Great-Circle Distance Calculator
Calculate the shortest distance between two coordinates on Earth.
How the Great-Circle Distance works
The shortest path between two points on a sphere is a great-circle arc. The haversine formula calculates it from latitude and longitude using a mean Earth radius of 6,371.0088 km.
Because Earth is slightly flattened, results can differ from ellipsoidal methods by up to about 0.5%, which is accurate enough for travel, logistics and aviation planning.
Formulas used
- Haversine
a = sin²(Δφ/2) + cos φ₁ · cos φ₂ · sin²(Δλ/2)- Distance
d = 2R · atan2(√a, √(1 − a))
How to use the Great-Circle Distance in 3 steps
Step 1
Choose a starting city (A) and a destination city (B).
Step 2
Read the distance in kilometres, miles and nautical miles.
Step 3
View the great-circle arc drawn between both points on the map.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the flight path look curved on the map?
Flat map projections distort the globe. A great-circle route is the straightest line on a sphere, but it appears curved on a Mercator-style map.
How far is New York from Tokyo?
About 10,850 km (6,740 miles) along the great-circle route, which passes over Alaska and the Arctic.