Distance Calculator

Using the Haversine formula which computes the shortest distance between two points on a sphere.

Roads follow terrain and the existing network, so real travel distance is typically 1.2-1.5x the great-circle distance.

Great-circle distances are accurate to ~0.3%. Driving and walking estimates are approximations unless routed via a real routing engine.

Straight-line distance is the shortest arc over the Earth's curved surface between two points, while driving distance follows actual roads. Driving distance is almost always longer because roads detour around terrain, water, and built-up areas. Use straight-line figures for rough estimates and lower bounds, and driving distance when you need a route you can actually travel.

The Haversine formula treats the Earth as a perfect sphere with a radius of 6,371 km, while the real Earth is slightly flattened at the poles. The resulting error is typically well under half a percent, which is fine for travel planning, logistics estimates, and everyday curiosity. Surveyors who need centimetre-level precision use more complex ellipsoidal formulas instead.

Nautical miles are the standard unit in aviation and maritime navigation, where one nautical mile equals one minute of latitude. Pilots cross-check flight plans in nautical miles, and sailors use them with nautical charts. Showing them alongside kilometres and miles saves a manual conversion for those users.

No. It measures pure geometric distance and ignores everything in between: national borders, mountain ranges, seas, and restricted airspace. A short straight-line route can still require a very long real journey around an obstacle, so treat the result as a geometric fact, not a travel plan.

Yes. Any two places with known coordinates can be compared, wherever they are on the globe. Enter city names, addresses, or landmarks and choose the correct suggestion from the list so the measurement starts from the intended point, since many place names exist in multiple countries.

Airlines often publish ticketed-point mileage based on the airways their aircraft actually fly, which adds a few percent over the great-circle minimum. Wind, weather avoidance, and air-traffic routing stretch real flown distance further. The tool shows the theoretical minimum; the airline shows something closer to reality.

Yes, exactly. Great-circle distance is the modern, mathematically precise version of the old as-the-crow-flies idea: the shortest path between two points on a sphere. The phrase dates from an era of flat paper maps; the formula corrects for the Earth's curvature.

The Haversine math runs entirely in your browser and needs no connection. What does need the internet is place-name search: turning a typed city or address into coordinates queries an online gazetteer. If you already have coordinates, you can paste them in and measure with no search at all.