Area Converter
Metric, imperial, and land-measurement units, converted both ways.
Common conversions
Area unit reference
What 1 square meter equals in every other unit.
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Why you can't reuse a length conversion factor for area
An inch is exactly 2.54 cm — but a square inch is not 2.54 square centimeters. It's 2.542 = 6.4516 square centimeters. Every area unit is a length unit squared, so its conversion factor has to be squared too, not carried over directly. It's an easy slip to make since the numbers look similar at a glance, but skipping the square gives an answer that's off by a factor of roughly 2.5× in this example — and by far more for units with bigger linear factors.
Land measurement adds a second layer worth knowing: the hectare (10,000 m², a 100m × 100m square) is the standard metric land unit used in most of the world, while the acre (43,560 sq ft exactly) remains the standard in US and UK real estate, farming, and property law. One hectare is about 2.47 acres. A useful, exact cross-check: 1 square mile is defined as exactly 640 acres, which is why "a section" (US land survey terminology) means one square mile.