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Convert km to nmi

Interactive kilometers to nautical miles conversion tool

The km to nmi converter below can be used to quickly and easily convert kilometers to nautical miles. Simply enter the number of kilometers you want to convert and the calculator will output the corresponding value in nautical miles.

What is the conversion factor between kilometers and nautical miles?

A conversion factor is used to change the units of a measured quantity without changing its value. It represents the ratio (or fraction) that expresses the relationship between two different units. A conversion factor is always equal to 1.

The relationship between kilometers and nautical miles is 1.852, such as:

Following the formula above, we can see that there are 1.852 kilometers for every nautical mile, and for every kilometer, there are 11.852 nautical miles (0.539957 nmi).

To convert from kilometers to nautical miles, we turn our formula into a conversion factor that is equal to 1.

Both these fractions are equal to 1. The numerator and the denominator are equivalent, they are just expressed in different units.

Because we are converting from kilometer to nautical mile, we will use the first fraction: 1 nmi1.852 km so that kilometers are canceled out. We then multiply the value in kilometers by this fraction to get the result in nautical miles (see example).

Note that km is in the denominator (bottom) of the conversion factor. This is important, you always want to have the unit you are converting from at the bottom and the unit you are converting to in the numerator (top).

You will find below how to use this ratio to convert from km to nmi. Just remember for now that the conversion factor for converting from kilometers to nautical miles is:

Which is bigger, a kilometer or a nautical mile?

When it comes to measurements, there can be some confusion over which is bigger, a kilometer or an nautical mile. To find out which one is larger, we must first convert one unit to the other and then compare them.

• 1 km = 11.852 nmi = 0.5399568035 nmi
• 0.539957 nautical mile is smaller than 1 nautical mile.
• 1 kilometer is, therefore, smaller than 1 nautical mile.
• To be more specific, a nautical mile is 1.852 times bigger than a kilometer.

kilometers to nautical miles conversion table

How to convert kilometers to nautical miles?

Multiplying any value by 1 will get you the same value back. You can do that one time or multiple times.

For example:

• 76 x 1 = 76
• 676 x 1 x 1 x 1 = 676

Multiplying by 1 is the first step in any unit conversion problem. The second step is to replace the number 1 with the conversion factor that is also equal to 1.

For example, if we want to convert 185.2 kilometers into nautical miles we multiply 185.2 km by the conversion factor of 1 nmi1.852 km

By replacing the number 1 with the conversion factor, kilometers are canceled out and we get the result in nautical miles. And since the conversion factor is equal to 1, multiplying it with the original value won't change its magnitude and will only change its unit.

Based on this, we can conclude that 185.2 kilometers are equal to 100 nautical miles.

Remember:

• When converting from kilometers to nautical miles, we use 1 nmi1.852 km as a conversion factor.

Practice: kilometers to nautical miles conversion

Try answering the following questions without using our custom conversion calculator. Knowing how to convert manually between kilometers and nautical miles could prove to be useful, so give it a shot. Once you are confident you can convert kilometers to nautical miles, there is no harm then in taking full advantage of the tools available to you.

How to convert 45 kilometers to nautical miles?

We multiply 45 by the factor of 1

We replace the number 1 with the conversion factor for kilometers to nautical miles

We multiply 45 kilometers by the conversion factor. Having kilometers in the denominator allows us to cancel out the undesired units (km) leaving only nautical miles in the final result.

Answer: There are 24.2981 nautical miles in 45 kilometers

How many nautical miles are in 480 kilometers?

Multiply 480 by the conversion factor. Make sure the unwanted unit (km) is in the denominator.

This allows us to cancel out the kilometers (km) and leave the nautical miles (nmi)

Answer: There are 259.179 nautical miles in 480 kilometers

nautical miles to kilometers conversion

• 1 nmi = 1.852 km
• To convert from nautical miles to kilometers use our nmi to km converter

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