Cuerda

The term "cuerda" (and "Spanish acre") refers to various units of measurement in some Spanish-speaking regions, including Spain,^[1] Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Cuba,^[2] and Paraguay.^[1]

In Puerto Rico, a cuerda is a traditional unit of land area, as nearly 3,930 square meters,^[1][2] or 4,700 square yards, 0.971 acre, or 0.393 hectare (ha). The precise conversion is 1 cuerda = 3,930.395625 m².^[1] The term "Spanish acre" instead has been used sometimes by mainlanders.^[2] A cuerda and an acre have often been treated as equal because they are nearly the same size.

In Cuba, a cuerda is a traditional unit of volume for firewood,^[2] about 21% smaller than the U.S. cord. A cuerda of firewood is equivalent to 0.79 cord or 2.87 cubic meters (128 cubic pies).^[2]

In Guatemala, a cuerda is a traditional unit of distance, equal to exactly 25 varas^[2] or almost 21 meters (nearly 69 feet).

In Guatemala the term cuerda also refers to areas and can refer to areas of different sizes. Cuerdas can refer to areas that are 50 x 50, 40 x 40, 30 x 30, 25 x 25 or 20 x 20 varas (i.e. 2500, 1600, 900, 625, or 400 square varas). In addition, some sources describe a cuerda as 32 x 32 varas. In Guatemala, the linear vara is 0.8421 meters. (The length of vara varies slightly among different Latin American countries.) One cuerda of 50 x 50 varas = 1,746.84 square meters One cuerda of 40 x 40 varas = 1,117.98 square meters One cuerda of 30 x 30 varas = 628.87 square meters One cuerda of 25 x 25 varas = 436.71 square meters One cuerda of 20 x 20 varas = 279.50 square meters ^[3]

In Spain, a cuerda was a unit of length, during the 19th century, of nearly 6.889 m (approx. 7.554 yd).^[1] However, in Valencia, Spain, the cuerda measured 40 varas, over 5.4 times longer, as nearly 37.21 m (approx. 40.7 yd).^[1]

See also

• cusec, shorthand for cubic feet per second

References