Difference Between Mile and Kilometer KM
They are units of measurement of length. Kilometer is a unit of measurement used in the metric system whereas mile is a unit of length used in the imperial system of measurement. Kilometer is used in all the countries of the world save the United States and the United Kingdom. Mile is more commonly preferred as a unit of measurement of length to denote a geographical distance between two points. Despite dominance of metric system across the world, mile is used widely as a unit of length in all parts of the world. Obviously, there are differences in a mile and a kilometer. Let us discuss.
Mile is the older unit of the measurement of length which has been in use before the metric system came into existence. It has been in different versions. One mile contains 1760 yards or 5280 feet (1 yard = 3 feet). Mile is one third of the older league used in ancient times. The use of mile for measuring distances is popular in both US and UK. It is evident by the fact that they use the word ‘mileage’ when talking of fuel efficiency of cars. In US they talk of miles per hour referring to speed. The abbreviation ‘mph’ (mile per hour) is used in US referring to speed per hour.
The US mile and the British mile were different before standardization of it by the US in 1959. There have been variations in miles of many countries of the world. US defined yard in terms of kilometer that settled the issue for good in 1959 when the metric system was adopted. Now a mile contains 1760 yards which is equal to 1609.344 meters.
A kilometer is a unit of measuring length in the metric system. It contains 1000 meters which the distance travelled by light in the period of 1/299792.458 seconds. The distance between geographical places is accepted in Kilometers across the world.