Mile: Difference between revisions

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With qualifiers, ''mile'' is also used to describe or translate a wide range of units derived from or roughly equivalent to the [[#Roman|Roman mile]] (roughly {{nowrap|1.48 km}}), such as the [[#Nautical|nautical mile]] (now {{nowrap|1.852 km}} exactly), the [[#Italian|Italian mile]] (roughly {{nowrap|1.852 km}}), and the [[li (unit)|Chinese mile]] (now {{nowrap|500 m}} exactly). The Romans divided their mile into 5,000 [[Ancient Roman units of measurement#Length|pedēs ("feet")]], but the greater importance of furlongs in the [[Kingdom of England#Tudor period|Elizabethan-era England]] meant that the [[#Statute|statute mile]] was made equivalent to {{nowrap|8 [[furlong]]s}} or {{nowrap|5,280 [[Foot (unit)|feet]]}} in 1593. This form of the mile then spread across the [[British Empire]], some successor states of which continue to employ the mile. The [[United States Geological Survey|US Geological Survey]] now employs the metre for official purposes, but legacy data from its [[North American Datum#North American Datum of 1927|1927 geodetic datum]] has meant that a separate [[#US survey|US survey mile]] {{nowrap|({{sfrac|6336|3937}} km)}} continues to see some use, although it was officially phased out in 2022. While most countries replaced the mile with the kilometre when switching to the [[International System of Units]] (SI), the international mile continues to be used in some countries, such as Liberia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and a number of countries with fewer than one million inhabitants, most of which are UK or US territories or have close historical ties with the UK or US.