--- title: "Length Converter — Metres, Feet, Miles, Kilometres, Inches & More" description: "Convert between all length units: mm, cm, m, km, inches, feet, yards, miles, nautical miles, furlongs, fathoms, light-years. Explains which countries use each unit." url: "https://worldcalculators.org/calculators/length-converter/" canonical: "https://worldcalculators.org/calculators/length-converter/" --- # Length Converter Convert between all length units: mm, cm, m, km, inches, feet, yards, miles, nautical miles, furlongs, fathoms, light-years. Explains which countries use each unit. ## Quick answer The UK officially metricated in 1965 (science) and 1985 (general commerce), but retained miles on road signs because changing them all was estimated to cost over £1 billion. Under the Motor Car Act 1903, UK roads must display distances in miles, so the UK is simultaneously metric and imperial depending on context. Canadians similarly use metric officially but many still informally use feet and inches for height. ## Why Does the UK Use Miles But Metric for Everything Else? The UK officially metricated in 1965 (science) and 1985 (general commerce), but retained miles on road signs because changing them all was estimated to cost over £1 billion. Under the Motor Car Act 1903, UK roads must display distances in miles, so the UK is simultaneously metric and imperial depending on context. Canadians similarly use metric officially but many still informally use feet and inches for height. ## Frequently Asked Questions Exactly 3.280839895 feet in one metre. Or 1 foot = exactly 0.3048 metres (defined by the International Yard and Pound Agreement of 1959, adopted by US, UK, Canada, Australia, and South Africa). For construction, 1 metre ≈ 3 ft 3⅜ in. 1 nautical mile = 1,852 metres = 1.15078 statute miles. It was defined as one minute of arc along a line of longitude (or the equator), making it directly related to Earth's geometry. This makes navigation easier — if you travel 60 nautical miles, you've moved 1 degree of latitude. Aviation and maritime worldwide use nautical miles and knots (nautical miles per hour) regardless of country. Source: https://worldcalculators.org/calculators/length-converter/ Markdown mirror of the HTML page. Prefer this URL for RAG; the interactive calculator still lives on the HTML page.