Area Converter
Convert between any two square meter units in your browser — instant, accurate, and private.
Example
1 km² = 1,000,000 m². Switch the unit menus to convert between any pair.
How it works
Every value is converted through a single square meter base unit using internationally defined conversion factors, so any from/to pair stays consistent.
Good to know
Area conversion shows up constantly in real life: pricing a flooring or tiling job quoted in square feet when your tape measure reads centimeters, reading a property listing where the lot is sized in acres but the survey is in hectares, or estimating how much paint, sod, or carpet you need from a plan drawn in square meters. Because area scales with the square of length, every one of these jumps is bigger than people expect — getting the unit right matters more here than for plain distance or weight.
The ten units here split cleanly into two families. The metric side (km², m², cm², mm², and the hectare) is built on powers of ten, so conversions are just decimal shifts: 1 m² = 10,000 cm², and 1 hectare = 10,000 m². The imperial/US side (acre, mi², yd², ft², in²) descends from old land and craft measures, where 1 ft² = 144 in², 1 yd² = 9 ft², and 1 acre = 43,560 ft² — numbers that look arbitrary because they are inherited, not designed.
Useful rules of thumb to keep in your head:
- 1 m² ≈ 10.76 ft² (roughly "ten and three-quarters"), and 1 ft² ≈ 0.093 m².
- 1 hectare ≈ 2.47 acres (just under two and a half), and 1 acre ≈ 0.405 hectare.
- 1 km² = 100 hectares = 247 acres, and 1 square mile = 640 acres.
The classic mistake is squaring the linear factor incorrectly — or forgetting to square it at all. Since 1 ft = 0.3048 m, the area factor is 0.3048², which is 0.0929, not 0.3048; people who multiply square feet by 0.3048 land 3x too high. The same trap hits inches: 1 in = 2.54 cm is exact, but 1 in² = 6.4516 cm². For precision, convert through one consistent base unit (this tool uses square meters) and only round the final answer, never the intermediate steps.
Frequently asked questions
What does the area converter do?
It converts between common meter units instantly. Pick a unit to convert from and a unit to convert to, type a value, and the result updates live.
Which units does this converter support?
It includes 10 units: Square kilometer, Square meter, Square centimeter, Square millimeter, Hectare, Acre, Square mile, Square yard, Square foot, Square inch.
Is this converter free and private?
Yes. It runs entirely in your browser, so your inputs never leave your device, there is no sign-up, and it works offline once loaded.
Are the conversions exact?
Conversions use internationally defined factors and are exact where the definitions are exact (for example, 1 inch = 2.54 cm). Displayed results are rounded for readability.
People also ask
How many square feet are in a square meter?
One square meter equals about 10.764 square feet. So a 50 m² apartment is roughly 538 ft², and a 1,000 ft² space is about 92.9 m².
How many acres are in a hectare?
One hectare equals about 2.471 acres, and conversely one acre is about 0.405 hectare. A 5-hectare field is therefore roughly 12.35 acres.
How big is an acre in square feet?
An acre is exactly 43,560 square feet, which is about 4,047 square meters or 0.405 hectare. It's a little smaller than a standard American football field including the end zones.
How many square meters are in a hectare?
A hectare is exactly 10,000 square meters — a square 100 m on each side. Ten hectares make a tenth of a square kilometer.
How many square inches are in a square foot?
There are exactly 144 square inches in a square foot, because 12 inches × 12 inches = 144. A square yard holds 9 square feet, or 1,296 square inches.
How many acres are in a square mile?
A square mile contains exactly 640 acres, equal to about 2.59 square kilometers or 259 hectares. This is why a US survey 'section' of land is one square mile = 640 acres.
How do I convert square centimeters to square meters?
Divide by 10,000, since 1 m² = 10,000 cm². For example, 25,000 cm² is 2.5 m², and 500 cm² is 0.05 m².
Why can't I just multiply by the length conversion factor to convert area?
Because area is two-dimensional, you must square the length factor. For feet to meters use 0.3048² = 0.0929, not 0.3048, otherwise your result will be about three times too large.
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