mile

The mile is a unit of length outside of the International System of Units .
The most common units today are the nautical mile (1852.0 meters) and the English statute mile (1609.344 meters). In Germany, the German mile or land mile (7532.5 meters) and the geographic mile (7420.44 meters, defined as the fifteenth part of an equatorial degree) were valid until the late 19th century . In the pre-metric-metric transition period, a German mile of 7,500.0 meters was also calculated.
Before the conversion to the metric system (in most countries around 1840–1870) there were around 60 definitions in Europe alone with lengths between 1.5 and 11 kilometers.
history
In the Roman Empire , five foot lengths (Latin pes ) corresponded to the length of a double step (Latin passus ), i.e. a full cycle of steps consisting of two successive steps. A thousand double steps were referred to as the mille passus “a thousand steps” (singular, one mile) or milia passuum “thousands of steps” (plural, several miles); the Roman mile was therefore around 1.5 km. From the abbreviated form milia , the word “die Meile” originated in German (from neuter plural became feminine singular), in other languages mil, miil, mijl, mila, milja or mile. The milestone (lat. Lapis milliarium or miliarium for short ) indicated distances from now on.
The most common old English mile was called the London mile, the new British mile or statute mile. It was the basis of horse racing , and it was at this distance that the Epsom Derby was held in 1780. Around 1784 the distance was increased one and a half times, and it is still run today.
In the German-speaking area, the country mile and the geographic mile were common. Unlike the English mile, which with its 1.6 km is roughly the same as the Roman mile, the German country mile and the geographic mile corresponded to around 7.5 km.
The unit of length leuge , formerly used in Europe and Latin America , is occasionally translated as “mile”, for example in the title of Jules Verne's novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea .
Many miles and related units (leuge, league, legua) were specified as simple multiples of an arc minute of the equator or a meridian . The historically diverse nautical miles are all in the range of a minute of arc. The German geographic mile was also defined as the fifteenth part of an equatorial degree.
1929 was agreed internationally to the now commonly used in shipping and aviation for distances mile , English nautical mile, NM abbreviated.
In 1959 the length differences existing in the English-speaking countries were abolished by international agreement, since then the English mile , country mile or statute mile has been used in Anglo-American countries , for example in the unit miles per hour (mph = miles per hour ).
comparison
Length (m) | designation | place | from | to | definition | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
500 | Li , Chinese mile | China | −2100 | today | 1500 Chi (Chinese feet) | Before 1984 between 323 m and 645 m depending on the ruler |
1000 | (for comparison) | international | since the end of the 18th century | today | 1 kilometer | ≈ 1/10000 of the earth's meridian quadrant |
1482 | mille passus , miliarium | Roman Empire | Old weights and measures (Roman antiquity) | |||
1486.6 | Miglio | Sicily | ||||
1500 | persian mile | Persia | Old weights and measures (Persia) | |||
1524 | London Mile | England | Old weights and measures (England) | |||
1609.3426 | (statute) mile | Great Britain | 1592 | 1959 | 1760 yards | In the course of time, the length of a yard changed several times and thus also the mile built on it, initially English and finally from 1824 imperial mile. The "Statute Mile" was introduced in 1592 during the reign of Elisabeth I. |
1609,344 | mile | international | 1959 | today | 1760 yards | On July 1, 1959, the Anglo-American units of length , which differ worldwide, were standardized. The length in meters is exact. |
1609,3472 | (survey) mile | United States | 1893 | today | 1760 (survey) yards | Since it was unified in 1959, it has been referred to as the "US Survey Mile" , since then its only use has been land surveying, previously this was the regular mile and was also known as the "statute mile". From 1893 the exact length in meters is: 1760 3600/3937. |
1653.6 | Miglio toscano | Tuscany | 1782 | 1861 | 2833⅓ Braccio da Panno | Traditionally 3000 Braccio da Terra ; see old dimensions and weights (Tuscany) |
1807 | Scots mile | Scotland | 1824 | (320 if ) | Old weights and measures (Scotland) | |
1820 | Italy | |||||
1852 | Mile , nautical mile | international | today | 1852 meters | The unit of length commonly used in shipping , aviation and meteorology ( wind speed ) was measured on the great circle of 40,000 km and corresponded to 1 arc minute there. Derived directly from the meter since 1992. Abbreviation: NM, nm (also sm in German). | |
1852.3 | (for comparison) | 1 meridian minute | ||||
1853,181 | nautical mile | Turkey | ||||
1855.4 | (for comparison) | 1 equatorial minute | Although the NM was defined on the basis of the minute, there is a deviation from the equatorial minute, since at that time the equatorial circumference could only be determined approximately at 40,000 km. | |||
2065 | Portugal | |||||
2220 | Gallo-Roman Leuge | Gallo-Roman culture | 1.5 miles | Under the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus , from which it replaced the Roman mile as the official measure of length in the Gallic and Germanic provinces , sometimes differing in time and region. | ||
2470 | Sardinia, Piedmont | |||||
2880 | Ireland | |||||
3780 | Flanders | |||||
3898 | French Lieue (Postleuge) | France | 2000 body lengths | |||
4000 | general or metric lie | |||||
4000 | Legua | Guatemala | ||||
4190 | Legua | Mexico | = 2500 Tresas = 5000 Varas | |||
4444.8 | Landleuge | 1/25 ° of a longitude | ||||
4452.2 | lieue commune | France | Old Weights and Measures (France) This measure refers to 20,000 miles under the sea . | |||
4513 | Legua | Paraguay | ||||
4513 | Legua | Chile, (Guatemala, Haiti) | = 36 Cuadros = 5400 Varas | |||
4808 | Switzerland | Old weights and measures (Switzerland) | ||||
4828 | english land league (Landleuge) | England | 3 miles | |||
4900 |
4800 Germanic Rasta, also "double eye" | |||||
5000 | légua nova | Portugal | ||||
5196 | Legua | Bolivia | = 40 Ladres | |||
5152 | Legua Argentina | Argentina, Buenos Aires | = 6000 varas | |||
5154 | Legua | Uruguay | ||||
5200 | Bolivian Legua | Bolivia | ||||
5370 | Legua | Venezuela | ||||
5500 | Portuguese Legua | Portugal | ||||
5510 | Legua | Ecuador | ||||
5510 | Ecuadorian Legua | Ecuador | ||||
5532.5 | Landleuge | Prussia | Old weights and measures (Prussia) | |||
5540 | Legua | Honduras | ||||
5556 | Soul eye | 1/20 ° of a longitude 3 nautical miles |
||||
5570 | Legua | Spain and Chile | Old weights and measures (Spain) | |||
5572 | Legua | Colombia | = 3 millas | |||
5572.7 | Legua | Peru | = 20,000 feet | |||
5572.7 | Legua antigua old Legua |
Spain | = 3 millas = 15,000 feet | |||
5590 | Légua | Brazil | = 5000 Varas = 2500 Bracas | |||
5600 | Brazilian Legua | Brazil | ||||
5840 | dutch mile | Holland | ||||
6197 | legua antiga | Portugal | = 3 Milhas = 24 Estadios | |||
6277 | Luxembourg | |||||
6280 | Belgium | |||||
6687.24 | Legua nueva new Legua, since 1766 |
Spain | = 8000 varas | |||
6797 | Surveyor's Mile | Saxony | ||||
7400 | Netherlands | Old weights and measures (Netherlands) | ||||
7409 | (for comparison) | 4 meridian minutes | ||||
7419.2 | Kingdom of Hanover | Old weights and measures (Hanover) | ||||
7419.4 | Duchy of Brunswick | |||||
7414.9 |
7420.4 Bavaria | Old weights and measures (Bavaria) | ||||
7420,439 | Geographic mile (corrected) German geographic mile |
Denmark , Hamburg , Prussia | 1/15 equatorial degree | |||
7421.6 | (for comparison) | 4 equatorial minutes | ||||
7448.7 | Württemberg | |||||
7450 | Hohenzollern | |||||
7467.6 | Russia | 7 Werst | Old weights and measures (Russia) | |||
7480 | Bohemia | |||||
7500 | small / new post mile | Saxony | 1840 | German Empire , North German Confederation , Grand Duchy of Hesse , Russia | ||
7532.5 | German land (es) meile, Prussian land mile |
Denmark , Hamburg , Prussia | = 2000 Prussian rods = 24000 Prussian feet (also Berlin feet or Danish feet) | For Denmark, defined by Ole Rømer , one German country mile corresponds to 10,000 paces. | ||
7534 | Míla á landi | Iceland | ||||
7585.9 | Post mile | Austria-Hungary | Old weights and measures (Austria) | |||
7850 | Romania | |||||
8800 | Schleswig-Holstein | |||||
8888.89 | to bathe | Old weights and measures (bathing) | ||||
9062 | middle post or police mile | Electorate of Saxony | 1722 | 1840 | ||
9206.3 | Electorate of Hesse | |||||
9261.4 | (for comparison) | 5 meridian minutes | ||||
9264.4 | Lippe country mile | Lip (country) | 1858 | |||
9277 | (for comparison) | 5 equatorial minutes | ||||
9323 | old country mile | Hanover | 1836 | |||
9347 | old country mile | Hanover | 1836 | |||
9869.6 | Oldenburg | |||||
10,000 | metric mile, Scandinavian mile | Sweden, Norway | Still very common today, e.g. B. for driving routes; corresponds to myriameter . | |||
10044 | big mile | Westphalia | ||||
10670 | Finland | Old weights and measures (Finland) | ||||
10688.54 | mil | Sweden | 1889 | Old weights and measures (Sweden) | ||
11113.7 | (for comparison) | 6 minutes of meridian | ||||
11132.4 | (for comparison) | 6 equatorial minutes | ||||
11299 | mil | Norway | Old weights and measures (Norway) , corresponded to 3000 " Rheinlaendischen Ruthen ". |
Similar units:
- 1066.8 m - werst , see also old dimensions and weights (Russia)
See also
- Highway mile
- Last mile
- Ban mile
- Miles right
- Weights and measures in the Bible
- Mile run
- Oldenburg Police Mile
Web links
- Lengths of numerous historically used miles around the world
- Mile. In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 1888 (Volume 11). P. 430 , accessed December 2, 2009 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Leopold Carl Bleibtreu: Handbook of coin, measure and weight, and the bill of exchange, government paper, banking and shares in European and non-European countries and cities. Published by J. Engelhorn, Stuttgart 1863, p. 332.
- ↑ Pre-metric units of length
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Helmut Kahnt: BI-Lexicon old measures, coins and weights . 1st edition. VEB Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1986, p. 380 .
- ↑ ICAR old map database of the Berlin State Library, map department.
- ↑ Jugoslavenski leksikografski zavod: Pomorska enciklopedija. Volume 3, Izdanje i naklada Leksikografskog zavoda FNRJ, Zagreb 1956, p. 469.