In this paper, we introduce an axiomatic definition of an interval-valued fuzzy sets’ inclusion measure which is different from Bustince’s [H. Bustince, Indicator of inclusion grade for interval-valued fuzzy sets, Applications to approximate reasoning based on interval-valued fuzzy sets, International Journal of Approximate Reasoning, 23 (2000) 137–209]. The relationship among the normalized distance, the similarity measure, the inclusion measure, and the entropy of interval-valued fuzzy sets is investigated in detail. Furthermore, six theorems are proposed showing how the similarity measure, the inclusion measure, and the entropy of interval-valued fuzzy sets can be deduced by the interval-valued fuzzy sets’ normalized distance based on their axiomatic definitions. Some formulas have also been put forward to calculate the similarity measure, the inclusion measure, and the entropy of interval-valued fuzzy sets.