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Convert square metres, square kilometres, acres, hectares, and square feet. For real estate, land measurement, and science.
The square metre is the SI base unit of area. It is the area of a square with sides of one metre. All metric area units derive from it: a square kilometre is 1,000,000 m²; a square centimetre is 0.0001 m². In everyday property context, square metres are used for floor area in most countries, and apartment listings in Europe, Asia, and South America are quoted in m².
The acre is the traditional unit of land measurement in the United States and the United Kingdom. One acre is exactly 43,560 square feet, which equals approximately 4,046.86 m² or 0.404686 hectares. The unit originated from the area a team of oxen could plough in a day. Despite its non-decimal origins, the acre remains in legal use for property deeds, agricultural land sales, and zoning in both countries.
The hectare is the standard unit for large land areas in most of the world. One hectare equals exactly 10,000 m² (100 m × 100 m), or about 2.471 acres. Agricultural land, national parks, and urban development plans are quoted in hectares across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. The hectare is not an SI unit but is accepted for use with SI.
Square feet dominate US and UK residential property listings. One square foot equals exactly 0.0929 m². A typical US single-family home is around 2,000-2,500 sq ft (186-232 m²). When comparing properties listed in different countries, the area converter bridges these two systems quickly.
Map scales involve area in a non-obvious way. A map at 1:50,000 means that 1 cm on the map represents 50,000 cm (500 m) on the ground. Area on the map scales by the square of the linear scale: 1 cm² on the map represents 0.25 km² of real land (500 m × 500 m).
In agriculture, crop yields are quoted per hectare. A farm producing 8 tonnes of wheat per hectare is performing well for most of the world's wheat-growing regions. Converting between hectares and acres lets farmers compare yield data published in different countries without ambiguity.
How many acres are in a hectare?
One hectare equals approximately 2.47105 acres. Conversely, one acre equals approximately 0.404686 hectares. A quick mental shortcut: multiply hectares by 2.5 to get a rough acre count.
How many square metres are in a square kilometre?
One square kilometre equals 1,000,000 square metres (1 km × 1 km = 1,000 m × 1,000 m). This is also equal to 100 hectares or about 247.1 acres.
Is square footage the same in the US and UK?
Yes. Both the US and UK use the international foot (0.3048 m), so a square foot is the same in both countries: 0.0929 m². The difference is that UK property listings increasingly quote area in square metres, while US listings almost always use square feet.