Hectare
A hectare (ha) is a metric measurement of area equal to 10,000 square meters or 2.47105 acres.
What is a hectare
A hectare is a measurement of area in the metric system of measurement. The name "hectare" is derived from the metric unit of area, "are," (1 are = 100 m2) and the metric prefix "hecto-" which denotes a factor of 100. Thus, 1 hectare = 100 ares = 10,000 m2. The figure below is a hectare example depicted as a 100 x 100 meter square area.
Although the hectare is a metric unit, it is not an SI (International System of Units) unit. It is, however, accepted for use within SI, and 1 hectare is the equivalent of 1 square hectometre. A hectare is mainly used when measuring large tracts of land between the size of a square meter and square kilometer. Although the are is the primary metric unit of land measurement, the hectare is more commonly used. It is the legal unit of measure in many parts of the world for purposes such as land ownership, agriculture, forestry, and more. The countries in which the hectare is most commonly used include Australia, the US, the UK, Burma, Canada, the EU, and India.
Convert hectares
The following converter can be used to convert between hectares and square meters (m2), square kilometers (km2), square miles (mi2), square yards (yd2), square feet (ft2), and acres (ac).
Below are the conversion factors for hectares to other units of measurement.
Hectare to acre
There are 2.47105 acres in 1 hectare. To convert an area in hectares to acres, multiply by 2.47105. To convert an area in acres to hectares, divide by 2.47105.
Hectare to square meter
There are 10,000 square meters in 1 hectare. To convert an area in hectares to square meters, multiply by 10,000. To convert an area in square meters to hectares, divide by 10,000.
Hectares to square feet
There are 107,639 square feet in 1 hectare. To convert an area in hectares to square feet, multiply by 107,639. To convert an area in square feet to hectares, divide by 107,639.
Hectares to square miles
There are 0.00386 square miles in 1 hectare. To convert an area in hectares to square miles, multiply by 0.00386. To convert an area in square miles to hectares, divide by 0.00386.
Hectares to square yards
There are 11,959.9 square yards in 1 hectare. To convert an area in hectares to square yards, multiply by 11,959.9. To convert an area in square yards to hectares, divide by 11,959.9.
Hectares to square kilometers
There are 0.01 kilometers in a hectare. To convert an area in hectares to square kilometers, multiply by 0.01. To convert an area in square kilometers to hectares, divide by 0.01.
Hectare conversion table
The table below shows the relationships between hectares and other measurements of area.
1 ha | 2.47 ac |
1 ha | 10,000 m2 |
1 ha | 107,639 ft2 |
1 ha | 0.00386 mi2 |
1 ha | 11,959.9 yd2 |
1 ha | 0.01 km2 |
How large is a hectare
To visualize how large a hectare is, we can compare it to the sizes of various fields used in sports. For example, an American football field is a little over half a hectare, a football field is almost ¾ of a hectare, and an international rugby field is the closest in size to an actual hectare.
- American football field - 6396 yd2 ≈ 0.535 ha ≈ 5347.871 m2
- Football (soccer) field - 7292.5 yd2 ≈ 0.73 ha
- Major league baseball field - 0.83 - 1.12 ha
- International rugby field - 10080 m2 = 1.008 ha
From these examples, we can see that most fields used in sports are relatively close in size to a hectare, giving us some concept of how large an area a hectare is. Another example of an area that is close in size to a hectare is Trafalgar Square, which measures approximately 1.2 ha.