A league is traditionally about 3 miles (roughly 4.8 km) in modern English usage.

Quick Scoop: What is a league?

  • In most English contexts, 1 league ≈ 3 miles ≈ 4.8 km.
  • Historically, the word “league” was not perfectly fixed and could range from about 2.4 to 4.6 miles (around 3.9–7.4 km), depending on country and era.
  • A common old idea: a league was the distance a person could walk in about an hour.

Mini details and fun context

  • On land in English-speaking countries, “a league” is generally taken as 3 statute miles (4.83 km).
  • At sea , an English nautical league is often taken as 3 nautical miles, which is about 3.45 regular miles or 5.56 km.
  • Different places used slightly different leagues: for example, an Argentine legua is about 5.57 km (3.46 miles).

So if you see “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” it’s talking about a huge distance travelled through the water, not how deep the ocean is.