Mile (unit)

Physical unit
Unit name mile (also English mile, country mile)
Unit symbol ${\ displaystyle \ mathrm {mile}}$, ${\ displaystyle \ mathrm {mi}}$
Physical quantity (s) length
Formula symbol ${\ displaystyle l}$
dimension ${\ displaystyle {\ mathsf {L}}}$
system Anglo-American system of measurement
In SI units ${\ displaystyle \ mathrm {1 \, mile = 1 \, 609 {,} 344 \; m}}$
Named after Latin milia passuum '1000 double steps' , a Roman mile

The mile (German [English] mile , English formerly also called statute mile ) is a unit of length in the United Kingdom and the USA . It is exactly 1,609.344  meters .

Today's definition

1 mile = 1,609.344 m (since July 1, 1959)

1 mile = 1,760  yards = 5,280  feet = 63,360  inches

Old definitions

1 mile = 8  furlong = 320  poles = 5,280  feet

Until the standardization of the Anglo-American system of measurement, the mile was defined differently by 3 mm in the Commonwealth of Nations (English mile, or statute mile) and the United States. Both definitions were based on a British statute of 1593, which defines the mile as 5280  feet : “ A mile shall contain eight furlongs, every furlong forty poles, and every pole shall contain sixteen feet and an half. “This is why the mile defined in this way was often referred to as the statute mile .

Because the definitions of the foot differed slightly (by 600 nm) (one British foot was equal to 0.999998 US feet), the miles were also slightly different in length.

Since the standardization, the mile has been defined internationally at 1,609.344 meters. The definition formerly used in the USA is only used for land surveys in the USA and is referred to as the survey mile . It corresponds to 1,609.347 meters.