Area Converter

This page converts an area from one unit into another. Every value passes through the square metre, the SI unit area is held in, and area stays area: a unit only converts inside its own dimension.

How do you convert an area between square units?

Pick the unit you have, pick the unit you want, and type the value. The page multiplies by the factor between the two and prints the arithmetic under the result, so the answer and the working are the same object.

1. Choose the unit your value is in. This page opens on the hectare.
2. Choose the unit you want it in. This page opens on the acre.
3. Type the value. The result and the factor behind it appear together.
4. Read the working. It converts into the square metre first and out again, which is the same two lines you would write by hand.

Area Conversion Table

One row per unit this page offers, each measured against the square metre. The last column says whether the factor is a definition or a reading of one.

Worked Examples

The question the bank ranked highest for this page, answered with the working.

Where These Factors Come From

Every number above is read from the knowledge base rather than computed for the page. These are the statements it holds for area.

• One hectare is exactly 10 000 m2. One acre is 4840 square yards, which is exactly 4046.8564224 m2.
• When a unit is squared or cubed, its factor is squared or cubed with it. 1 m = 100 cm, so 1 m2 = 10 000 cm2 and 1 m3 = 1 000 000 cm3.
• An exact factor is a definition rather than a measurement. 1 in = 25.4 mm and 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg were fixed by the 1959 international yard and pound agreement, so they never gain another digit.
• How this page reports a result result in the target area unit; the length factor is squared before it is applied

SI prefixes on this page

Why Is the Area Factor Squared?

An area is a length multiplied by a length, so the factor between two area units is the length factor applied twice. That is why the step between square metres and square centimetres is so much larger than the step between metres and centimetres.

The rule behind this factor is the same for every unit - why a squared unit needs a squared factor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Conversions

• Angle sits in the same measurement group as area - convert an angle between degrees and gradians.
• Volume sits in the same measurement group as area - volume in litres, cubic metres and gallons.
• Length sits in the same measurement group as area - convert a length between metres and feet.
• If you are measuring parts-per ratio rather than area, convert a concentration between ppm and ppb instead.
• If you are measuring pressure rather than area, convert a pressure between bar and psi instead.
• If you are measuring mass rather than area, convert a mass between kilograms and pounds instead.

The rest of the family sits on the converter index for every quantity.