Area Converter
Use this area unit converter to easily convert a land area or an object's surface area from one unit to another. Metric and imperial units are supported, including km2, m2, dm2, cm2, mm2, square miles, square yards, square feet, square inches, Acres (ac), and Hectares (ha).
What is an Area?
Area is defined as the quantity which expresses the extent of a two-dimensional figure in a plane. One can think of area as the amount of paint necessary to cover a surface with a single coat. Surface area of a three-dimensional object is the two-dimensional sum of the areas of each of its surfaces. Understanding what an area is can be helpful in making good use of an area units converter.
There are different ways to calculate the areas of differently-shaped surfaces - you can check our area calculators for these. Assuming you know or have measured the area in one unit of area, you might need to convert it to another, which is where our area converter can be of assistance.
Metric Area Units
Area units part of the International System of Measurements (SI) are based on the base unit: the meter, hence the name "metric system". Since every unit of length has a corresponding unit of area (the corresponding area of a square with the given side length) the standard unit of area in SI is the square meter (square metre in British English). Other units include the square kilometer, square decimeter, square centimeter, square millimeter, Hectare, and others. All of them are supported by our area converter. Below is a reference table for these units relative to the meter.
| Unit | Symbol | Equals |
|---|---|---|
| Square Kilometer | km2 | 1,000,000 m2 |
| Hectare | he | 10,000 m2 |
| Square Meter | m2 | 1 m2 |
| Square Decimeter | dm2 | 1/100 m2 |
| Square Centimeter | cm2 | 1/10,000 m2 |
| Square Millimeter | mm2 | 1/1,000,000 m2 |
The "Are" (ar) was originally a metric unit equal to 100 m2, but was later abandoned. A Hect-are, or hectare was originally defined as 100 Ares, but now that the Are is no longer a recognized unit, it is simply defined in terms of the meter.
Square meters, Hectares, and square kilometers are usually used for measuring land area or the surface area of large bodies, e.g. the Earth, a lake, etc. Square decimeters and smaller units are used to measure the surface area of different objects, e.g. for the purpose of calculating the amount of paint required to paint their surface. In the imperial system the square mile, the acre and, less often, the square yard are used for land measurements, while square feet and square inches are used for surface areas.
While all of them are supported by our area converter, this reference table of the imperial units, and their equivalent in feet squared might be helpful in certain situations:
| Unit | Symbol | Equals |
|---|---|---|
| Square mile | sq mi or mi2 | 27,878,399 sq ft |
| Acre | ac | 43,559 sq ft |
| Square Yard | sq yd or yd2 | 9 sq ft |
| Square Feet | sq ft or ft2 | 1 sq ft |
| Square Inch | sq in or in2 | 0.0069444444 sq ft |
Converting area units
Converting between area units is fairly trivial mathematically, especially if you have a calculator at hand, however, you need to know the conversion ratios for the different units. Below are several examples to help you get started but using our converter is by far the most convenient method.
Area conversion examples
Square Meters to Square Feet
Sample task: convert 10 squared meters to squared feet. Solution:
Formula:
m2 / 0.09290304 = ft2
Calculation:
10 m2 / 0.0929 = 107.639104 ft2
End result:
10 m2 is equal to 107.639104 ft2
Acres to Square Miles
Sample task: convert 100 Acres (ac) to square miles. Solution:
Formula:
ac / 640 = sq mi
Calculation:
100 ac / 640 = 0.156250 sq mi
End result:
100 ac is equal to 0.156250 sq mi
Square Miles to Hectares
Sample task: convert 30 sq mi to hectares (ha). Solution:
Formula:
sq mi * 258.999 = ha
Calculation:
30 sq mi * 258.9990 = 7,769.97 ha
End result:
30 sq mi is equal to 7,769.97 ha
Square Kilometers to Square Miles
Sample task: convert 50 square km to square mi. Solution:
Formula:
km2 / 2.59 = sq mi
Calculation:
50 km2 / 2.59 = 19.305019 sq mi
End result:
50 km2 is equal to 19.305019 sq mi
References
1 NIST Special Publication 330 (2008) - "The International System of Units (SI)", edited by Barry N.Taylor and Ambler Thompson
2 International Organization for Standardization (1993). ISO Standards Handbook: Quantities and units (3rd edition). Geneva: ISO. ISBN 92-67-10185-4.
Cite this converter & page
If you'd like to cite this online converter resource and information as provided on the page, you can use the following citation:
Georgiev G.Z., "Area Converter", [online] Available at: https://www.gigacalculator.com/converters/area-unit-converter.php URL [Accessed Date: 06 Jun, 2023].