The 

kilometre (SI symbol: km; /ˈkɪləmiːtər/ or /kɪˈlɒmətər/), spelt kilometer in American English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal

to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for 1000). It is now the measurement unit used for expressing distances between geographical places on land in
most of the world; notable exceptions are the United States and the United Kingdom where the statute mile is the unit used.

The abbreviations k or K (pronounced /keɪ/) are commonly used to represent kilometre, but are not recommended by the BIPM.[1][2] A slang term for the kilometre in
the US, UK, and Canadian militaries is klick.[3][4]

Contents

 1Pronunciation

 2Equivalence to other units of length

 3History

 4Kilometre records

 5See also

 6References

 7External links

Pronunciation[edit]
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There are two common pronunciations for the word.[5]

1. /ˈkɪləˌmiːtər, -loʊ-/
2. /kɪˈlɒmɪtər/

The first pronunciation follows a pattern in English whereby metric units are pronounced with the stress on the first syllable (as in kilogram, kilojoule and kilohertz)
and the pronunciation of the actual base unit does not change irrespective of the prefix (as in centimetre, millimetre, nanometre and so on). It is generally preferred
by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).[citation needed]

Many other users, particularly in countries where the metric system is not widely used, use the second pronunciation with stress on the second syllable.[6][7] The
second pronunciation follows the stress pattern used for the names of measuring instruments (such
as micrometer, barometer, thermometer, tachometer and speedometer). The contrast is even more obvious in countries which use the Commonwealth spelling
rather than American spelling of the word metre. This pronunciation is irregular because this makes the kilometre the only SI unit in which the stress is on the
second syllable.

When Australia introduced the metric system in 1975, the first pronunciation was declared official by the government's Metric Conversion Board. However, the
Australian prime minister at the time, Gough Whitlam, insisted that the second pronunciation was the correct one because of the Greek origins of the two parts of
the word.[8]

Equivalence to other units of length[edit]

1 kilometre ≡ 1000 metres
≈ 3281 feet
≈ 1094 yards
≈ 0.621 miles
≈ 0.540 nautical miles
≈ 6.68×10−9 astronomical units[9]
≈ 1.06×10−13 light-years[10]
≈ 3.24×10−14 parsecs

History[edit]
 Historical divisions of the meridian in France

By a decree of 8 May 1790, the French National Constituent Assembly ordered the French Academy of Sciences to develop a new measurement system. In
August 1793, the French National Convention decreed the metre as the sole length measurement system in the French Republic and it was based
on 1/10 millionth of the distance from the orbital poles (either North or South) to the Equator, this being a truly internationally based unit. The first name of
the kilometre was "Millaire". Although the metre was formally defined in 1799, the myriametre (10000 metres) was preferred to the "kilometre" for everyday
use. The term "myriamètre" appeared a number of times in the text of Develey's book Physique d'Emile: ou, Principes de la science de la nature,
[11]
 (published in 1802), while the term kilometre only appeared in an appendix. French maps published in 1835 had scales showing myriametres and "lieues
de Poste" (Postal leagues of about 4288 metres).[12]

The Dutch, on the other hand, adopted the kilometre in 1817 but gave it the local name of the mijl.[13] It was only in 1867 that the term "kilometer" became the
only official unit of measure in the Netherlands to represent 1000 metres.[14]

Two German textbooks dated 1842[15][16] and 1848[17] respectively give a snapshot of the use of the kilometre across Europe: the kilometre was in use in the
Netherlands and in Italy, and the myriametre was in use in France.

In 1935, the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) officially abolished the prefix "myria-" and with it the "myriametre", leaving the
kilometre as the recognised unit of length for measurements of that magnitude.[18]

Kilometre records[edit]
Some sporting disciplines feature 1000 m (one-kilometre) races in major events (such as the Olympic Games). In some disciplines—although world records
are catalogued—one-kilometre events remain a minority.

1 km world records for various sporting disciplines

Discipline Name Time (min:sec) Location Date Comments

Running (M) Noah Ngeny 2:11.96[19] Rieti, Italy 5 Sep 1999 Not an Olympic event

Svetlana 23 Aug
Running (F) 2:28.98[20] Brussels Not an Olympic event
Masterkova 1996

Speed skating (M) Pavel Kulizhnikov 1:05.69 Salt Lake City 15 Feb 2020
 1 km world records for various sporting disciplines

Discipline Name Time (min:sec) Location Date Comments

Speed skating (F) Cindy Klassen 1:13.11[21] Calgary 25 Mar 2006

Track cycling (M) François Pervis 56.303[22] Aguascalientes, Mexico 7 Dec 2013 No official 1000 m women's record

See also[edit]
 Conversion of units, for comparison with other units of length

 Cubic metre

 Metric prefix

 Mileage

 Odometer

 Orders of magnitude (length)

 Square kilometre