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What exactly is a Nautical Mile?

A nautical mile is a distance on the earth's surface of 6,080 feet (1,852 meters), which is equal to one minute of latitude at the earth's equator. Since there are 360 degrees around the earth, and each degree equals 60 minutes, the distance around the earth, at the equator or any other great circle, is 21,600 nautical miles. (A great circle is like a diameter.)

The origin of the nautical mile started with the realization that the earth was spherical and not flat. It was Pythagoras who first put forward the theory in 580 b.c.

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