Distance between two cities
Pick two cities to see the straight-line distance over the Earth's surface, which way to set off, and the time difference right now.
Distances between well-known cities
| Route | Distance | Miles |
|---|---|---|
| London – New York City | 5,570 km | 3,461 mi |
| Los Angeles – Tokyo | 8,815 km | 5,478 mi |
| London – Sydney | 16,994 km | 10,559 mi |
| Toronto – Vancouver | 3,355 km | 2,085 mi |
| Dubai – London | 5,486 km | 3,409 mi |
| Singapore – New York City | 15,339 km | 9,531 mi |
| Paris – Berlin | 878 km | 546 mi |
| Mumbai – Dubai | 1,928 km | 1,198 mi |
| São Paulo – Lagos | 6,371 km | 3,959 mi |
| Beijing – Moscow | 5,793 km | 3,600 mi |
| Auckland – Los Angeles | 10,496 km | 6,522 mi |
| Johannesburg – London | 9,070 km | 5,636 mi |
How the distance is worked out
This is the great-circle distance: the shortest path over the surface of the Earth, treating it as a sphere with the mean radius of 6,371 km (the IUGG value). On a flat map that path looks curved — a flight from London to Los Angeles passes over Greenland — because flat maps stretch the far north and south.
Because the Earth bulges slightly at the equator, real distances can differ from the sphere by up to about 0.5%. Flights are usually longer than the great circle too, because of winds, air corridors and the climb and descent. Road distances are longer still.
The bearing is the direction to set off in, measured clockwise from true north. On a long great-circle route it changes along the way: from London the path to Tokyo starts towards the north-east and ends heading south-east.
One nautical mile is exactly 1,852 m and one mile exactly 1,609.344 m. For time differences between cities on a particular date, see the time zone converter.
City locations: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Time zones: IANA time zone database.