大圆距离（英语：Great-circle distance）指的是从球面的一点A出发到达球面上另一点B，所经过的最短路径的长度。一般说来，球面上任意两点A和B都可以与球心确定唯一的大圆，这个大圆被称为黎曼圆，而在大圆上连接这两点的较短的一条弧的长度就是大圆距离。若这两点和球心正好都在球的直径上，则过这三点可以有无数大圆，但两点之间的弧长都相等，且等于该大圆周长的一半, r 是球的半径。由于地球类似球体，地球上任何两点沿球面的最短距离都可以通过大圆距离的公式估算的出，这在航空和航海上都有很大作用。

The great-circle or orthodromic distance is the shortest distance between two points on the surface of a sphere, measured along the surface of the sphere (as opposed to a straight line through the sphere's interior). The distance between two points in Euclidean space is the length of a straight line between them, but on the sphere there are no straight lines. In non-Euclidean geometry, straight lines are replaced by geodesics. Geodesics on the sphere are the great circles (circles on the sphere whose centers coincide with the center of the sphere).