Area Conversion Calculator
Written by Thierno Sadou Diallo, formula verified per our methodology • Last checked on 9/5/2026
To convert an area, it's brought back to a common unit (the square meter) then converted into the new unit. For example, 10,000 m² represents exactly 1 hectare.
Explanation
The most common area units are the square meter (m²) for a home, the hectare (ha, 10,000 m²) and the are (a, 100 m²) for agricultural land or a plot, while the acre remains the reference unit in English-speaking countries for agricultural or land surfaces, and the square foot (sq ft) is commonly used to express a home's floor area in the United States. Converting an area amounts to multiplying the value by the factor that brings it back to square meters, then dividing by the target unit's factor — exactly what this calculator does, regardless of which pair of units is chosen. The acre used here equals exactly 4,046.8564224 m² (the international definition, slightly different from the 'survey' acre still used for some American cadastral surveys, the gap remaining negligible in practice); the square foot is derived from the exact international foot (0.3048 m), that is 0.3048² = 0.09290304 m². For a length conversion rather than an area, see our length conversion calculator; for a volume, our volume conversion calculator.
Example: converting 1 acre to square meters
Inputs
Value: 1. Starting unit: acre. Target unit: square meters.
Calculation
1 acre = 1 × 4,046.8564224, converted directly to square meters since the target unit is already the base unit.
Result
1 acre represents about 4,046.86 m².
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between an are and a hectare?
A hectare equals 100 ares: 1 are = 100 m², 1 hectare = 10,000 m² = 100 ares. The are is mainly used for modest-sized plots (a garden, a small lot), while the hectare serves as the reference for larger agricultural or forestry areas.
Is the acre used here the same everywhere in the world?
This calculator uses the international acre (exactly 4,046.8564224 m²), the most widely used definition today. The United States also retains, for certain historical cadastral uses, a very slightly different 'survey acre' (the gap is about 4 millionths, entirely negligible for everyday use).
Why do American real estate listings use square feet?
Because the United States uses the imperial system for most everyday measurements, including real estate. A 1000 sq ft apartment corresponds to about 92.9 m² — a useful conversion to know when comparing an American listing to an area expressed in square meters.