Cuerda
The term "cuerda" (and "Spanish acre") refers to various units of measurement in some Spanish-speaking regions, including Spain,[1] Puerto Rico,[1] Guatemala, Cuba,[2] and Paraguay.[1]
By unit type
Cuerda is a unit of area, volume, and distance (length), depending on the country of use.
A unit of area: Puerto Rico and Guatemala
In Puerto Rico, a cuerda is a traditional unit of land area nearly equivalent to 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.
According to Carlos Menocal Villagran,[3] in Guatemala the term cuerda refers to a unit of area and can have various meanings. Cuerda 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 equivalent to 0.8421 meters. (The length of a vara varies slightly among different Latin American countries.) Thus,
- 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
A unit of volume: Cuba
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]
A unit of distance: Guatemala and Spain
In Guatemala, a cuerda is a traditional unit of distance, equal to exactly 25 varas[2] or almost 21 meters (nearly 69 feet).
During 19th-century Spain, a cuerda was a unit of length, 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]
Conversion example
There is a cuerda-to-acre conversion template available in Wikipedia. The following example shows how it is implemented: {{convert|10,000|cda|acre|sp=us}}. This example seeks to convert 10,000 cuerdas into acres. Many other units of area can be used in place of acres, such as square meters, square miles, etc. The actual result of the example above would be as follows: 10,000 cuerdas (9,700 acres)
See also
- Cuerda conversion Template.
- Cuerda Conversion Help and Documentation.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Units - Cuerda. Sizes.com. Puerto Rico Act 135, section 4 (page 100), 1913–14, as amended by Act No. 3, 1913–14: A cuerda, quote: "a unit of land area, approximately 3,930 square meters (approximately 0.971 acres)...In land measurements and records, the measurement by cuerda customarily used in Porto [sic] Rico...equivalent to 3,930.395625 square meters..."
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Units: C: cuerda. Russ Rowlett. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- ↑ Carlos Menocal Villagran. La Importancia para el Notario de Conocer el Sistema de Conversión de Medidas Agrarias al Sistema Métrico Décimal e Interpretatión Básica de Planos. Tesis. Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. San Carlos, Guatemala.