Are

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the unit of area. For other uses, see Are (disambiguation).

Comparison of Area units
Unit	nearest SI	SI base
1 ca	1 m²	1 m²
1 a	1 dam²	10² m²
1 ha	1 hm²	10⁴ m²
100 ha	1 km²	10⁶ m²
non-SI comparisons
non-SI	metric	SI base
119.6 sq yard	1 a	10² m²
1076.39 sq ft	1 a	10² m²

An are (symbol a) is a unit of area, equal to 100 square meters (10 m × 10 m), used for measuring land area. It was defined by older forms of the metric system, but is not part of the modern metric system, the International System (SI). It is accepted, but not encouraged, for use with the SI.

It is commonly used in many countries—in particular, in French-, Portuguese-, Polish- Dutch- and German-speaking countries—to measure real estate; elsewhere, the square meter is usually used. The are is sometimes used in combination with the centiare, e.g. "10 ares 12 centiares" = 1012 m². Larger land areas are generally measured in hectares. The decare is commonly used in the former Ottoman countries, usually under local names. Other prefixes for multiples and submultiples of the are are not in common use. There are other local units which are exact multiples of the are, e.g. the Thai rai, 16 a.

The are is the standard unit of measurement for private plots of land (as opposed to large industrial and agricultural properties) in Russia and all the countries of the former Soviet Union. But since the original root word "are" has never been in use in Russian, and only the word "hectare" exists as a unit of land measurement, the Russian word for "are" is "sotka" (сотка), which roughly translates as "hundredth". Thus, the Russian language regards the hectare as the "root" unit of measurement, and a "sotka" is essentially a "centihectare", or (are x 100 ÷ 100)! City dwellers in the former USSR use the term "sotka" to describe the size of their suburban dacha or allotment garden plots or small city parks; country dwellers or wealthy suburban homeowners use it to describe the size of the private yards around their houses, small private orchards, and the like. Hectares are used to describe larger plots of land, such as a factory complex, a collective farm, a university campus, a nature preserve, or the country's lone golf course.