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Distance Calculator
Calculate the straight-line (as the crow flies) distance between any two points using latitude and longitude coordinates, or look up approximate distances between major cities. Convert between miles and kilometers and estimate driving or flying time.
Distance calculation is fundamental to travel planning, logistics, and geography. The Haversine formula calculates the great-circle distance — the shortest path between two points on Earth sphere surface. This differs from driving distance, which follows roads and can be 20-40% longer than straight-line distance.
Formula
Haversine Formula: d = 2R × arcsin(√(sin²(Δlat/2) + cos(lat1) × cos(lat2) × sin²(Δlon/2))) | R = 3,959 miles (Earth radius)
Major City Distances Reference
Great-circle (straight-line) distances between major cities give a baseline for flight time estimation. Actual driving distances are 20-40% longer due to road routing. Use these reference points to sanity-check your calculations.
Route
Straight-Line Distance
Typical Travel Time
New York to Los Angeles
2,451 mi (3,944 km)
5.5 hr flight / ~42 hr drive
London to Paris
214 mi (344 km)
1.5 hr flight / ~7 hr drive
Chicago to Dallas
803 mi (1,293 km)
2.5 hr flight / ~14 hr drive
Sydney to Melbourne
440 mi (708 km)
1.5 hr flight / ~9 hr drive
Tokyo to Seoul
806 mi (1,298 km)
2.5 hr flight / ferry+drive
Mumbai to Delhi
716 mi (1,152 km)
2 hr flight / ~24 hr drive
New York to London
3,459 mi (5,570 km)
7 hr flight / not drivable
Great Circle vs Driving Distance
The great-circle distance (Haversine formula) calculates the shortest path between two points on Earth spherical surface. Driving distance follows roads and is always longer. Ratio of driving to straight-line: urban areas: 1.2-1.5×. Rural/interstate highways: 1.1-1.3×. Mountain terrain: 1.5-2.0×. When you enter two cities and get straight-line distance, add 20-30% for approximate driving distance.
GPS Coordinates
All locations on Earth can be described with two coordinates: latitude (north-south, -90 to +90°, equator = 0°) and longitude (east-west, -180 to +180°, prime meridian = 0°). New York: 40.7128°N, 74.0060°W. London: 51.5074°N, 0.1278°W. Sydney: 33.8688°S, 151.2093°E. Tokyo: 35.6762°N, 139.6503°E.
Frequently Asked Questions
For straight-line distance: use the Haversine formula with latitude and longitude coordinates. For driving distance: use a mapping service (Google Maps, Apple Maps). This calculator computes straight-line (great-circle) distance. Multiply by 1.2-1.4 to estimate driving distance for most routes.
The Haversine formula: d = 2R × arcsin(√(sin²(Δlat/2) + cos(lat1) × cos(lat2) × sin²(Δlon/2))), where R = 3,959 miles (Earth radius), lat1/lat2 are the latitudes, lon1/lon2 are the longitudes, and Δ represents the difference. This gives the great-circle (shortest surface) distance.
1 mile = 1.60934 kilometers. 1 kilometer = 0.621371 miles. The US, UK (for road signs), and a few other countries use miles. Most of the world uses kilometers. Quick conversion: miles × 1.6 ≈ kilometers. Kilometers × 0.62 ≈ miles.
The great-circle distance is the shortest path between two points on the surface of a sphere. On a globe, this path is an arc of a great circle (a circle whose center is Earth center). Airplanes and ships navigate using great circle routes to minimize travel distance and fuel. The Haversine formula calculates this distance from GPS coordinates.
1 degree of latitude = approximately 69 miles (111 km) everywhere on Earth (latitude lines are equally spaced). 1 degree of longitude varies by latitude: at the equator = 69 miles, at 45° latitude = 49 miles, at the poles = 0 miles. This is why longitude lines converge at the poles.
Earth circumference: approximately 24,901 miles (40,075 km) at the equator. Slightly less pole-to-pole (24,860 miles / 40,008 km) because Earth is an oblate spheroid — slightly flattened at the poles. The radius is approximately 3,959 miles (6,371 km) as used in the Haversine formula.