# Acre

Comparison o 1 Acre wi some Imperial an metric units o aurie (detailed view)
The **acre** is a unit o area uised in the imperial an U.S. customar seestems. It is equivalent tae 43,560 square feet. An acre is aboot 40% o a hectare – slichtly smawer than an American fitbaa field.

The acre is commonly uised in the Unitit States, Antigua an Barbuda American Samoa, the Bahamas, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, the Falkland Islands, Grenada, Guam, the Northren Mariana Islands, Indie, Jamaica, Montserrat, Myanmar, Pakistan, Samoa, Saunt Lucia, Saunt Helena, Sauntt Kitts an Nevis, Saunt Vincent an the Grenadines, Turks and Caicos, an the Unitit States Virgin Islands. It is commonly uised in the Unitit Kinrick, Canadae an Australie, awtho the metric seestem is uised in legislation.

The internaitional seembol o the acre is **ac**, an is defined as 1/640 o a square mile. The maist commonly uised acre the day is the internaitional acre. In the Unitit States baith the internaitional acre an the slichtly different US survey acre are in uise. The maist common uise o the acre is tae measur tracts o land. Ane internaitional acre is defined as exactly 4046.8564224 square metres.

Durin the Middle Ages, a acre wis the amoont o land that coud be pleuched in ane day wi a yoke o oxen an measured bi ane chain in width (22 yards), an ane furlang, or 10 chains in lenth (220 yards), yieldin 4840 square yards.

## Description

Ane acre equals 0.0015625 square miles, 4,840 square yards, 43,560 square feet or aboot 4,047 square metre (0.405 hectare) (see belaw). While aw modren variants o the acre conteen 4,840 square yards, thare are alternative definitions o a yard, sae the exact size o an acre depends on which yard it is based on. Oreeginally, an acre wis unnerstuid as a selion o land sizit at fowerty perches (660 ft) lang an fower perches (66 ft) wide; this mey hae been unnerstuid as an approximation o the amoont o laund a yoke o oxen coud pleuch in ane day an aw. A square enclosin ane acre is approximately 69.57 yards, or 208 feet 9 inches (63.63 metre) on a side. As a unit o measur, an acre haes nae prescribit shape; ony area o 43,560 square feet is a acre.

The acre is aften uised tae express areas o laund in the Unitit States an in kintras whaur the Imperial Seestem is still in uise. As o 2010, the acre is no uised offeecially in the Unitit Kinrick but is still aften seen on estate agents' buirds. In the metric seestem, the hectare is commonly uised for the same purpose. A acre is aboot 40% o a hectare.

## Differences atween internaitional an U.S. survey acres

In the internaitional yard an poond greement o 1959 the Unitit States an five kintras o the Commonweel o Naitions defined the lenth o the internaitional yard tae be exactly 0.9144 metres. Consequently, the internaitional acre is exactly 4,046.8564224 square metres.

Baith the internaitional acre an the U.S. survey acre contain 1/640 o a square mile or 4,840 square yards, but thare are alternative definitions o a yard (see survey fuit an survey yard), sae the exact size o a acre depends on which yard it is based on. The U.S. survey acre is aboot 4,046.872 609 874 252 square metres; its exact value (4046 13,525,426/15,499,969 m2) is based on a inch defined bi 1 metre = 39.37 inches exactly, as established bi the Mendenhall Order. Surveyors in the Unitit States uise baith internaitional an survey feet, an consequently, baith varieties o acre.

Syne the difference atween the U.S. survey acre an internaitional acre is anerly aboot a quairter o the size o a A4 sheet o paper (0.016 square metres, 160 square centimetres or 24.8 square inches), it is uisually no important which ane is bein discussed. Areas are seldom measured wi sufficient accuracy for the different definitions tae be detectable.

## Sooth Asie

In Indie, especially in Sooth Indie, residential plots are measured in cents or decimel, which is ane hundrert o a acre, or 435.60 square feet (40.469 m2). In Sri Lanka the diveesion o a acre intae 160 perches or 4 roods is common.

## Equivalence tae ither units o area

1 internaitional acre is equal tae the follaein metric units:

* 4,046.8564224 square metres
* 0.40468564224 hectare (A square wi 100 m sides haes a area 1 hectare.)

1 United States survey acre is equal tae:

* 4,046.87261 square metres
* 0.404687261 hectare

1 acre (baith variants) is equal tae the follaein customar units:

* 66 feet × 660 feet (43,560 square feet)
* 10 square chains (1 chain = 66 feet = 22 yards = 4 rods = 100 links)
* 1 acre is approximately 208.71 feet × 208.71 feet (a square)
* 4,840 square yards
* 43,560 square feet
* 160 perches. A perch is equal tae a square rod (1 square rod is 0.00625 acre)
* 4 roods
* A furlang bi a chain (furlang 220 yards, chain 22 yards)
* 40 rods bi 4 rods, 160 rods2 (historically fencin wis aften sauld in 40 rod lenths
* ​1⁄640 (0.0015625) square mile (1 square mile is equal tae 640 acres)

Aiblins the easiest wey for U.S residents tae envisage an acre is as a rectangle measurin 88 yards bi 55 yards (​1⁄10 o 880 yards bi ​1⁄16 o 880 yards), aboot ​9⁄10 the size o a staundart American fitbaa field.

The area o ane acre (red) superponit on a American fitbaa field (green) a association fitbaa (soccer) pitch (blue). Tae be mair exact, ane acre is 90.75 percent o a 100 yard (91.44 metre) lang bi 53.33 yard (48.76 metre) wide American fitbaa field (athoot the end zones). The full field, includin the end zones, covers approximately 1.32 acre (0.53 ha).

For residents o ither kintras, the acre micht be envisagit as approximately 56.68 percent o a 105 metre (344.49 feet) lang bi 68 metre (223.10 feet) wide association fitbaa pitch.

It mey be remembered as 44,000 square feet, less 1% an aw.

## Historical oreegin

Template:Anthropic Farm Units
The wird *acre* is derivit frae Auld Inglis *æcer* oreeginally meanin "open field", cognate tae wast coast Norse *ækre* an Swadish *åker*, German *Acker*, Dutch *akker*, Latin *ager*, an Greek *αγρός* (*agros*). In Inglis it wis historically spelt *aker*.

The acre wis approximately the amoont o laund tillable bu a yoke o oxen in ane day. This explains ane definition as the area o a rectangle wi sides o lenth ane chain an ane furlong. A lang narrae strip o laund is mair efficient tae pleuch than a square plot, syne the pleuch daes no hae tae be turned sae aften. The wird "furlang" itsel derives frae the fact that it is *ane furrow lang*.

Afore the enactment o the metric seestem, mony kintras in Europe uised thair awn offeecial acres. Thir wur differently sized in different kintras, for instance, the historical French acre wis 4,221 square metres, whareas in Germany as mony variants o "acre" existit as thare wur German states.

Statutory values for the acre wur enactit in Ingland, an, subsequently, the Unitit Kinrick, bi acts o:

* Edward I,
* Edward III,
* Henry VIII,
* George IV an
* Queen Victoria – the Breetish Weights an Measures Act o 1878 defined it as conteenin 4,840 square yards.

Historically, the size o ferms an laundit estates in the Unitit Kinrick wis uisually expressed in acres (or acres, roods, an perches), even if the nummer o acres wis sae lairge that it micht conveniently hae been expressed in square miles. For example, a certain laundawner micht hae been said tae awn 32,000 acres o laund, no 50 square miles o laund.

The acre is relatit tae the square mile, wi 640 acres makkin up ane square mile. Ane mile is 5280 feet (1760 yards). In wastren Canadae an the wastren Unitit States, diveesions o laund area wur teepically based on the square mile, an fractions thereof. If the square mile is dividit intae quairters, each quairter haes a side lenth o ​1⁄2mile (880 yards) an is ​1⁄4 square mile in area, or 160 acres. Thir subunits wad teepically then again be dividit intae quairters, wi each side bein ​1⁄4 mile lang, an bein ​1⁄16 o a square mile in area, or 40 acres. In the Unitit States, fermland wis teepically dividit as sic, an the phrase "the back 40" wad refer tae the 40 acre parcel tae the back o the ferm. Most o the Canadian Prairie Provinces an the US midwast are on square mile grids for surveyin purposes.

## Ither acres

* **Customar acre** – The customar acre wis a measur o roughly seemilar size tae the acre describit abuin, but it wis subject tae considerable local variation seemilar tae the variation foond in carucates, virgates, bovates, neuks, an farundels. Houiver, thare war mair auncient measures that war an aa farthingales. Thir mey hae been multiples o the customary acre, rather than the statute acre.
* **Builder's acre** – In U.S. construction an real estate development, a area o 40,000 square feet. Uised tae simplifee math an for mercatin, it is nearly 10% smawer than a survey acre.
* **Scots acre**, ane o a nummer o obsolete Scots units o measurement
* **Erse acre** = 7,840 square yards
* **Cheshire acre** = 10,240 square yards
* **Roman acre** = 1,260 square metres
* God's Acre – a synonym for a churchyard.
* The Byzantine zeugarion wis based on the area o fermland which coud be pleuched bi a pair (zeugos) o oxen an aw; this wis adoptit as the Ottoman "çift" (meanin "pair" an aw).

## See an aw

* Anthropic units
* Conversion o units
* Acre-fuit
* Spainyie customar units
* Quarter acre
* French arpent – uised in Louisiana as lenth an area unit o measur
* a Morgen ("fore-nuin") o land is uisually set at ​2⁄3 o a Tagwerk ("day work") o pleuchin wi a ox
* Section (Unitit States land surveyin)
* Public Land Survey System

## Freemit airtins

* The Units of Measurement Regulations 1995 (United Kingdom)
* Cockeyed.com presents "How much is inside an acre?"