Unit of distance used in air and sea navigation, equal to exactly 1,852 metres and corresponding approximately to one minute of arc of latitude.
What it is
The nautical mile comes from geography: one minute of arc measured along a meridian is roughly 1,852 metres. That means the latitude scale on a navigation chart doubles as a ruler for measuring distance. The exact value of 1,852 metres was fixed by international agreement in the twentieth century.
It should not be confused with the statute mile of about 1,609 metres. In aviation it is used for route distances, aircraft range and the separation between aircraft, and it pairs with the knot, which is one nautical mile per hour.
For example, Madrid and New York are about 3,100 nautical miles apart along the great circle, the shortest route over the Earth's surface, or roughly 5,760 kilometres.
Related terms
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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Nautical mile. Retrieved October 19, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/nautical-mile
MLA
“Nautical mile.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/nautical-mile. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Nautical mile.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/nautical-mile.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Nautical mile. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/nautical-mile (Accessed: 19 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_nautical_mile,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Nautical mile}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-09},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/nautical-mile},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/nautical-mile}},
urldate = {2026-10-19},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-19}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/nautical-mile |title=Nautical mile |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-19 |language=en}}