What is the air distance between New York City and Sydney rounded to the nearest thousand kilometers? The given air distance between the two cities is 15,985 km.

The given distance is 15,985km.

To round off a number to the nearest thousand, we need to check its hundreds place digit.

If the hundreds digit is less than 5 then the hundreds, tens, and units digits become zero and the thousands digit remain the same.
If the hundreds digit is more than 5 then the hundreds, tens, and units digits become zero and the thousands digit increase by 1.

In 15,985, the hundreds digit is 9 which is more than 5,

So, we will add 1 to the digit at the thousands place and digits at hundreds, tens and ones will become zero.

Therefore, rounded to the nearest thousand is 16,000.