka.
Output2.5 mil = 25 km. Pack a lunch and allow 5-6 hours at a moderate pace.
Norwegian and Swedish "mil" is always 10 km. Not to be confused with English "mile" (1.609 km) or nautical mile (1.852 km). Trail signs and outdoor guides consistently use the Scandinavian mil.
Property in dekar
InputA cabin plot of 2.5 mål.
Output2.5 mål = 2 500 m² = 0.25 hectares.
In Norwegian real estate and agriculture, "mål" and "dekar" are used interchangeably; they’re the same unit. Kartverket’s land register always states area in m². 10 dekar = 1 hectare is a useful rule of thumb.

Common use cases

  • Reading map annotations and hiking guides using mil.
  • Real estate, land purchase and agricultural contracts in mål/dekar.
  • Converting old recipes where flour and sugar are given in pund.
  • Genealogy and local history where old documents use traditional units.
  • Teaching about SI units and historical measurement in Norway.

Frequently asked questions

Is Norwegian mil the same as English mile?
No. Norwegian mil is 10 km; English mile is about 1.609 km; and international nautical mile is 1.852 km. Norwegian mil is thus 6.2 times longer than English mile. The Norwegian and Swedish mil was standardised to 10 km when the metric system was introduced in the 1800s; previously it varied 11-11.3 km.
What’s the difference between mål and dekar?
None. "Mål" and "dekar" are two names for the same 1,000 m² unit. In everyday speech "mål" is used everywhere, while "dekar" is the official term in farming and on maps. Earlier there were local mål (Bergensmål, Trondhjemsmål) with slightly different sizes, but this was standardised in the late 1800s.
Does anyone still use pund as weight in Norway?
Rarely in everyday speech. The unit was phased out with metrication in 1875 and replaced by the kilogram. But it still turns up in old cookbooks (especially preserves, syrups and baking); "old Norwegian pund" = 0.5 kg = 500 g. Not to be confused with English pound (0.4536 kg) seen in online shops and American recipes.
Why are Norwegian and Danish mål different?
Norwegian mål (= dekar) is 1,000 m². Danish "tønde land" is 5,516 m², much larger, while Swedish "tunnland" is 4,936 m². All these are historic "barrel-loads of land" based on how much one could sow with a barrel of grain. Norway defined its "mål" purely metrically as 1,000 m² to align with SI, while Denmark and Sweden kept historic sizes. Always check which country a document refers to.

Technical background

Conversion factors: 1 mil = 10 km exactly. 1 mål = 1 dekar = 1,000 m² exactly. 1 old Norwegian pund = 0.49811 kg (rounded practically to 0.5 kg = 500 g). The calculator uses exact factors and runs in JavaScript, no server calls, no data transfer. All Norwegian units were metricated 1 January 1876 by King Oscar’s law of 22 May 1875. Some traditional units (fot, tomme, alen, favn) aren’t included here; see the length and area converter tools for general conversion.