Convert length units: meters, inches, miles, and astronomical distances
The length converter accurately converts values between the metric system (meter, kilometer, decimeter, centimeter, millimeter, micrometer, nanometer, ångström) and the imperial/US system (inch, foot, yard, mile, nautical mile). For astronomical distances, light-year, parsec, and the astronomical unit (AU) are also available.
Key conversion factors:
- 1 kilometer (km) = 1,000 meters (m) – base unit of the metric system
- 1 mile (mi) = 1.609 kilometers – used for distances in the US and UK
- 1 foot (ft) = 30.48 centimeters – standard measurement in aviation and construction
- 1 inch (in) = 2.54 centimeters – common for screen diagonals, thread sizes, and pipe diameters
- 1 nautical mile (nmi) = 1.852 kilometers – reference unit in shipping and aviation
- 1 astronomical unit (AU) ≈ 149.6 million kilometers – average Earth–Sun distance
- 1 parsec (pc) ≈ 30.86 trillion kilometers ≈ 3.26 light-years – common in professional astronomy
- 1 light-year (ly) ≈ 9.461 trillion kilometers – popular astronomy distance measure
Applications:
- Travel & navigation: converting map scales and GPS distances between kilometers and miles
- Trades & construction: converting inch-based nominal sizes (tools, threads, pipes) to metric values
- Natural sciences: wavelengths in nanometers and ångström, cosmic distances in light-years and parsecs
- Display technology: converting screen diagonals from inches to centimeters
The length converter delivers exact results for trip planning, technical drawings, and scientific calculations alike. For physical quantities built on length – such as speed or acceleration – see the speed converter and acceleration converter.