Distance from Nairobi to Shanghai
The great-circle distance between Nairobi, Kenya and Shanghai, China is 9,572 km (5,948 mi · 5,169 nmi) — the shortest possible route over the Earth's surface, the path aircraft approximately follow.
The numbers
- Great-circle distance
- 9,572 km · 5,948 mi · 5,169 nmi
- Initial bearing Nairobi → Shanghai
- 59° (ENE)
- Initial bearing Shanghai → Nairobi
- 266° (W)
- Nonstop flight (rough estimate)
- ≈ 11 h 55 min
- Time zones
- Nairobi UTC+03:00 · Shanghai UTC+08:00 (+5 h)
- Sunrise gap today
- 339 min — the sun rises later in Nairobi
Flight time is a cruise-speed approximation (no routing/wind); driving distance depends on roads and is typically 20–40% longer than great-circle.
The two cities
- Nairobi
- -1.2833, 36.8167
- Sunrise / sunset today
- 03:23 UTC / 15:29 UTC
- Shanghai
- 31.2222, 121.4581
- Sunrise / sunset today
- 21:43 UTC / 09:52 UTC
Open in the distance calculator Find the halfway point
Distances here are straight-line (great-circle). Road routes typically run 1.2–1.4× longer — here's why, with the visual.