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| − | A '''kilometer''', symbol: '''km''' is a [[physical unit|unit]] of [[length]] in the [[metric system]] equal to 1000 [[meter]]s (from the [[Greek language|Greek]] words ''χίλια'' (''khilia'') = thousand and ''μÎÏ„Ïο'' (''metro'') = count/measure). It is approximately equal to 0.621 [[mile]]s, 1094 [[yard]]s or 3281 [[Foot (unit of length)|feet]].
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| − | [[Slang]] terms for kilometer include "[[klick]]" (sometimes spelt "click" or "klik") and "kay" (or "k"). All these slang terms can also refer to [[kilometer per hour|kilometers per hour]].
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| − | ==Metric system==
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| − | :''Main articles: [[Metric system]] and [[Meter]]''
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| − | Like the kilometer, all units of length in the metric system are based on the meter, by adding an [[SI prefix]] that stands for a power of ten, such as ''hecto'' for one hundred to form [[hectometer]] (= 0.1 kilometer) or ''mega'' for one million to form [[megameter]] (= 1,000 kilometer).
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| − | The meter is not only the basis for all units of [[length]] in the metric system, but also of units of [[area]] (the [[square meter]]) and [[volume]] (the [[cubic meter]]). This extends to the kilometer, so one can have square and cubic kilometers.
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| − | [[Unicode]] has symbols for "km" (㎞), for square kilometer (㎢) and for cubic kilometer (㎦); however, they are useful only in [[CJK]] texts, where they are equal in size to one [[Chinese character]].
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| − | == See also ==
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| − | [[hectometer]] << kilometer << [[megameter]]
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| − | *[[Orders of magnitude]], [[1 E3 m]]
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| − | *[[SI]], [[SI prefix]]
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| − | *[[mile]], [[verst]]
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| − | [[Category:Units of length]]
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