What Is a Meter?
The meter (symbol m, spelled metre outside the United States) is the SI base unit of length, the unit every other metric length is built from. Since 1983 it has been defined by the speed of light: one meter is the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. The BIPM, which maintains the International System of Units, now states the same definition by fixing the speed of light at exactly 299,792,458 m/s.
The meter began as a piece of Earth. In 1791 the French Academy of Sciences proposed it as one ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the equator along the meridian through Paris. Astronomers Jean-Baptiste Delambre and Pierre Méchain spent 1792 to 1798 surveying that meridian, and a platinum bar made from their result became the standard in 1799. In 1889 a platinum-iridium prototype bar kept near Paris took over, followed in 1960 by a definition based on the light of krypton-86 atoms, and finally the 1983 speed-of-light definition. NIST’s history of the meter explains each step.
Because the definition uses a constant of nature, any well-equipped laboratory can realize the meter without a physical bar. That is also why the meters-to-miles factor never changes: the mile is defined as an exact number of meters.
What Is a Mile?
The mile is the international mile of exactly 1,609.344 meters, also called the statute mile. Before 1959, the United States and Britain each had a slightly different mile. The US had tied its yard to the meter in the 1893 Mendenhall Order, at 3600/3937 m, which made the American mile about 1,609.347 m. The 1959 International Yard and Pound Agreement settled on 0.9144 m per yard for both countries, so the mile became exactly 1,609.344 m.
The name is far older than either definition. It comes from the Roman mille passus, “a thousand paces”, and the modern 5,280-foot length was set by an English statute of 1593. In athletics the mile has survived metrication: it is the only non-metric distance for which World Athletics still ratifies world records.
Track and Field Distances in Miles
Track races are run in meters, so converting them shows how they compare with the mile. Lane 1 of a standard outdoor track is 400 m, measured 30 cm out from the inside kerb, so a 1,600 m race falls 9.344 m short of a true mile.
| Event | Meters (m) | Miles (mi) |
|---|---|---|
| 100 m sprint | 100 | 0.0621371 |
| 200 m | 200 | 0.124274 |
| 400 m (one lap) | 400 | 0.248548 |
| 800 m | 800 | 0.497097 |
| 1,500 m (metric mile) | 1,500 | 0.932057 |
| 1,600 m (four laps) | 1,600 | 0.994194 |
| The mile | 1,609.344 | 1 |
| 3,000 m steeplechase | 3,000 | 1.864114 |
| 5,000 m | 5,000 | 3.106856 |
| 10,000 m | 10,000 | 6.213712 |
The 1,500 m is about 0.932 miles, which is why it is nicknamed the metric mile. When Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile at Iffley Road, Oxford, on 6 May 1954, his 3:59.4 covered 1,609.344 meters. For a mile race on a modern track, officials mark a separate start line 9.344 m behind the usual finish so the field runs four laps plus that extra stretch.
Sprint distances become very small fractions of a mile. A 100 m dash is only 0.0621 miles, yet at top speed the fastest sprinters cover it at more than 23 mph.
Indoor tracks are half the size, 200 m per lap, so an indoor mile is eight laps plus the same 9.344 m. Swimming has its own version of the problem. Olympic pools are 50 m long, and the long distance freestyle event is 1,500 m, about 0.932 miles. American pools are often 25 yards, so US swimmers call 1,650 yards, 66 lengths, “the mile”; it is 0.938 miles, closer to a true mile than the metric event.
Away from the track, meters are the unit for building heights, short walking directions and the depth of the sea. A 300 m skyscraper is 0.19 miles tall, and a 1 km city walk is 1,000 m, about 0.62 miles or 1,300 average steps. To turn a step count into distance, use the steps to miles calculator.
How Many Meters in a Mile?
There are exactly 1,609.344 meters in a mile, so going from miles to meters is a multiplication by that number. Half a mile is 804.672 m and a quarter mile is 402.336 m. A useful approximation is 1,600 m per mile, which is less than 0.6% short and easy to multiply in your head.