A Kilometer Is Equal To

Unit of length equal to 1,000 metres

kilometre
Unit of measurement system	SI
Unit of	length
Symbol	km
Conversions
1 km in ...	... is equal to ...

SI base of operations units	chiliad m
imperial/Us units	0.62137 mi i093.6 yd three280.8 ft
nautical units	0.53996 nmi

The kilometre (SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for 1000). It is now the measurement unit used for expressing distances between geographical places on country in most of the globe; notable exceptions are the United States and the United kingdom where the statute mile is the unit used.

The abbreviations k or K (pronounced ) are ordinarily used to correspond kilometre, but are not recommended by the BIPM.^[1] ^[2] A slang term for the kilometre in the The states, UK, and Canadian militaries is klick.^[3] ^[4]

Pronunciation [edit]

There are two mutual pronunciations for the discussion.^[five]

The beginning pronunciation follows a pattern in English language whereby metric units are pronounced with the stress on the first syllable (as in kilogram, kilojoule and kilohertz) and the pronunciation of the actual base unit does not change irrespective of the prefix (as in centimetre, millimetre, nanometre and so on). It is by and large preferred by the British Dissemination Corporation (BBC), the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).^{[ citation needed ]}

Many other users, especially in countries where the metric system is not widely used, apply the second pronunciation with stress on the second syllable.^[6] ^[7] The second pronunciation follows the stress design used for the names of measuring instruments (such as micrometer, barometer, thermometer, tachometer and speedometer). The dissimilarity is fifty-fifty more obvious in countries which apply the Commonwealth spelling rather than American spelling of the give-and-take metre. This pronunciation is irregular because this makes the kilometre the only SI unit in which the stress is on the second syllable.

When Australia introduced the metric system in 1975, the first pronunciation was declared official by the government'south Metric Conversion Board. Nonetheless, the Australian prime number minister at the time, Gough Whitlam, insisted that the second pronunciation was the correct one because of the Greek origins of the ii parts of the word.^[8]

Equivalence to other units of length [edit]

one kilometre	≡	one thousand	metres
	≈	3281	anxiety
	≈	1094	yards
	≈	0.621	miles
	≈	0.540	nautical miles
	≈	half-dozen.68×x⁻⁹	astronomical units^[nine]
	≈	1.06×x⁻¹³	low-cal-years^[x]
	≈	3.24×10^−xiv	parsecs

History [edit]

Historical divisions of the peak in France

By a decree of viii May 1790, the French National Elective Assembly ordered the French Academy of Sciences to develop a new measurement system. In Baronial 1793, the French National Convention decreed the metre as the sole length measurement system in the French republic and it was based on 1 / ten millionth of the distance from the orbital poles (either North or Southward) to the Equator, this being a truly internationally based unit. The first name of the kilometre was "Millaire". Although the metre was formally divers in 1799, the myriametre ( 10000 metres) was preferred to the "kilometre" for everyday use. The term "myriamètre" appeared a number of times in the text of Develey'due south book Physique d'Emile: ou, Principes de la science de la nature,^[11] (published in 1802), while the term kilometre only appeared in an appendix. French maps published in 1835 had scales showing myriametres and "lieues de Poste " (Postal leagues of virtually 4288 metres).^[12]

The Dutch, on the other hand, adopted the kilometre in 1817 but gave it the local proper noun of the mijl.^[thirteen] It was just in 1867 that the term "kilometer " became the only official unit of mensurate in the Netherlands to correspond k metres.^[14]

Two German textbooks dated 1842^[15] ^[16] and 1848^[17] respectively give a snapshot of the use of the kilometre across Europe: the kilometre was in use in the Netherlands and in Italy, and the myriametre was in use in France.

In 1935, the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) officially abolished the prefix "myria-" and with it the "myriametre", leaving the kilometre equally the recognised unit of measurement of length for measurements of that magnitude.^[18]

Kilometre records [edit]

Some sporting disciplines feature 1000 m (one-kilometre) races in major events (such as the Olympic Games). In some disciplines—although world records are catalogued—one-kilometre events remain a minority.

1 km world records for various sporting disciplines
Subject field	Name	Time (min:sec)	Location	Appointment	Comments
Running (M)	Noah Ngeny	ii:11.96^[19]	Rieti, Italia	5 Sep 1999	Non an Olympic event
Running (F)	Svetlana Masterkova	2:28.98^[20]	Brussels	23 Aug 1996	Not an Olympic event
Speed skating (M)	Pavel Kulizhnikov	1:05.69	Salt Lake City	15 Feb 2020
Speed skating (F)	Cindy Klassen	1:13.11^[21]	Calgary	25 Mar 2006
Track cycling (M)	François Pervis	56.303^[22]	Aguascalientes, United mexican states	seven Dec 2013	No official chiliad grand women's record

Run across also [edit]

Conversion of units, for comparison with other units of length
Cubic metre
Metric prefix
Mileage
Odometer
Orders of magnitude (length)
Square kilometre

References [edit]

^ "Kilometre". Oxford Learner'due south Dictionaries . Retrieved i Nov 2019.
^ "The International Arrangement of Units (SI)" (PDF). International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM). 2019. pp. 147–149. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
^ "MARINE CORPS JARGON" (PDF). hqmc.marines.mil. Retrieved three March 2017.
^ Rod Powers. "How Far is a 'Klick' in the Military?". Near.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2006. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
^ Jones, Daniel (2003) [1917], Peter Roach; James Hartmann; Jane Setter (eds.), English language Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge Academy Press, ISBN3-12-539683-2
^ White, Roland (23 March 2008). "Right pronunciation on the radio". The Times. London. Retrieved seven May 2010.
^ "Kilometer - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Lexicon". Merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
^ "damage lessons". Cimms.ou.edu. Retrieved v Baronial 2014.
^ One astronomical unit is currently accepted to be equal to 149597 870 691 ±thirty m.
^ A light-year is equal to 9.460730 472 5808 ×x¹² km the altitude light travels through vacuum in one year (365.25 days).
^ Develey, Emmanuel (1802). Physique d'Emile: ou, Principes de la scientific discipline de la nature. Vol. 1. Paris.
^ Map of the department of Hautes Pyrénées (Map). France Pittoresque (in French). Laguillermie et Rambos. 1835. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
^ Jacob de Gelder (1824). Allereerste Gronden der Cijferkunst [Introduction to Numeracy] (in Dutch). 'south-Gravenhage and Amsterdam: de Gebroeders van Cleef. pp. 155–156. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
^ "[News from] Nederland" (PDF). De Locomotief. Nieuws, handels en Advertentie-blad. 12 August 1869. p. two. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2017.
^ "Amtliche Maßeinheiten in Europa 1842" [Official units of measure in Europe 1842] (in High german). Retrieved 26 March 2011Text version of Malaisé's book {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^ Ferdinand Malaisé (1842). Theoretisch-practischer Unterricht im Rechnen [Theoretical and applied instruction in arithmetic] (in German). München. pp. 307–322. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
^ Mozhnik, Franz (1848). Lehrbuch des gesammten Rechnens für die vierte Classe der Hauptschulen in den g.k. Staaten [Arithmetic textbook for the quaternary course in the [Austrian] Royal and [Hungarian] Majestic states] (in German). Vienna: Im Verlage der yard.k. Schulbücher Verschleiß-Administration. Das Wegmaß. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
^ McGreevy, Thomas (1997). Cunningham, Peter (ed.). The Basis of Measurement - Volume 2 - Metrication and Current Practice. Picton. ISBN0-948251-84-0.
^ "Men'south Globe Records". About.com: Rails and Field. Retrieved nine Nov 2011.
^ "Women's Earth Records". About.com: Rails and Field. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
^ "Speed Skating: Complete history list of Globe Records recognized by ISU" (PDF). International Skating Union. 7 March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
^ "Pervis sets new kilometre world tape in Mexico". Cycling News. Retrieved 17 October 2021.