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Mil can refer to a number of different things.
- In English units of measurement, a mil is:
- a unit of length 1/1000 inch long, also called a thou, commonly used in the context of English units for manufacturing specifications and tolerances.
- a unit of angle (angular mil): see below.
- a unit of surface (square mil), a square one mil on each side
- a unit of surface (circular mil), a circle one mil across
- The term 'mil' is also used colloquially to mean 'millimetre' or 'millilitre'.
- A mil in Norway and Sweden is a distance of 10 kilometres. The term originates from a pre-metric mil (in earlier times rast) of slightly over 10 km, denoting a suitable distance between rests when walking. The metric mil was officially established in Sweden on 1 January 1889. For geographical distances the term is used probably more than the kilometre. It is also used commonly for measuring vehicle fuel consumption, liters per mil means liters consumed per 10 km [1] (http://www.algonet.se/~hogman/slmatt_eng.htm#längdmått).
- Artillery battalions in many countries use the mil as a unit of angular measure, though there are three different specifications for this unit.
- In NATO countries, including Canada, a mil is defined as 1/6,400 of a full circle. This angular measure gets its name from its being approximately a milliradian, a unit which is convenient because 1 mil at 1 km is about 1 metre (and so 100 mils at 2 km is about 200 metres). Or one could say that an object a metre wide one kilometre away from the viewer subtends, to a high degree of accuracy, an angle of one mil. No conversion to Imperial units is worthwhile here, for all armies use metric maps, even the U.S. Army. There are 1600 mils in 90 degrees, 17.8 mils in one degree. This mil is usually used in artillery discussion. It is also used in long-range precision rifle shooting, where the crosshairs on riflescopes are often calibrated in mils. This type of riflescope is usually referred to as a mil-dot scope.
- The army of the Soviet Union used a mil that was 1/6000 of a full circle, which means that there were 1,500 of its mils in a right angle, which would be less accurate though easier to remember.
- The military of Sweden during the Cold War desired to demonstrate its independence from both NATO and the Warsaw Pact, so they chose a size of greater accuracy. Because a right angle is more nearly 1.5708 radians than 1.600, their mil was 1/6,300 of a circle, so that there were 1,575 of these mils in a right angle.
- mil is sometimes used as an abbreviation for millions.
- .mil is the top level domain for the US Military
- MIL-SPEC is short for Military Specification, for equipment or materiel.
See also: mill
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