Geographical mile: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 08:28, 4 September 2005
The geographical mile is a unit of length determined by 1 minute of arc along the Earth's equator, approximately equal to 1855 metres (6087.15 international feet).
The unit is not used much; it is closely related to the nautical mile, which was originally determined as 1 minute of arc along a great circle of the Earth and is nowadays defined to be exactly 1852 metres.
The Danish and German geographical mile (mil and Meile) is 4 minutes of arc, and was defined as approximately 7421.5 metres by the astronomer Ole Rømer of Denmark. In Norway and Sweden, this 4 minute geographical mile was mainly used at sea (sjømil), up to the beginning of the 20th century.
See also
- Medieval weights and measures for details of the geographical league of France
- conversion of units
- mile for the various other miles in use