On Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:12:52 GMT, keith_nuttle
wrote:

Since the nautical mile is defined as one minute of latitude, I doubt it
will ever disappear in earth based navigation.

The Nautical Mile was originally based on a minute of latitude, but
the length of a minute of latitude varies with latitude, so an
International Nautical Mile is now defined as 1852 metres exactly, or
6076.11549 US feet, approximately, according to Bowditch.