In 1 square kilometer there are 0.386102 square miles. Meanwhile in 1 square miles there are 2.589988 square kilometer. Keep reading to learn more about each unit of measure and how they are calculated. Or just use the Square miles to Square kilometer calculator above to convert any number.
* Values rounded to 6 decimal places for readability
To convert square kilometers (km²) to square miles (mi²), use this area conversion factor:
Example:
A quick check:
Extra reference points:
1 square kilometer equals 0.386102 square miles (mi²). This value comes from the length change between kilometers and miles, applied to area.
Use this formula:
square miles = square kilometers × 0.386102
To go the other way:
square kilometers = square miles ÷ 0.386102
10 square kilometers equals:
10 × 0.386102 = 3.86102 square miles
Rounded to two decimals, that’s 3.86 mi².
100 square kilometers equals:
100 × 0.386102 = 38.6102 square miles
Rounded to two decimals, that’s 38.61 mi².
Multiply the number of square kilometers by 0.386102.
Example: 25 km² × 0.386102 = 9.65255 mi² (about 9.65 mi²).
Area uses squared units. You can’t convert km² to mi² by using the same number as km to mi.
Since 1 km = 0.621371 mi, you square it for area:
0.621371² = 0.386102, which is the km² to mi² factor.
No. 1 square mile is larger.
1 mi² equals about 2.58999 km², so it takes more than 2.5 square kilometers to make one square mile.
1 square mile equals 2.58999 square kilometers (km²).
This is a common value used in maps, land area, and travel planning.
The same formula works for any size:
mi² = km² × 0.386102
For large areas, round to a sensible level (like 1 or 2 decimals) unless you need exact detail.
For most uses:
“Square” means the unit measures area, not distance.
This conversion comes up often in:
The Calculate Box tool to convert square kilometer to square miles uses the open source script Convert.js to convert units of measurement. To use this tool, simply type a square kilometer value in the box and have it instantly converted to square miles.