A league is a unit of length (or, rarely, area). It was long common in Europe and Latin America, but it is no longer an official unit in any nation. The league originally referred to the distance a person or a horse could walk in an hour. Since the Middle Ages, many values have been specified in several countries.
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On land, the league was most commonly defined as three miles (about 4.8 km), although the length of a "mile" could vary from place to place and at different times. At sea, a league was three nautical miles (about 5.6 km). English usage also included any of the other leagues mentioned below (for example, in discussing the Treaty of Tordesillas) .
The league was used in Ancient Rome, defined as 1.5 Roman miles (7,500 Roman feet, 2.2225 km, 1.4 mi.). The origin is the "leuga gallica" (also: leuca Gallica), the league of Gaul.
The Argentine league (legua) is 5.572 km (3.462 mi) or 6,666 varas: 1 vara is 0.83 m (33 in).[1]
In certain districts of rural Australia, particularly far west New South Wales, one league is an approximate measurement of distance travelled in one hour by motor vehicle, usually 60 to 80 km (37 to 50 mi).
In Portugal, Brazil and other parts of the Portuguese Empire, there were several units called league (Portuguese: légua):
The names of the several léguas referred to the number of units that made the length corresponding to an angle degree of a meridian arc.
As a transitory measure, after Portugal adopted the metric system, the metric légua, of 5.0 km, was used.
In Brazil, légua is still used occasionally in the country, where it has been described as about 6.6 km.
The French lieue – at different times – existed in several variants: 10,000, 12,000, 13,200 and 14,400 French feet, about 3.25 km to about 4.68 km. It was used along with the metric system for a while but is now long discontinued.
As used in Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, a league is four kilometres.[2][3]
In Yucatan and other parts of rural Mexico, the league is still commonly used in the original sense of the distance that can be covered on foot in an hour, so that a league along a good road on level ground is a greater distance than a league on a difficult path over rough terrain.
The Danish or Swedish mil was defined as a suitable walking distance between rests, or between inns. While etymologically similar to a mile, the definition shares origin with a that of a league. An old Scandinavian mil ranges from 7.5km to 12km depending on nation or region, but has since metrication been defined as 10km in Norway and Sweden.
The Spanish League or legua was originally set as a fixed unit of distance of 5,000 varas (0.84 m each), about 4.2 km (2.6 miles). Officially the league was abolished by Philip II of Spain in 1568, but it is still in use unofficially in parts of Latin America, with exact meaning varying in different countries.
In the early Hispanic settlement of New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado, a league was also a unit of area, defined as being equal to 25,000,000 square varas or about 4,428.4 acres.[4] This usage of league is referenced frequently in the Texas Constitution. So defined, a league of land would encompass a square that is one Spanish league on each side.