The basic SI unit of length, a meter is equivalent to approximately 1.094 yard, or 39.37 inches.The meter was originally determined by Napoleonic scientists at the French Academy of Sciences as one ten millionth (10 -7 ) of the distance between the North Pole and the Earth's equator through Paris, France.The meter was then recorded as the distance between two fine lines engraved on a platinum-iridium bar kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris. The meter is now defined as the distance traveled by light in a vacuum in 1 / 299,792,458 seconds. See also SI.