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A mile (mi) is a common unit of length used in the imperial and US customary systems of measurement.
The official definition of a mile is 5,280 feet (ft). The plural form is miles.
The word "mile" has ancient roots, originating from the Latin phrase "mille passus," which translates to "a thousand paces."
In ancient Rome, one pace was measured as two steps (one left and one right). The Roman mile was therefore 1,000 paces, which equals approximately 4,850 feet—slightly shorter than the modern mile.
Not all miles are created equal. While most people are familiar with the land mile, there is also a separate measurement used for air and sea travel.
The commonly used mile on land is the statute mile, which is officially defined as 5,280 feet. This measurement is used for driving distances and most other land-based activities in the imperial system.
The nautical mile is used for navigation in aviation and maritime settings. It is based on the Earth's circumference and is equal to one minute of arc of latitude. A nautical mile is longer than a statute mile.
Here's a quick comparison:
The seemingly random number of 5,280 feet in a mile comes from English history. In 1593, the English Parliament, under Queen Elizabeth I, passed a statute to standardize units of measurement.
The statute defined the official length of a mile as being equal to 8 furlongs. Since one furlong was already established as 660 feet, the calculation was simple:
This decision solidified the length of the statute mile that we still use today in countries that follow the imperial system.