Convert m to km

Meter

Overview
The meter (symbol: m) is the SI’s fundamental unit of length. By international agreement, it is defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum during 1⁄299 792 458 of a second—a definition that was aligned with updates to the second in 2019.

Ursprünge

• 1793: Conceived as one ten-millionth of the distance from the Equator to the North Pole.

• 1889: Realized by a platinum–iridium standard bar kept at 0 °C.

• 1960: Recast in terms of a specific number of krypton-86 emission wavelengths.

• 1983–2019: Anchored to the constant speed of light, ensuring unchanging precision.

Everyday Use
Meters are everywhere—from building plans and engineering schematics to marking race tracks and measuring room dimensions. While some countries (notably the USA) still use feet and miles for daily tasks, meters underpin global science, trade, and most official measurements.

Kilometer

Overview
A kilometer (symbol: km) equals exactly 1 000 meters. In practical terms, one kilometer corresponds to about 0.6214 statute miles.

Ursprünge
The prefix kilo- comes from the Greek khilioi, meaning “thousand,” making 1 km simply a thousand meters. Because the meter itself is tied to the speed of light, the kilometer inherits that exactness.

Everyday Use
Kilometers are the global standard for land distances—road signs, maps, commuting distances, and marathon lengths all use kilometers in most of the world. Only a handful of countries still default to miles on their highways.

Meter → Kilometer Conversion Table

Quick Conversion Guide

• To convert meters to kilometers: divide by 1 000

• To convert kilometers to meters: multiply by 1 000

Beispiel

Turning 15 m into kilometers:

15 ÷ 1000 = 0.015 km