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Distance Between Cities

Enter two cities to see the straight-line ("as the crow flies") distance. It is shorter than a road or flight route.

About City Distance

The distance between cities is calculated using the Haversine formula, which accounts for the curvature of the Earth to give the great-circle distance — the shortest possible path between two points on the globe.

This "as the crow flies" measurement differs from road or travel distance. For example, London to New York is approximately 5,570 km in a straight line, but a flight path is slightly longer due to routing around airspace and jet streams.

Common uses include travel planning, geography education, logistics estimation, and understanding the true scale of global distances.

Calculate straight-line (great circle) distance between any two cities worldwide — for trip planning, logistics, and travel.

Formula

Haversine formula: d = R × 2 × arcsin(√(sin²(Δlat/2) + cos(lat1)×cos(lat2)×sin²(Δlon/2))), R = 6,371 km.

Reference Values

  • •London to Paris ≈ 344 km (213 mi)
  • •New York to Los Angeles ≈ 3,944 km (2,451 mi)
  • •Earth radius = 6,371 km

FAQ

Common questions about Distance Between Cities

How we calculate this

We use the standard published formula for this calculation, and we show the working so you can check it.

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