Hectares to Square Kilometers
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1 hectare (ha) = 0.01 square kilometer (sq km). Hectare (ha) is a unit of Area used in Metric system. Square Kilometer (sq km) is a unit of Area used in Metric system.

Hectare: A Unit of Area

A hectare is a unit of area that is primarily used for measuring land in the metric system. It is equal to 10,000 square meters, or 0.01 square kilometer, or 2.471 acres. The symbol for hectare is ha.

Definition of the Hectare

The hectare is defined as the area of a square that has a side length of 100 meters. This is equivalent to 100 ares, where an are is a unit of area equal to 100 square meters.

The hectare is not an official unit in the International System of Units (SI), but it is accepted for use with SI units and internationally recognized by countries that use the metric system. It is also legally used in some domains related to land ownership, planning, and management, such as law, agriculture, forestry, and environmental protection.

History of the Hectare

The word hectare comes from the French word hectare, which in turn comes from the Greek word hekaton, meaning one hundred. The hectare was introduced in France in 1795 as part of the metric system, which aimed to simplify and standardize the units of measurement.

The hectare was originally intended to be a unit of area equal to one square hectometer, or one hundredth of a square kilometer. However, due to a mistake in the definition of the meter at that time, the actual area of a hectare was slightly larger than intended. This error was corrected in 1889, when the meter was redefined based on the distance between two marks on a platinum-iridium bar kept in Paris.

The hectare became widely used throughout the world for measuring large areas of land, especially in countries that adopted the metric system or had historical ties with France. However, some countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, still use other units of area, such as the acre, for some purposes.

How to Convert Hectare to Other Units

To convert a hectare to other units of area, we can use the following conversion factors:

• 1 hectare = 10,000 square meters
• 1 hectare = 0.01 square kilometer
• 1 hectare = 2.471 acres
• 1 hectare = 107,639 square feet
• 1 hectare = 11,960 square yards
• 1 hectare = 15.4 dunams (a unit used in Israel and Palestine)

To convert from other units to a hectare, we can use the inverse of these conversion factors.

For example, to convert 50 acres to hectares, we can use:

50 acres x (1 hectare / 2.471 acres) = 20.23 hectares

Where Hectare is Used

The hectare is commonly used in many countries for measuring land area, especially for real estate, agriculture, forestry, and environmental planning. It is also used by some international organizations and conventions for reporting and comparing data on land use and cover.

Some examples of uses of the hectare are:

• The average size of a farm in Canada in 2016 was 820 hectares.
• The largest country in the world by area, Russia, has an area of about 1.7 billion hectares.
• The Amazon rainforest covers about 550 million hectares in South America.
• The smallest national park in the world by area, Moyenne Island National Park in Seychelles, has an area of about 0.09 hectare.
• The largest solar power plant in the world by area, Bhadla Solar Park in India, has an area of about 14,000 hectares.

Example Conversions of Hectare to Other Units

Here are some example conversions of a hectare to other units:

• 1 hectare = 10,000 square meters
• 1 hectare = 100 ares
• 1 hectare = 0.01 square kilometer
• 1 hectare = 2.471 acres
• 1 hectare = 107,639 square feet
• 1 hectare = 11,960 square yards
• 1 hectare = 15.4 dunams

Square Kilometer: A Unit of Area

Definition of the Square Kilometer

A square kilometer is a unit of area that measures the size of a surface. It is defined as the area of a square whose sides are one kilometer long. A square kilometer is equal to 1,000,000 square meters, 100 hectares, or 0.386102 square miles. It is also the base unit of area in the metric system.

How to Convert Square Kilometer to Other Units

To convert a square kilometer to other units of area, we need to multiply or divide by a conversion factor. A conversion factor is a number that relates two units of measurement. For example, to convert a square kilometer to a square mile, we need to multiply by 0.386102, which is the conversion factor between these two units. Here are some common conversion factors for square kilometer and other units of area:

• 1 square kilometer = 0.386102 square miles
• 1 square kilometer = 247.105 acres
• 1 square kilometer = 100 hectares
• 1 square kilometer = 1000000 square meters
• 1 square kilometer = 10000000000 square centimeters
• 1 square kilometer = 1000000000000 square millimeters

Where Square Kilometer is Used

The square kilometer is widely used around the world as a standard unit of area measurement. It is used for various purposes, such as measuring the size of countries, regions, cities, lakes, islands, parks, forests, and more. Different countries may have different preferences or regulations for using the square kilometer or other units of area in different applications. Here are some examples:

• In most countries, the square kilometer is used for measuring the area of countries and regions.
• In the United States, the square mile is more commonly used for measuring the area of states and counties, but the square kilometer is also used for some purposes, such as census data and environmental reports.
• In Canada, the square kilometer is used for measuring the area of provinces and territories, but the acre and the hectare are also used for measuring smaller areas of land.
• In Australia and New Zealand, the square kilometer is used for measuring the area of states and territories, but the hectare is also used for measuring smaller areas of land.
• In India, the square kilometer is used for measuring the area of states and districts, but the bigha and the acre are also used for measuring agricultural land.
• In China, the square kilometer is used for measuring the area of provinces and municipalities, but the mu and the hectare are also used for measuring agricultural land.

History of Square Kilometer

The concept of measuring area by using squares dates back to ancient times. The ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans all used different units of area based on squares with different side lengths. For example, the ancient Egyptians used a unit called setat, which was equal to a square with sides of 100 cubits (about 52 meters). The ancient Greeks used a unit called plethron, which was equal to a square with sides of 100 feet (about 30 meters). The ancient Romans used a unit called iugerum, which was equal to a square with sides of 120 feet (about 35 meters).

The modern definition of the square kilometer was established in 1795 by the French Academy of Sciences as part of the metric system. The metric system was designed to create a universal and rational system of measurement based on natural phenomena and decimal multiples. The original definition of the meter was one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole along a meridian. The original definition of the square kilometer was then derived from this definition as the area of a square whose sides are one thousand meters long.

The definition of the meter has been revised several times over the years to improve its accuracy and precision. The current definition of the meter was adopted in 1983 by the General Conference on Weights and Measures as “the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299792458 second”. The current definition of the square kilometer is then derived from this definition as before.

Example Conversions of Square Kilometer to Other Units

Here are some examples of converting a given area in square kilometers to other units:

• A country that has an area of 10 square kilometers can be converted to:
  • 3.86102 square miles
  • 2471.05 acres
  • 1000 hectares
  • 10000000 square meters
  • 100000000000 square centimeters
  • 100000000000000 square millimeters
• A lake that has an area of 100 square kilometers can be converted to:
  • 38.6102 square miles
  • 24710.5 acres
  • 10000 hectares
  • 100000000 square meters
  • 1000000000000 square centimeters
  • 1000000000000000 square millimeters
• A park that has an area of 0.1 square kilometers can be converted to:
  • 0.0386102 square miles
  • 24.7105 acres
  • 10 hectares
  • 100000 square meters
  • 1000000000 square centimeters
  • 1000000000000 square millimeters