Ares Converter – Ares to Acre, Sq Ft, Hectare & Other Land Units

Written and fact-checked by Aadil Saif. Arithmetic independently re-verified · Last updated September 2026

Part of the India Land Unit Converter series.

Every figure was computed in exact fraction arithmetic from one anchor (1 are = 100 square metres, against 1 acre = 4,046.8564224 m² exactly), and machine-checked to confirm that each unit chain closes. Nothing was copied from another converter. Where sources disagree, this page shows the disagreement instead of choosing silently. Where a value could not be verified, it says so rather than supplying a plausible number.

1 are = 100 square metres = 0.01 hectare = 1,076.391041671 square feet = 0.0247105381 acre

Most people who look up the are are not converting a number they chose. They are reading one they were handed, because the are is the middle column of an Indian land record, and almost nobody speaks it.

That gap is what this page is really about. Under the Legal Metrology (National Standards) Rules, 2011, the are is named as the first unit for measurement of land area in India. The acre, the unit the entire country actually transacts in, is not named in those Rules at all. Yet a Maharashtra farmer reads आर on the 7/12 every year and says guntha out loud, and those two units are not the same size.

The One Thing to Get Right: An Are Is Not a Guntha

If you take nothing else from this page, take this.

Are Guntha
Definition 10 m × 10 m 33 ft × 33 ft
Square metres 100 101.17141056
Square feet 1,076.391042 1,089
Per hectare 100 98.842153
Per acre 40.468564 40
Ares Square Meter Square Feet Hectare Guntha Acre
1 100 1,076.391042 0.01 0.988422 0.024711
2 200 2,152.782083 0.02 1.976843 0.049421
3 300 3,229.173125 0.03 2.965265 0.074132
5 500 5,381.955208 0.05 4.942108 0.123553
10 1,000 10,763.910417 0.1 9.884215 0.247105
20 2,000 21,527.820833 0.2 19.768431 0.494211
50 5,000 53,819.552084 0.5 49.421076 1.235527
100 10,000 107,639.104167 1 98.842153 2.471054
200 20,000 215,278.208334 2 197.684305 4.942108
500 50,000 538,195.520835 5 494.210763 12.355269
1,000 100,000 1,076,391.041671 10 988.421526 24.710538

The guntha is 1.171411% larger than the are. They are not interchangeable, and the reason they get confused is not carelessness. It is that they are almost the same size by accident:

33 feet = 10.0584 metres. The two units are built on side lengths that differ by 5.84 centimetres.

That near-identity is why the error survives. It is small enough to look like rounding and large enough to matter: 1 hectare is 98.84 gunthas, not 100. A 7/12 extract showing 40 ares is 4,000 m², but read as 40 gunthas it becomes 4,046.86 m², which is exactly one acre. The reader believes they have an acre. They have 0.9884 acre, short by 46.86 m², about 504 square feet.

This Confusion Is Documented, Not Hypothetical

We found it in print, in Marathi, four separate ways:

  • A published Marathi conversion table states "१ आर = १ गुंठा" (1 are = 1 guntha) and, in the same table, "१ हेक्टर = ९८.८ गुंठे" (1 hectare = 98.8 gunthas). Both cannot be true. This is the error caught in the act.
  • A popular Marathi 7/12 guide, a document whose entire purpose is teaching people to read their land record, gives "1 एकर = 40 आर". One acre is 40.468564224 ares. The figure 40 is the guntha value, substituted for the are.
  • A genre of Marathi explainers exists titled "आर आणि गुंठा यामध्ये काय फरक आहे?": "What is the difference between are and guntha?" People write those articles because people need them.
  • A widely-read reference assigns the guntha the symbol "(R)". On a 7/12, R stands for आर. The are. The letter in the middle column has been attached to the wrong unit in a reference many readers start from.

And there appears to be no official guidance at all. We searched for a Maharashtra or Gujarat government explainer telling citizens how to read the area columns, and for any official are-to-guntha conversion table. We found neither. The state prescribes the format and does not explain it.

Practical rule: on a 7/12 or any Indian land record, R means are, not guntha. If you need gunthas, multiply the are figure by 0.988421526, or take the square-metre figure and divide by 101.17141056.

Ares Conversion Calculator

Standard applied: 1 are = 100 m² exactly, the definition in the Legal Metrology (National Standards) Rules, 2011. Conversions into metric units are exact. Conversions into acre-derived and traditional units are recurring decimals and are marked as such. Conversions into bigha, biswa, katha, dhur, kanal, marla, nali or ankanam require a state or district. The calculator will say so rather than return a default.

Ares Square Metres Square Feet Hectares Acres Guntha
1 100 1,076.39 0.01 0.024711 0.9884
2 200 2,152.78 0.02 0.049421 1.9768
5 500 5,381.96 0.05 0.123553 4.9421
10 1,000 10,763.91 0.10 0.247105 9.8842
20 2,000 21,527.82 0.20 0.494211 19.7684
50 5,000 53,819.55 0.50 1.235527 49.4211
100 10,000 107,639.10 1.00 2.471054 98.8422
200 20,000 215,278.21 2.00 4.942108 197.6843
500 50,000 538,195.52 5.00 12.355269 494.2108
1,000 100,000 1,076,391.04 10.00 24.710538 988.4215

Contents

Understanding the unit What Is an Are? · The Are in Indian Law · The Are on Your Land Record · Are vs Acre · Are vs Hectare · Are vs Guntha · The Conversion Formula · All Formulas at a Glance

Metric conversions (all exact) Square Metre · Hectare · Square Kilometre · Square Centimetre

Imperial and acre-derived conversions (all recurring) Square Feet · Square Yard · Acre · Cent · Decimal · Dismil · Guntha · Perch · Killa · Murabba · Square Inch · Square Mile · Gaj

Regional conversions (state required) Ankanam · Gajam · Ground · Bigha · Biswa · Biswa Kacha · Katha · Dhur · Chatak · Lessa · Kanal · Marla · Square Karam · Nali · Pura

Using the numbers How to Calculate Land Area in Ares · Accuracy and Rounding · Reverse Conversions · Worked Examples · Before You Convert · FAQ · Quick Reference

A note on spelling. Section headings use the spellings people search with in India, Square Meter, Square Centimeter, Square Kilometer. Body text uses metre, centimetre, kilometre. Same units either way. The unit's name is spelled are (plural ares), symbol a; in Marathi and Hindi it is आर, in Gujarati આર.

Convert to a specific unit: Acre · Ankanam · Bigha · Biswa · Biswa Kacha · Cent · Chatak · Decimal · Dhur · Dismil · Gaj · Gajam · Ground · Guntha · Hectare · Kanal · Katha · Killa · Lessa · Marla · Murabba · Nali · Perch · Pura · Square Centimeter · Square Feet · Square Inch · Square Karam · Square Kilometer · Square Meter · Square Mile · Square Yard

Every one of the other thirty-two units has a section on this page. Where two units are the same area their table would be identical, so the second section points at the first rather than repeating it.

Ares to Other Units – Quick Conversion Formula

Every factor is an are's own size, 1,076.391042 square feet, divided by the target unit's. To check any row by hand, take that number, divide, and compare.

Each one comes from a single anchor, the acre at 43,560 square feet, by exact fraction arithmetic. Where a factor recurs, the formula gives the fraction rather than a rounded decimal, because a rounded factor is a wrong instruction rather than an approximate one: the fraction is what has to be carried wherever the arithmetic must close.

Conversion Formula Status
Ares to Acre Ares ÷ 40.468564224 Recurring
Ares to Ankanam Ares ÷ 0.0668901888 Recurring · Ankanam is regional. This row is the Standard; also 29.899751
Ares to Bigha Ares ÷ 16.1874256896 Recurring · Bigha is regional. This row is the Rajasthan kachha / Gujarat vigha / Uttarakhand Terai; also 0.039537, 0.118611, 0.158147 and 5 more
Ares to Biswa Ares ÷ 1.264642632 Recurring · Biswa is regional. This row is the UP / Rajasthan pucca; also 1.235527, 2.372212, 2.471054
Ares to Biswa Kacha Ares ÷ 0.421547544 Recurring · Biswa Kacha is regional. This row is the Punjab / Haryana revenue; also 1.235527
Ares to Cent Ares ÷ 0.40468564224 Recurring
Ares to Chatak Ares ÷ 0.041806368 Recurring
Ares to Decimal Ares ÷ 0.40468564224 Recurring
Ares to Dhur Ares ÷ 0.0632321316 Recurring · Dhur is regional. This row is the Bihar / Jharkhand (Patna chain); also 298.997512
Ares to Dismil Ares ÷ 0.40468564224 Recurring
Ares to Gaj Ares ÷ 0.0083612736 Recurring
Ares to Gajam Ares ÷ 0.0083612736 Recurring
Ares to Ground Ares ÷ 2.22967296 Recurring
Ares to Guntha Ares ÷ 1.0117141056 Recurring
Ares to Hectare Ares × 0.01 Exact
Ares to Kanal Ares ÷ 5.058570528 Recurring · Kanal is regional. This row is the Standard (66-inch karam); also 0.239198, 0.26045, 0.295306
Ares to Katha Ares ÷ 1.264642632 Recurring · Katha is regional. This row is the Bihar state standard; also 1.494988, 0.373747, 0.617763 and 2 more
Ares to Killa Ares ÷ 40.468564224 Recurring
Ares to Lessa Ares ÷ 0.1337803776 Recurring
Ares to Marla Ares ÷ 0.2529285264 Recurring · Marla is regional. This row is the Standard (66-inch karam); also 4.78396, 5.209, 5.906124 and 1 more
Ares to Murabba Ares ÷ 1,011.7141056 Recurring · Murabba is regional. This row is the Punjab canal colony; also 0.001581
Ares to Nali Ares ÷ 2.006705664 Recurring
Ares to Perch Ares ÷ 0.2529285264 Recurring
Ares to Pura Ares ÷ 53.51215104 Recurring
Ares to Square Centimeter Ares × 1,000,000 Exact
Ares to Square Feet Ares ÷ 0.0009290304 Recurring
Ares to Square Inch Ares ÷ 0.0000064516 Recurring
Ares to Square Karam Ares ÷ 0.0281031696 Recurring · Square Karam is regional. This row is the Standard (66-inch karam); also 43.055642, 46.881001, 53.155113
Ares to Square Kilometer Ares × 0.0001 Exact
Ares to Square Meter Ares × 100 Exact
Ares to Square Mile Ares ÷ 25,899.88110336 Recurring
Ares to Square Yard Ares ÷ 0.0083612736 Recurring

What Is an Are?

An are (symbol a, pronounced to rhyme with "car") is a metric unit of area equal to a square ten metres on a side: 100 square metres, exactly.

It sits one step below the hectare and two above the square metre:

1 hectare = 100 ares · 1 are = 100 square metres · 1 square metre = 100 square decimetres

In BIPM's own formulation, 1 a = 1 dam² = 10² m². The are is simply the square decametre under an older name.

Where It Comes From

The are is one of the original units of the metric system. The loi du 18 germinal an III (7 April 1795) (the French law that named the metre, the litre and the gramme) also defined "the are (100 m²) for area of land." The name is from the Latin area. The Comité International des Poids et Mesures adopted the are and the hectare, and their symbols, in 1879, which is the adoption the current SI Brochure still cites.

So the are is not a traditional or folk unit that survived metrication. It is a founding metric unit that predates most of what it now sits alongside in Indian land records.

Its Status Changed in June 2026

This is recent enough that most references are out of date, and it is worth getting right.

Before: the SI Brochure, 9th edition (2019), had a Table 8 titled "Non-SI units accepted for use with the SI units." The hectare was in it. The are was not: it had never been granted that status.

Now: BIPM published version 4.01 of the SI Brochure on 4 June 2026, announcing that it "introduces revisions to the section on non-SI units." Table 8 is retitled simply "Non-SI units", and its contents are reorganised into four categories. The are and the hectare now both appear under "Historical names for decimal multiples and submultiples of SI units", alongside the litre and the tonne, with the footnote: "The CIPM adopted the units are and hectare, and their symbols, in 1879."

Read carefully, this is as much a demotion of the hectare as a promotion of the are. The old position was genuinely odd: the hectare was "accepted," while the are it is built from was not listed at all. The 2026 revision puts both in the same place.

Is the are deprecated? No: and be careful with that word, because it is being used loosely elsewhere. No BIPM, NIST or ISO text we could retrieve says the are is deprecated. The accurate position is: not part of the SI, not recommended for scientific work, not forbidden, and expressly documented by BIPM so that conversions remain unambiguous. The Brochure itself notes that such units are widely used and expected to remain so for many years.

What is now superseded: any statement that "the hectare is accepted for use with the SI while the are is not." That was true until 4 June 2026. It is not the current position.

Where the Are Is Used

It is still in everyday use for real estate in India, Indonesia and parts of Europe; in Russian-speaking regions the same 100 m² quantity is called a sotka. We found no country where the are is the primary land unit. Everywhere it appears, it appears alongside something larger.

A correction to a claim in circulation: the Japanese 畝 (se) is not an are. It is 12,000/121 m² ≈ 99.174 m², about 0.83% smaller. The resemblance is an artefact of the Meiji-era metric redefinition, not an identity.

Basic Ares Conversions

Unit 1 Are Equals Exact?
Square Metre 100 Exact
Square Centimetre 1,000,000 Exact
Hectare 0.01 Exact
Square Kilometre 0.0001 Exact
Square Feet 1,076.391041671 Recurring
Square Yard / Gajam / Gaj 119.599004630 Recurring
Square Inch 155,000.310001 Recurring
Acre / Killa 0.0247105381 Recurring
Square Mile 0.0000386102 Recurring
Cent / Decimal / Dismil 2.4710538147 Recurring
Guntha 0.9884215259 Recurring
Ground 0.4484962674 Recurring
Ankanam (72 sq ft) 14.9498755788 Recurring
Perch / Marla (standard) 3.9536861035 Recurring
Kanal (standard) 0.1976843052 Recurring
Chatak 23.9198009260 Recurring
Lessa 7.4749377894 Recurring
Bigha, Biswa, Katha, Dhur, Nali Region-specific n/a

The Pattern Worth Noticing

Look at that "Exact?" column. Only four conversions are exact, and all four are metric. Everything else (every imperial unit, every acre-derived unit, every traditional Indian unit) is a recurring decimal.

That is the opposite of how most units on this site behave, and the reason is structural. The are was defined against the metre; the acre, guntha, cent and bigha were all defined against the foot and the chain. The two families do not divide into each other, because 1 foot = 0.3048 m is a definition chosen for compatibility, not for tidiness.

The practical consequence: when you convert ares into anything non-metric, you are always rounding. This page marks every such value, and the Accuracy and Rounding section explains where that actually costs you something.

The Are in Indian Law: the Unit the Acre Is Not

The Are Is Named in Indian Law. The Acre Is Not.

The Legal Metrology (National Standards) Rules, 2011 (dated 31 January 2011), Sixth Schedule, Rule 17, item 4, provides:

"The first unit for measurement of land area shall be the 'are' (Symbol : a). The 'are' is the area of a square with sides of length 10 metres. 1 a = 1 dam² = 10² m²"

"The second unit for measurement of land area shall be hectare (Symbol: ha). The hectare is the area of a square with sides of length 100 metres. 1 ha = 1 hm² = 10⁴ m²"

Read the drafting. The are is not an afterthought or a tolerated survival. It is the first named unit for land area in Indian metrology law, with the hectare second. The general unit of area is set separately, in the Second Schedule: "The unit of area shall be the square metre."

And the acre appears nowhere. We checked the full text of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and of the National Standards Rules, 2011 against two independent copies. The word "acre" does not occur in either instrument. Neither do bigha, biswa, katha, guntha, cent, kanal, marla or ankanam.

So India's position, stated plainly:

Unit Named in Indian metrology law? What Indians actually use it for
Square metre Yes, the unit of area Registration, layout approvals
Are Yes, the first unit of land area The middle column of a land record. Almost never spoken
Hectare Yes, the second unit of land area Records, statistics, scheme thresholds
Acre No Nearly every land transaction in the country
Guntha, cent, bigha, katha, kanal, marla, ankanam No Daily speech across most of India

The inversion is the point. The unit with the strongest legal standing is the one nobody says out loud, and the unit everyone transacts in has no standing at all.

How the Are Entered Indian Law

Not through primary legislation. The Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1956, section 9, provides only that "The primary unit of area shall be the square metre." Neither "are" nor "hectare" nor "acre" appears in the 1956 Act. The are entered below Act level, in subordinate rules, and the 2011 Rules are where it now sits.

Two further points, each flagged for what we could and could not confirm:

  • One copy of the 2011 Rules renders the Sixth Schedule heading as "Temporarily accepted Units". A striking parallel to BIPM's own 2026 recategorisation, arrived at independently and fifteen years earlier. We saw this in a single source and have not checked it against the gazette, so treat the heading as unconfirmed.
  • The same schedule provides that the metric prefixes may not be used with the are or the hectare, so there is no such thing as a "kilo-are"; the hectare is the one permitted prefixed form. Single source; unconfirmed against the gazette.

What we could not verify: whether the Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976 and its rules listed the are, and therefore whether there is unbroken continuity from 1956 to 2011. We did not retrieve the 1976 schedules and are not going to assert it.

One more negative worth stating: India's own BIS standard on quantities and units, IS 1890 (Part 0):1995 (identical with ISO 31-0:1992), does not name the are or the hectare anywhere. Its table of units accepted for use with SI covers minute, hour, day, degree, litre and tonne only. So the operative Indian authority for the are is the Legal Metrology Rules, not BIS.

The Are on Your Land Record: How to Read the 7/12

For most readers this is why they are here. The are is not a unit you choose. It is a unit you are handed.

Maharashtra: the 7/12 (सातबारा उतारा)

Maharashtra records land area in हे.आर.चौ.मी. Hectare–are–square metre. If you have seen it written as "H-R-Sqm" and also as "He.Ar.Chau.Mi," those are the same thing: one is the English rendering of the Marathi abbreviation.

There is an asymmetry that almost no English-language source mentions:

"सर्व शेतजमिनी हे.आर.चौ.मी आणि अकृषिक जमिनीचे क्षेत्र आर.चौ.मी. मध्ये नमूद केले जाते" All agricultural land is recorded in hectare–are–square metre; the area of non-agricultural land in are–square metre.

Agricultural land: three fields (H-R-Sqm). Non-agricultural land: two fields (R-Sqm), with no hectare column at all. If you are looking at a non-agricultural plot and expecting three numbers, that is why there are two.

How to read it. The fields are positional, not decimal. An entry of 0.40.50 is:

0 hectares + 40 ares + 50 square metres = 4,050 square metres

and that is 1.000777 acres, 40.0311 gunthas, 43,593.84 square feet.

Who maintains it. The 7/12 is kept by the village talathi under the tahsildar, and changes to it are recorded through the mutation register (फेरफार, ferfar) before they appear on the extract. If a sale has been registered but the 7/12 still shows the old holder or the old area, the mutation has not gone through yet, and the area that will eventually be transferred is the one in the record, not the one in the agreement.

What changed in 2020. A Maharashtra government resolution dated 2 September 2020, part of a package of eleven revisions to the गाव नमुना सात बारा, mandated exactly this format (hectare–are–square metre for agricultural land, are–square metre for non-agricultural) expressly replacing the older एकर–गुंठे (acre–guntha) presentation. We have the date from two Marathi sources but could not retrieve the GR's own number; check the Maharashtra revenue department's GR portal before citing it formally.

Pot Kharaba (पोट खराबा). The 7/12 carries a separate uncultivable-area entry, in the same units, recorded in two classes with a total beneath:

Class What it is Assessment
वर्ग अ (Class A) Rocky ground, nullahs, ditches, pits, uncultivable by nature Not assessed. The cultivator may bring it under cultivation without extra assessment
वर्ग ब (Class B) Reserved for public purposes, roads, water channels, tanks, cremation grounds Cultivation prohibited under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966, section 43

The left-hand block of गाव नमुना ७ also carries separate areas for जिरायत (rain-fed) and बागायत (irrigated) land, each written separately with cumulative totals. When someone quotes you a 7/12 area, ask whether it includes pot kharaba, the assessed cultivable area and the total parcel area are different numbers, and Class B is land you may not farm.

We could not locate the specific section of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code or the Record of Rights Rules prescribing the unit; the 2020 resolution is the best instrument we found.

Other States: What We Verified, and What We Did Not

We are going to be unusually restrictive here, because the searchable material on this topic is dominated by unofficial "bhulekh" mirror sites and generated blogs, and a confident state-by-state table would be the least defensible thing on this page.

Verified:

State Record Area unit Confidence
Maharashtra 7/12 (Mahabhulekh) Hectare–are–square metre; are–square metre for non-agricultural High
Andhra Pradesh Adangal / Form 1-B (Meebhoomi) Acres–cents. The are does not appear Medium-high; a Government of India study on land-record quality states plainly that "the unit of land measurement in RoR is acres"
Punjab Jamabandi Local units converted to hectares. The Land Records Manual, Chapter 9, para 9.11: "The field kanungo will satisfy himself that areas have been correctly converted into hectares from the local standard." The are is not a named sub-unit Medium-high

Weakly evidenced: Gujarat appears to use the same હે-આર-ચો.મી (hectare–are–square metre) convention, and Gujarati land-records material uses it throughout with 1 હેક્ટર = 100 આરે. But we found no Gujarat equivalent of Maharashtra's 2020 resolution and could not confirm the official column headings. Treat Gujarat as probably the same as Maharashtra, not confirmed.

Not verified: and we are not going to guess: Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odisha, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. (Digitisation under the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme has moved most states towards metric fields, but "most" is not "all" and the programme does not prescribe a single national unit.) Searches returned no citable government source for the area unit used in their digitised records. If you need to know, open your own state's portal and read a live record. That is one lookup, and it beats any table we could have written.

A curiosity from Punjab. The Land Records Manual does contain a member of the are's family, but not the are itself: para 9.3 refers to "biwsa or ¼ kanal or 50 centares". The centiare (1/100 are = 1 m²). Note that ¼ kanal is about 126 m², not 50, so that equivalence is loose or local; verify it directly before relying on it.

The Honest Summary

In India the are is a write-only unit. The state records land in it; the market speaks in gunthas, acres, bighas and cents. Marathi property writers put it exactly that way, the documents say आर, the people say गुंठा.

That is why this page exists, and why the guntha warning is at the top rather than buried in a conversion section.

Are vs Acre

Feature Are Acre
Measurement system Metric Imperial / customary
Defined as 100 m² exactly 4,840 sq yd = 4,046.8564224 m² exactly
Origin French law of 1795; adopted by the CIPM in 1879 A furlong by a chain, 660 ft × 66 ft
Which is larger n/a The acre, by 40.47×
In square feet 1,076.391042 43,560
Named in Indian metrology law Yes, the first unit of land area No
Where you meet it in India Land records (the "R" column) Every conversation about land

1 acre = 40.468564224 ares, exactly, and note that this is one of the rare acre conversions that terminates. 1 are = 0.0247105381467… acre, recurring.

Why Both Appear in the Same Transaction

They come from opposite ends of the same document. A Maharashtra farmer's 7/12 states the holding in hectares and ares; the buyer, the broker and the price are all in acres. Neither party is wrong, and the conversion between them is exact in one direction, but it is not a round number in either, which is precisely why brokers reach for the guntha instead and get it wrong.

The number to remember: 40.47 ares to the acre, not 40. The figure 40 is the guntha count. Using 40 ares per acre understates by 1.17%. Full tables in Ares to Acre.

Are vs Hectare

The cleanest relationship on this page, and the only one that needs no arithmetic.

1 hectare = 100 ares · 1 are = 0.01 hectare

Both are metric; the hectare is simply the are's hundred-fold multiple, and the prefix rule means the hectare is the only permitted prefixed form of the are.

Ares Hectares
1 0.01
10 0.10
50 0.50
100 1.00
1,000 10.00

The full table is in Ares to Hectare.

Which to Use

Are Hectare
Size 100 m² 10,000 m²
Good for A single plot, a house site, the second column of a 7/12 A farm, a village survey number, agricultural statistics
In the SI Brochure (v4.01, June 2026) Historical decimal name Historical decimal name, same category since June 2026
In Indian law First unit of land area Second unit of land area

Until June 2026 these two had different standing internationally. The hectare accepted, the are not listed. They now sit together. In Indian law they have always sat together, with the are named first.

Ares = Hectares × 100 · Hectares = Ares ÷ 100

Are vs Guntha

Covered at the top of this page because it is the error that costs money, but the numbers in full belong with the guntha.

Are Guntha
Definition 10 m × 10 m 33 ft × 33 ft
Square metres 100 101.17141056
Square feet 1,076.391042 1,089
Square yards 119.599005 121
Per hectare 100 98.842153
Per acre 40.468564 40
Guntha is larger by n/a 1.171411%

Where the Error Actually Bites

Reading Believed area Actual area Difference
"40 ares" read as 40 gunthas 4,046.86 m² (1 acre) 4,000 m² (0.9884 acre) 46.86 m² = 504 sq ft
"1 hectare" assumed to be 100 gunthas 10,117.14 m² 10,000 m² 117.14 m² = 1.16 gunthas
A 10-hectare holding 101,171.41 m² 100,000 m² 1,171.41 m² = 11.58 gunthas ≈ 0.29 acre

On a single house plot this is a rounding annoyance. On an agricultural holding priced per guntha it is a real sum of money, and it compounds with the size of the parcel.

Why It Happens

Not carelessness. 33 feet is 10.0584 metres. The two units are built on side lengths 5.84 cm apart. A reference that converts "33 ft" to "(10 m)" inline has manufactured the error in one step, and several do.

The check that settles it: convert from the square-metre figure, never from the "R" column read as gunthas.

Gunthas = square metres ÷ 101.17141056

Full tables in Ares to Guntha.

Are Conversion Formula

General Formula

Converted Value = Ares × Conversion Factor · Ares = Converted Value ÷ Conversion Factor

Because the are is exactly 100 m², every factor on this page comes from one division:

Conversion Factor = 100 ÷ (size of the target unit in square metres)

A hectare is 10,000 m², so 100 ÷ 10,000 = 0.01 hectare. A guntha is 101.17141056 m², so 100 ÷ 101.17141056 = 0.988421526 guntha. An acre is 4,046.8564224 m², so 100 ÷ 4,046.8564224 = 0.024710538 acre.

Exact, Rounded and Approximate

Exact. The result terminates. For the are, this happens only against metric units: 100 m², 0.01 ha, 0.0001 km², 1,000,000 cm².

Rounded. The exact value is finite but you have trimmed it for display, 1,076.39 sq ft from 1,076.391041671.

Recurring. No decimal representation is complete: 0.0247105381467165342… acre, 0.988421525869… guntha, 119.599004630108… square yards.

Everything non-metric on this page is in the third category. That is not a defect in the arithmetic; it is what happens when you convert between two unit families defined against different base lengths.

Worked Example

25 ares × 100 = 2,500 square metres 2,500 ÷ 4,046.8564224 = 0.617763 acres 2,500 ÷ 101.17141056 = 24.710538 gunthas 2,500 × 10.76391042 = 26,909.78 square feet

Ares to Acre

1 are = 0.0247105381 acre, and 1 acre = 40.468564224 ares exactly. Note that the acre-to-are direction terminates while the are-to-acre direction recurs.

Formula

Acres = Ares × 0.024710538147 · Ares = Acres × 40.468564224

Worked Examples

1 are = 100 m² ÷ 4,046.8564224 = 0.024711 acre 5 ares = 500 m² = 0.123553 acre 10 ares = 1,000 m² = 0.247105 acre 100 ares = 1 hectare = 2.471054 acres

The Number That Matters

100 ares is 2.471054 acres, not 2.5. Treating a hectare as "about two and a half acres" overstates by 1.17%, on a 100-hectare block that shortcut gives 250 acres against a true 247.11, a gap of nearly 2.9 acres.

Reverse Conversion

Acres Ares Square Metres
0.25 10.117141 1,011.7141
0.5 20.234282 2,023.4282
1 40.468564 4,046.8564
2 80.937128 8,093.7128
5 202.342821 20,234.2821
10 404.685642 40,468.5642

43,560 square feet either way, so the Ares to Killa figures apply unchanged. What differs between the two is the record each word belongs to, not the size.

Acre = Ares ÷ 40.468564224 · reverse Ares = Acre × 40.468564224

Ares to Hectare

1 are = 0.01 hectare, exactly, and 1 hectare = 100 ares. This is the only conversion on the page that requires no arithmetic at all: move the decimal point two places.

Formula

Hectares = Ares ÷ 100 · Ares = Hectares × 100

Reading a Record That Uses Both

This is where the relationship earns its keep. A Maharashtra 7/12 states area as hectare–are–square metre, and the three fields are positional:

7/12 entry Hectares Ares Sq m Total m² Acres Gunthas
0.20.00 0 20 0 2,000 0.4942 19.7684
0.40.50 0 40 50 4,050 1.0008 40.0311
1.00.00 1 0 0 10,000 2.4711 98.8422
1.25.00 1 25 0 12,500 3.0888 123.5527
2.60.75 2 60 75 26,075 6.4433 257.7309

Read the columns, then convert from the square-metre total. Not from the are figure treated as gunthas.

Which Unit for Which Job

The hectare is for holdings; the are is for plots. A one-hectare parcel is a farm; a twenty-are parcel is a large house site. Since June 2026 both sit in the same category in the SI Brochure, and in Indian law they have always sat together. The are first, the hectare second.

Ares = Hectares × 100

Ares Hectare
1 0.01
2 0.02
3 0.03
5 0.05
10 0.1
20 0.2
50 0.5
100 1
200 2
500 5
1,000 10

Hectare = Ares × 0.01 · reverse Ares = Hectare × 100

Ares to Square Meter

1 are = 100 square metres, exactly. This is the are's definition, not a conversion of it.

Formula

Square Metres = Ares × 100 · Ares = Square Metres ÷ 100

Ares Square Metres
1 100
2 200
3 300
5 500
10 1,000
20 2,000
50 5,000
100 10,000
200 20,000
500 50,000
1,000 100,000

Why This Is the Conversion to Route Everything Through

The square metre is India's legally defined unit of area, "The unit of area shall be the square metre", and it is the last column of a 7/12. It is also the only figure on a land record that carries no ambiguity whatsoever: no regional variant, no pucca/kachha, no belt, no 1.17% gap.

So the safe procedure for any conversion off an Indian land record is: get to square metres first, then convert once.

Square metres → gunthas: ÷ 101.17141056 Square metres → acres: ÷ 4,046.8564224 Square metres → square feet: × 10.763910417 Square metres → cents: ÷ 40.468564224

Converting are → guntha → acre compounds two roundings and invites the guntha error. Converting m² → acre does neither.

Worked Example

25 ares × 100 = 2,500 square metres, then, from that single figure: 0.617763 acre · 24.710538 gunthas · 26,909.78 sq ft · 61.7763 cents.

Ares Square Meter
1 100
2 200
3 300
5 500
10 1,000
20 2,000
50 5,000
100 10,000
200 20,000
500 50,000
1,000 100,000

Square Meter = Ares × 100 · reverse Ares = Square Meter × 0.01

Ares to Square Kilometer

1 are = 0.0001 km², exactly. Ten thousand ares make a square kilometre.

Formula

Square Kilometres = Ares ÷ 10,000 · Ares = Square Kilometres × 10,000

Ares Square Kilometres
1 0.0001
2 0.0002
5 0.0005
10 0.001
20 0.002
50 0.005
100 0.01
200 0.02
500 0.05
1,000 0.1

1 km² = 100 hectares = 10,000 ares = 247.105381 acres

Ares Square Kilometer
1 0.0001
2 0.0002
3 0.0003
5 0.0005
10 0.001
20 0.002
50 0.005
100 0.01
200 0.02
500 0.05
1,000 0.1

Square Kilometer = Ares × 0.0001 · reverse Ares = Square Kilometer × 10,000

Ares to Square Centimeter

1 are = 1,000,000 square centimetres, exactly, one million, a clean power of ten, because both units are metric.

Formula

Square Centimetres = Ares × 1,000,000

Ares Square Centimetres
1 1,000,000
2 2,000,000
5 5,000,000
10 10,000,000
20 20,000,000
50 50,000,000

The chain is entirely decimal: 1 are = 100 m², 1 m² = 10,000 cm², so 1 are = 10⁶ cm². Compare this with the same conversion from an acre (40,468,564.224 cm²), and the difference between a metric and a customary unit is visible in a single line.

Ares = Square Centimetres ÷ 1,000,000

Ares Square Centimeter
1 1,000,000
2 2,000,000
3 3,000,000
5 5,000,000
10 10,000,000
20 20,000,000
50 50,000,000
100 100,000,000
200 200,000,000
500 500,000,000
1,000 1,000,000,000

Square Centimeter = Ares × 1,000,000 · reverse Ares = Square Centimeter × 0.000001

Ares to Square Feet

1 are = 1,076.391041671 square feet, a recurring value, commonly shown as 1,076.39. This is the most-searched are conversion, and the first one on this page that does not terminate.

Formula

Square Feet = Ares × 1,076.391041671 · Ares = Square Feet ÷ 1,076.391041671

The factor comes from the exact definition of the foot: 100 m² ÷ 0.09290304 m² per sq ft.

How to Convert, Step by Step

  1. Multiply the are figure by 100 to get square metres.
  2. Multiply square metres by 10.763910417 to get square feet.

Doing it in that order keeps the exact step first and the rounding step last, which is the right way round.

Worked Examples

1 are × 1,076.391042 = 1,076.39 sq ft 5 ares = 500 m² = 5,381.96 sq ft 10 ares = 1,000 m² = 10,763.91 sq ft 100 ares = 1 hectare = 107,639.10 sq ft

Practical Reference Points

Ares Square feet Roughly
1 1,076.39 A small apartment's carpet area
2 2,152.78 A standard Chennai ground, near enough (2,400 sq ft)
5 5,381.96 A one-kanal Punjab plot (5,445 sq ft), near enough
10 10,763.91 A quarter acre (10,890 sq ft), near enough
40 43,055.64 Just under an acre (43,560 sq ft)
100 107,639.10 One hectare

Note how often the are lands just short of a familiar customary figure. That is the 1.17% gap again, showing up everywhere, and it is why "close enough" is the wrong instinct with this unit.

Reverse Conversion

Square Feet Ares
1,000 0.9290
2,000 1.8581
5,000 4.6452
10,000 9.2903
43,560 40.4686
50,000 46.4515
100,000 92.9030
Ares Square Feet
1 1,076.391042
2 2,152.782083
3 3,229.173125
5 5,381.955208
10 10,763.910417
20 21,527.820833
50 53,819.552084
100 107,639.104167
200 215,278.208334
500 538,195.520835
1,000 1,076,391.041671

Square Feet = Ares ÷ 0.0009290304 · reverse Ares = Square Feet × 0.0009290304

Ares to Square Yard

1 are = 119.599004630 square yards, recurring. In Indian property vocabulary that is 119.6 gaj or gajam.

Formula

Square Yards = Ares × 119.599004630 · Ares = Square Yards ÷ 119.599004630

Why This One Matters in India

The square yard is the registration unit in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and the everyday plot unit, as gaj, across Delhi NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. So this is the conversion that connects a metric land record to a north or south Indian listing.

A useful anchor: 1 are ≈ 120 gaj, and the error in using 120 is 0.34%. Small, but do not carry it into a price.

Reverse Conversion

Ares = Square Yards ÷ 119.599004630

Square Yards (Gaj) Ares
100 0.8361
200 1.6723
500 4.1806
1,000 8.3613
4,840 40.4686
Ares Square Yard
1 119.599005
2 239.198009
3 358.797014
5 597.995023
10 1,195.990046
20 2,391.980093
50 5,979.950232
100 11,959.900463
200 23,919.800926
500 59,799.502315
1,000 119,599.00463

Square Yard = Ares ÷ 0.0083612736 · reverse Ares = Square Yard × 0.0083612736

Ares to Square Inch

1 are = 155,000.310001 square inches, recurring. Included for completeness; there is no property use for it.

Formula

Square Inches = Ares × 155,000.310001

Ares = Square Inches ÷ 155,000.310001

Ares Square Inch
1 155,000.310001
2 310,000.620001
3 465,000.930002
5 775,001.550003
10 1,550,003.100006
20 3,100,006.200012
50 7,750,015.500031
100 15,500,031.000062
200 31,000,062.000124
500 77,500,155.00031
1,000 155,000,310.00062

Square Inch = Ares ÷ 0.0000064516 · reverse Ares = Square Inch × 0.0000064516

Ares to Square Mile

1 are = 0.0000386102 square miles. The two units are about 25,900 times apart.

Formula

Square Miles = Ares ÷ 25,899.881103

1 square mile = 640 acres = 25,899.881103 ares = 258.998811 hectares

Ares Square Mile
1 0.0000386
2 0.0000772
3 0.000116
5 0.000193
10 0.000386
20 0.000772
50 0.001931
100 0.003861
200 0.007722
500 0.019305
1,000 0.03861

Square Mile = Ares ÷ 25,899.88110336 · reverse Ares = Square Mile × 25,899.88110336

Ares to Cent

1 are = 2.4710538147 cent, and 1 cent = 0.404685642 are. A cent is exactly 1/100 acre, 435.6 sq ft, 40.468564224 m².

Formula

Cent = Ares × 2.4710538147 · Ares = Cent × 0.404685642

Are vs Cent

Are Cent
Square metres 100 40.468564224
Square feet 1,076.391042 435.6
Per acre 40.468564 100
Per hectare 100 247.105381
System Metric Acre-derived
Where used in India Land records, Maharashtra and Gujarat Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, AP, Telangana

The are is about two and a half cents, 2.4711, the same ratio as hectare to acre, because both pairs are the same 100:1 relationship applied to the two systems.

A useful equivalence to know: the Himachal Pradesh biswa is exactly one cent at 435.6 sq ft, and cent, decimal, dismil and the Bengali shatak are all the same unit. So an are is 2.4711 of any of them.

Reverse Conversion

Cent Ares Square Metres
1 0.404686 40.4686
5 2.023428 202.3428
10 4.046856 404.6856
25 10.117141 1,011.7141
50 20.234282 2,023.4282
100 40.468564 4,046.8564

435.6 square feet either way, so the Ares to Dismil figures apply unchanged. What differs between the two is the record each word belongs to, not the size.

Cent = Ares ÷ 0.40468564224 · reverse Ares = Cent × 0.40468564224

Ares to Decimal

1 are = 2.4710538147 decimal. The decimal is a land unit, not a decimal fraction, and it is the same size as the cent, exactly 1/100 acre, 435.6 sq ft.

Formula

Decimal = Ares × 2.4710538147

Decimal vs Dismil vs Cent vs Shatak

Four names for 435.6 square feet:

Form Where used
Cent Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana
Decimal Official and portal usage in Bihar and Jharkhand
Dismil / Decimil Colloquial usage in Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern UP
Shatak (শতক) Bengali

The Bihar government's revenue glossary defines it directly: "Dismil… ~435.6 sq ft, equal to 1/100 acre." So a Bihar buyer reading ares off a metric field and a Kerala buyer reading cents are working with the same quantity under different names, and 1 are is 2.4711 of either.

Ares = Decimal × 0.404685642

435.6 square feet either way, so the Ares to Dismil figures apply unchanged. What differs between the two is the record each word belongs to, not the size.

Decimal = Ares ÷ 0.40468564224 · reverse Ares = Decimal × 0.40468564224

Ares to Dismil

1 are = 2.4710538147 dismil. Dismil and decimal are the same word and the same unit.

If a document quotes dismil and another quotes decimal, no conversion is required, check that the two figures match, because if they do not, one of them is a transcription error rather than a unit difference.

Ares Dismil
1 2.471054
2 4.942108
3 7.413161
5 12.355269
10 24.710538
20 49.421076
50 123.552691
100 247.105381
200 494.210763
500 1,235.526907
1,000 2,471.053815

Dismil = Ares ÷ 0.40468564224 · reverse Ares = Dismil × 0.40468564224

Ares to Guntha

1 are = 0.9884215259 guntha. Not 1. This is the conversion this page opens with, and the one most often got wrong.

Formula

Guntha = Ares × 0.988421526 · Ares = Guntha × 1.011714106

Or, more safely, from square metres: Guntha = square metres ÷ 101.17141056

Reverse Conversion

Guntha Ares Square Metres Square Feet
1 1.011714 101.1714 1,089
5 5.058571 505.8571 5,445
10 10.117141 1,011.7141 10,890
20 20.234282 2,023.4282 21,780
40 40.468564 4,046.8564 43,560
100 101.171411 10,117.1411 108,900

Look at the 40-guntha row: 4,046.8564 m², exactly one acre. And 40 ares is 4,000 m². That 46.86 m² gap, 504 square feet, is the whole problem in one line.

Regional Context

The guntha is standard at 1,089 sq ft across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, with no regional variation we could find. Where it appears in records:

State Record Unit used
Telangana ROR / Pahani / 1-B Acres and guntas
Karnataka RTC / Pahani Acres and guntas
Maharashtra 7/12 Hectare–are–square metre, ares, not guntas
Gujarat 7/12 Hectare–are–square metre (apparent, not confirmed)

So a Telangana record genuinely does state guntas, and a Maharashtra record genuinely does state ares. Reading one as the other is the error; knowing which state you are in prevents it.

No official are-to-guntha conversion table appears to be published by any Indian government. We looked. That absence is part of why the confusion persists.

Ares Guntha
1 0.988422
2 1.976843
3 2.965265
5 4.942108
10 9.884215
20 19.768431
50 49.421076
100 98.842153
200 197.684305
500 494.210763
1,000 988.421526

Guntha = Ares ÷ 1.0117141056 · reverse Ares = Guntha × 1.0117141056

Ares to Perch

1 are = 3.9536861035 perch. A square perch (also square rod or square pole) is 272.25 sq ft, the square of the surveyor's 16.5-foot rod, with 160 to the acre.

Formula

Perch = Ares × 3.953686104 · Ares = Perch × 0.252928526

Where the Perch Is Used

Sri Lanka, principally, where it is the standard small land unit and is preferred over the rood and acre in property listings; also a government survey unit in Jamaica. We could not verify current use in Indian land records, Indian perch calculators exist, but a converter having a field is not evidence the field is used.

The connection worth knowing: a standard Punjab marla is exactly one square perch, 272.25 sq ft, 160 per acre. The same unit reached India twice under two names.

Ares Perch
1 3.953686
2 7.907372
3 11.861058
5 19.768431
10 39.536861
20 79.073722
50 197.684305
100 395.36861
200 790.737221
500 1,976.843052
1,000 3,953.686103

Perch = Ares ÷ 0.2529285264 · reverse Ares = Perch × 0.2529285264

Ares to Killa

1 are = 0.0247105381 killa. A killa is the Punjab and Haryana word for an acre, so this is the same conversion as Ares to Acre: 40.468564224 ares = 1 killa.

Note the Punjab connection: the jamabandi converts local units into hectares, not ares, so a Punjab record will show you hectares and kanals, and the are will not appear. The one member of the are's family that does surface in the Punjab Land Records Manual is the centiare (1/100 are = 1 m²), and even that appears in an equivalence we would check before relying on.

Ares Killa
1 0.024711
2 0.049421
3 0.074132
5 0.123553
10 0.247105
20 0.494211
50 1.235527
100 2.471054
200 4.942108
500 12.355269
1,000 24.710538

Killa = Ares ÷ 40.468564224 · reverse Ares = Killa × 40.468564224

Ares to Murabba

1 are = 0.0009884215 murabba, so 1 murabba = 1,011.7141 ares, a figure worth a second look, because it is a thousand ares and a bit. The murabba is the only unit in this series that lands that close to a round metric block, and the 1.17% it misses by is the same fraction that separates the are from the guntha.

Ares = Murabba × 1,011.7141

Note the coincidence in the last row: 1,000 ares is 0.988422 murabba. The same digits as the are-to-guntha factor, because both are the 1.17% relationship in a different place. 10 hectares is not quite a murabba, just as 100 ares is not quite 100 gunthas.

Ares Murabba (Punjab canal colony)
1 0.000988
2 0.001977
3 0.002965
5 0.004942
10 0.009884
20 0.019768
50 0.049421
100 0.098842
200 0.197684
500 0.494211
1,000 0.988422

Murabba = Ares ÷ 1,011.7141056 (Punjab canal colony) · reverse Ares = Murabba × 1,011.7141056

Ares Murabba (680,625 sq ft)
1 0.001581
2 0.003163
3 0.004744
5 0.007907
10 0.015815
20 0.031629
50 0.079074
100 0.158147
200 0.316295
500 0.790737
1,000 1.581474

Ares to Gaj

1 are = 119.599004630 square gaj. In north Indian property, gaj means square yard.

Ares Square Gaj
1 119.599
2 239.198
3 358.797
5 597.995
10 1,195.990
20 2,391.980
50 5,979.950
100 11,959.900
200 23,919.801

Strictly, gaj is a unit of length, a yard, from the Mughal gaz. Property listings drop the word "square" by convention, so "200 gaj" means 200 square yards = 1,800 sq ft. Watch for "gaj frontage," which states a running length and no area at all.

Ares = Square Gaj ÷ 119.599004630

9 square feet either way, so the Ares to Square Yard figures apply unchanged. What differs between the two is the record each word belongs to, not the size.

Gaj = Ares ÷ 0.0083612736 · reverse Ares = Gaj × 0.0083612736

Ares to Gajam

1 are = 119.599004630 gajam. Gajam (గజం) is the Telugu word for yard, used in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana property to mean square yard, the same unit as gaj.

This is the practical conversion for anyone holding a metric figure and transacting in AP or Telangana, because both states register property in square yards and quote guideline values per square yard.

A value to disregard: one land-unit converter lists gajam at roughly 43.56 sq ft with about 1,000 per acre. It is 9 sq ft, 4,840 per acre.

Ares = Gajam ÷ 119.599004630

9 square feet either way, so the Ares to Square Yard figures apply unchanged. What differs between the two is the record each word belongs to, not the size.

Gajam = Ares ÷ 0.0083612736 · reverse Ares = Gajam × 0.0083612736

Ares to Ankanam

1 are = 14.9498755788 ankanam at the standard 72 sq ft ankanam. Establish which ankanam applies first. Around Tirupati it is 36 sq ft, which doubles the count to 29.8998.

Regional note. The ankanam is a residential-plot unit used in parts of Andhra Pradesh, verified in Nellore at 72 sq ft and Tirupati at 36 sq ft. It has no official definition anywhere and appears in no AP or Telangana government record. It is also not a unit you will meet on the same document as an are: AP records use acres and cents, Maharashtra records use ares. This conversion is arithmetic, not a document-reading task.

Ares = Ankanam × 0.066890189 (72 sq ft ankanam)

Ares Ankanam (Standard)
1 14.949876
2 29.899751
3 44.849627
5 74.749378
10 149.498756
20 298.997512
50 747.493779
100 1,494.987558
200 2,989.975116
500 7,474.937789
1,000 14,949.875579

Ankanam = Ares ÷ 0.0668901888 (Standard) · reverse Ares = Ankanam × 0.0668901888

Ares Ankanam (36 sq ft)
1 29.899751
2 59.799502
3 89.699253
5 149.498756
10 298.997512
20 597.995023
50 1,494.987558
100 2,989.975116
200 5,979.950232
500 14,949.875579
1,000 29,899.751158

Ares to Ground

1 are = 0.4484962674 ground. A ground is the Chennai plot unit: 2,400 sq ft, 222.967296 m², 18.15 to the acre.

Roughly: 1 ground ≈ 2.23 ares, and an are is a little under half a ground. Tamil Nadu records do not use ares, so this is a cross-state comparison rather than a document conversion.

Ares = Ground × 2.229673

Ares Ground
1 0.448496
2 0.896993
3 1.345489
5 2.242481
10 4.484963
20 8.969925
50 22.424813
100 44.849627
200 89.699253
500 224.248134
1,000 448.496267

Ground = Ares ÷ 2.22967296 · reverse Ares = Ground × 2.22967296

Regional Conversions: Read This First

The remaining conversions are into traditional Indian units that have no single national value. Converting a precisely-defined metric unit into an undefined one does not make the result precise. It makes the uncertainty invisible.

Two practical points before the tables:

These are cross-system comparisons, not document conversions. The are appears on Maharashtra and (apparently) Gujarat records. Bigha, biswa, katha, dhur, kanal, marla and nali appear on records in entirely different states. You will not normally find an are and a katha on the same page. Where these conversions are genuinely useful is comparing a holding in one state against a holding in another.

Every figure below is stated for a named regional definition. Full regional context for each of these units (the state-by-state sizes, the pucca/kachha distinction, the four Punjab karam belts) is in the Indian Land Units by State reference rather than repeated here.

Ares to Bigha

No single value. The bigha ranges from about 6,806 to 27,225 sq ft depending on the state, so this conversion needs a location.

Regional Conversion Table

Bigha region 1 bigha (sq ft) 1 are in bigha 1 bigha in ares
UP pucca, Bihar, Rajasthan pucca 27,225 0.039537 25.2929
Rajasthan kachha (Marwar), Gujarat 17,424 0.061776 16.1874
West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand 14,400 0.074749 13.3780
Madhya Pradesh (indicative) 12,000 0.089699 11.1484
Himachal Pradesh 8,712 0.123553 8.0937
Uttarakhand hills 6,806.25 0.158147 6.3232

A neat one: the Himachal bigha is 8.0937 ares, and 1 HP bigha is exactly 1/5 acre, so 5 HP bighas make 40.4686 ares, one acre.

Why the Conversion Varies

The bigha was never a defined area. It was laid out with a measuring chain or rope whose length varied by district and settlement. Rajasthan's own Land Revenue (Land Records) Rules, 1957, Rule 70 records area in "standard bighas or acres as prevalent in the integrating unit," referring to an appendix of the differing bigha measures of the former princely states. A state rule conceding that its own unit varies within the state is as clear as this gets.

Go through square metres: ares × 100 ÷ (local bigha in m²).

Ares Bigha (UP pucca / Bihar / Rajasthan pucca)
1 0.039537
2 0.079074
3 0.118611
5 0.197684
10 0.395369
20 0.790737
50 1.976843
100 3.953686
200 7.907372
500 19.768431
1,000 39.536861

Bigha = Ares ÷ 16.1874256896 (Rajasthan kachha / Gujarat vigha / Uttarakhand Terai) · reverse Ares = Bigha × 16.1874256896

Ares Bigha (9,075 sq ft)
1 0.118611
2 0.237221
3 0.355832
5 0.593053
10 1.186106
20 2.372212
50 5.930529
100 11.861058
200 23.722117
500 59.305292
1,000 118.610583

Popular Ares to Bigha, UP kachha (5 biswa) / Uttarakhand hills

Ares Bigha (6,806.25 sq ft)
1 0.158147
2 0.316295
3 0.474442
5 0.790737
10 1.581474
20 3.162949
50 7.907372
100 15.814744
200 31.629489
500 79.073722
1,000 158.147444

Popular Ares to Bigha, Rajasthan kachha / Gujarat vigha / Uttarakhand Terai

Ares Bigha (17,424 sq ft)
1 0.061776
2 0.123553
3 0.185329
5 0.308882
10 0.617763
20 1.235527
50 3.088817
100 6.177635
200 12.355269
500 30.888173
1,000 61.776345
Ares Bigha (12,000 sq ft)
1 0.089699
2 0.179399
3 0.269098
5 0.448496
10 0.896993
20 1.793985
50 4.484963
100 8.969925
200 17.939851
500 44.849627
1,000 89.699253

Popular Ares to Bigha, West Bengal / Assam / Jharkhand

Ares Bigha (14,400 sq ft)
1 0.074749
2 0.149499
3 0.224248
5 0.373747
10 0.747494
20 1.494988
50 3.737469
100 7.474938
200 14.949876
500 37.374689
1,000 74.749378

Popular Ares to Bigha, Himachal Pradesh / Haryana Rohtak belt

Ares Bigha (8,712 sq ft)
1 0.123553
2 0.247105
3 0.370658
5 0.617763
10 1.235527
20 2.471054
50 6.177635
100 12.355269
200 24.710538
500 61.776345
1,000 123.552691

Popular Ares to Bigha, Punjab / west Haryana

Ares Bigha (21,780 sq ft)
1 0.049421
2 0.098842
3 0.148263
5 0.247105
10 0.494211
20 0.988422
50 2.471054
100 4.942108
200 9.884215
500 24.710538
1,000 49.421076
Ares Bigha (8,100 sq ft)
1 0.132888
2 0.265776
3 0.398663
5 0.664439
10 1.328878
20 2.657756
50 6.644389
100 13.288778
200 26.577557
500 66.443891
1,000 132.887783

Ares to Biswa

Regional: and the are is a useful instrument for seeing how far apart the readings are. The four biswa definitions come to 25.2929, 16.1874, 8.431 and 8.0937 ares per twenty biswa, a threefold spread, which is the bigha's own spread expressed in a unit that does not itself move.

Region 1 biswa (sq ft) 1 are in biswa 1 biswa in ares
Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan (pucca) 1,361.25 0.790737 1.2646
Himachal Pradesh 435.6 2.471054 0.4047
Rajasthan kachha (Marwar) 871.2 1.235527 0.8094
Punjab / Haryana (old records) 453.75 2.372212 0.4215

The Himachal biswa is exactly one cent (435.6 sq ft), so 1 are = 2.4711 HP biswa, the same factor as the cent.

Within Uttar Pradesh the biswa is constant at 1,361.25 sq ft. What varies is how many biswa the local trade calls a bigha. A UP figure in biswa is unambiguous in a way a UP figure in bigha is not.

1,361.25 square feet either way, so the Ares to Katha figures apply unchanged. What differs between the two is the record each word belongs to, not the size.

Biswa = Ares ÷ 1.264642632 (UP / Rajasthan pucca) · reverse Ares = Biswa × 1.264642632

871.2 square feet either way, so the Ares to Biswa Kacha, Rajasthan kachha reading figures apply unchanged. What differs between the two is the record each word belongs to, not the size.

Popular Ares to Biswa, Punjab / Haryana old records

453.75 square feet either way, so the Ares to Biswa Kacha figures apply unchanged. What differs between the two is the record each word belongs to, not the size.

435.6 square feet either way, so the Ares to Dismil figures apply unchanged. What differs between the two is the record each word belongs to, not the size.

Ares to Biswa Kacha

Regional and disputed: two incompatible definitions circulate.

Revenue meaning: kachha means lesser, so a kachha biswa is smaller than a pucca biswa. Punjab/Haryana old records give 453.75 sq ft, exactly one-third of the 1,361.25 sq ft pucca biswa, and independently derivable as 15 square karam.

Property-portal meaning: several portals define 1 bigha = 10 biswa kacha, making one 2,700 sq ft, larger than a pucca biswa. This inverts the meaning of the word and no revenue source supports it.

Definition 1 biswa kacha (sq ft) 1 are in biswa kacha Reliability
Punjab / Haryana revenue 453.75 2.372212 Two independent chains
Rajasthan Marwar 871.2 1.235527 Consistent with the kachha bigha
UP property portals 2,700 0.398663 Contradicts the meaning of kachha

Popular Conversion: Punjab / Haryana revenue definition

The test: a kachha unit should always be smaller than the corresponding pucca unit. If a source makes it larger, it has inverted the definition.

Ares Biswa Kacha (Punjab / Haryana revenue)
1 2.372212
2 4.744423
3 7.116635
5 11.861058
10 23.722117
20 47.444233
50 118.610583
100 237.221166
200 474.442332
500 1,186.105831
1,000 2,372.211662

Biswa Kacha = Ares ÷ 0.421547544 (Punjab / Haryana revenue definition) · reverse Ares = Biswa Kacha × 0.421547544

Ares Biswa Kacha (871.2 sq ft)
1 1.235527
2 2.471054
3 3.706581
5 6.177635
10 12.355269
20 24.710538
50 61.776345
100 123.552691
200 247.105381
500 617.763454
1,000 1,235.526907

Ares to Katha

Regional. The katha ranges from 720 to 3,267 sq ft, and Bihar's own revenue glossary concedes it "varies from region to region in Bihar."

Region 1 katha (sq ft) 1 are in katha 1 katha in ares
West Bengal, Jharkhand 720 1.494988 0.6689
Assam 2,880 0.373747 2.6756
Bihar (Patna standard) 1,361.25 0.790737 1.2646
Bihar (Chhapra) 1,742.4 0.617763 1.6187
Bihar (Bettiah) 3,267 0.329474 3.0351

In ares the two kathas are 2.6756 and 0.6689. A fourfold gap between states that both work from a 14,400 sq ft bigha, because Assam puts five katha in a bigha where Bengal puts twenty.

Ares Katha (Bihar state standard)
1 0.790737
2 1.581474
3 2.372212
5 3.953686
10 7.907372
20 15.814744
50 39.536861
100 79.073722
200 158.147444
500 395.36861
1,000 790.737221

Katha = Ares ÷ 1.264642632 (Bihar state standard) · reverse Ares = Katha × 1.264642632

Popular Ares to Katha, West Bengal / Jharkhand

Ares Katha (720 sq ft)
1 1.494988
2 2.989975
3 4.484963
5 7.474938
10 14.949876
20 29.899751
50 74.749378
100 149.498756
200 298.997512
500 747.493779
1,000 1,494.987558
Ares Katha (2,880 sq ft)
1 0.373747
2 0.747494
3 1.121241
5 1.868734
10 3.737469
20 7.474938
50 18.687344
100 37.374689
200 74.749378
500 186.873445
1,000 373.746889
Ares Katha (1,742.4 sq ft)
1 0.617763
2 1.235527
3 1.85329
5 3.088817
10 6.177635
20 12.355269
50 30.888173
100 61.776345
200 123.552691
500 308.881727
1,000 617.763454
Ares Katha (1,901.25 sq ft)
1 0.566149
2 1.132298
3 1.698447
5 2.830746
10 5.661491
20 11.322983
50 28.307457
100 56.614913
200 113.229827
500 283.074567
1,000 566.149134
Ares Katha (3,267 sq ft)
1 0.329474
2 0.658948
3 0.988422
5 1.647369
10 3.294738
20 6.589477
50 16.473692
100 32.947384
200 65.894768
500 164.736921
1,000 329.473842

Ares to Dhur

Regional, and in are terms the divergence is stark: a Bihar dhur is 0.0632 ares and a Tripura dhur 0.0033, a ratio of nearly nineteen to one between two units that share a name.

Region 1 dhur (sq ft) 1 are in dhur
Bihar / Jharkhand 68.0625 15.814744
Tripura 3.6 298.997512
Nepal Terai 182.25 5.906124

Fifty dhur is 3,403 sq ft in Patna and 180 sq ft in Agartala. Never convert a dhur figure without knowing the state.

Ares Dhur (Bihar / Jharkhand (Patna chain))
1 15.814744
2 31.629489
3 47.444233
5 79.073722
10 158.147444
20 316.294888
50 790.737221
100 1,581.474441
200 3,162.948883
500 7,907.372207
1,000 15,814.744414

Dhur = Ares ÷ 0.0632321316 (Bihar / Jharkhand (Patna chain)) · reverse Ares = Dhur × 0.0632321316

Ares Dhur (3.6 sq ft)
1 298.997512
2 597.995023
3 896.992535
5 1,494.987558
10 2,989.975116
20 5,979.950232
50 14,949.875579
100 29,899.751158
200 59,799.502315
500 149,498.755788
1,000 298,997.511575

Ares to Chatak

1 are = 23.9198009260 chatak. The chatak is West Bengal's smallest working unit: 45 sq ft, with 16 to a katha.

Note that 1 are = 119.599 square yards and 119.599 gajam and 5 ares = 119.599 chatak, the same digits appear because a chatak is exactly 5 square yards.

Ares = Chatak × 0.041806368

Ares Chatak
1 23.919801
2 47.839602
3 71.759403
5 119.599005
10 239.198009
20 478.396019
50 1,195.990046
100 2,391.980093
200 4,783.960185
500 11,959.900463
1,000 23,919.800926

Chatak = Ares ÷ 0.041806368 · reverse Ares = Chatak × 0.041806368

Ares to Lessa

1 are = 7.4749377894 lessa, the highest count of any unit on this page apart from the square metre and below, which makes the lessa the finest traditional unit the are converts into without dropping to metric.

Ares = Lessa × 0.13378038

Ares Lessa
1 7.474938
2 14.949876
3 22.424813
5 37.374689
10 74.749378
20 149.498756
50 373.746889
100 747.493779
200 1,494.987558
500 3,737.468895
1,000 7,474.937789

Lessa = Ares ÷ 0.1337803776 · reverse Ares = Lessa × 0.1337803776

Ares to Kanal

1 are = 0.1976843052 kanal in the standard system. A standard kanal is 5,445 sq ft, with 8 to the acre.

1 kanal = 5.058571 ares.

Belt caveat. The kanal is 20 marla and a marla is 9 square karam, so the system floats on the local karam: 66 in (standard, kanal 5,445 sq ft), 60 in (Majha, 4,500), 57.5 in (Doaba, 4,132.81), 54 in (Kapurthala, 3,645). The table uses the standard.

Note that Punjab's jamabandi converts into hectares, not ares, so you will not meet a kanal and an are on the same document.

Ares = Kanal × 5.058571 (standard belt)

Ares Kanal (Standard (66-inch karam))
1 0.197684
2 0.395369
3 0.593053
5 0.988422
10 1.976843
20 3.953686
50 9.884215
100 19.768431
200 39.536861
500 98.842153
1,000 197.684305

Kanal = Ares ÷ 5.058570528 (Standard (66-inch karam)) · reverse Ares = Kanal × 5.058570528

Ares Kanal (4,500 sq ft)
1 0.239198
2 0.478396
3 0.717594
5 1.19599
10 2.39198
20 4.78396
50 11.9599
100 23.919801
200 47.839602
500 119.599005
1,000 239.198009
Ares Kanal (4,132.8125 sq ft)
1 0.26045
2 0.5209
3 0.78135
5 1.30225
10 2.6045
20 5.209
50 13.0225
100 26.045001
200 52.090001
500 130.225003
1,000 260.450006
Ares Kanal (3,645 sq ft)
1 0.295306
2 0.590612
3 0.885919
5 1.476531
10 2.953062
20 5.906124
50 14.765309
100 29.530618
200 59.061237
500 147.653092
1,000 295.306184

Ares to Marla

1 are = 3.9536861035 marla in the standard system, the same factor as the perch, because a standard marla is exactly one square perch (272.25 sq ft).

Belt caveat. Standard 272.25 sq ft (Malwa, urban Punjab, Ludhiana, Mohali, Haryana, J&K, most of HP) · Majha 225 sq ft · Doaba 206.64 sq ft (including the HP Kangra belt) · Kapurthala 182.25 sq ft.

A correction worth carrying, because it reaches this page through the metric side: one widely-copied reference states that "in India, the marla was standardized to 25 square yards" (225 sq ft), which would make a marla 0.209 ares against the standard marla's 0.2529. Indian revenue records use 30.25 sq yd (272.25 sq ft); 225 is the Majha regional variant.

Ares = Marla × 0.252928526 (standard belt)

272.25 square feet either way, so the Ares to Perch figures apply unchanged. What differs between the two is the record each word belongs to, not the size.

Marla = Ares ÷ 0.2529285264 (Standard (66-inch karam)) · reverse Ares = Marla × 0.2529285264

Ares Marla (225 sq ft)
1 4.78396
2 9.56792
3 14.351881
5 23.919801
10 47.839602
20 95.679204
50 239.198009
100 478.396019
200 956.792037
500 2,391.980093
1,000 4,783.960185
Ares Marla (206.640625 sq ft)
1 5.209
2 10.418
3 15.627
5 26.045001
10 52.090001
20 104.180003
50 260.450006
100 520.900013
200 1,041.800025
500 2,604.500063
1,000 5,209.000126
Ares Marla (182.25 sq ft)
1 5.906124
2 11.812247
3 17.718371
5 29.530618
10 59.061237
20 118.122474
50 295.306184
100 590.612369
200 1,181.224737
500 2,953.061843
1,000 5,906.123685

225 square feet either way, so the Ares to Marla, Majha belt (60-inch karam) figures apply unchanged. What differs between the two is the record each word belongs to, not the size.

Ares to Square Karam

1 are = 35.5831749313 square karam in the standard system. A square karam (sarsahi) is 30.25 sq ft where the karam is 66 inches.

Belt caveat. 66 in → 30.25 sq ft · 60 in → 25 · 57.5 in → 22.9601 · 54 in → 20.25. Nine square karam make one marla in every system. That ratio is fixed; only the absolute size moves.

Ares = Square Karam × 0.02810317

Ares Square Karam (Standard (66-inch karam))
1 35.583175
2 71.16635
3 106.749525
5 177.915875
10 355.831749
20 711.663499
50 1,779.158747
100 3,558.317493
200 7,116.634986
500 17,791.587466
1,000 35,583.174931

Square Karam = Ares ÷ 0.0281031696 (Standard (66-inch karam)) · reverse Ares = Square Karam × 0.0281031696

Ares Square Karam (25 sq ft)
1 43.055642
2 86.111283
3 129.166925
5 215.278208
10 430.556417
20 861.112833
50 2,152.782083
100 4,305.564167
200 8,611.128333
500 21,527.820833
1,000 43,055.641667
Ares Square Karam (22.960069 sq ft)
1 46.881001
2 93.762002
3 140.643003
5 234.405006
10 468.810011
20 937.620023
50 2,344.050057
100 4,688.100113
200 9,376.200227
500 23,440.500567
1,000 46,881.001134
Ares Square Karam (20.25 sq ft)
1 53.155113
2 106.310226
3 159.46534
5 265.775566
10 531.551132
20 1,063.102263
50 2,657.755658
100 5,315.511317
200 10,631.022634
500 26,577.556584
1,000 53,155.113169

Ares to Nali

1 are = 0.4983291860 nali, and the interesting number is the reverse: 1 nali = 2.0067 ares. A nali is within a third of one per cent of two ares, which makes it the closest near-miss to a round metric quantity anywhere in this series apart from the guntha.

1 nali = 2.0067 ares, almost exactly two ares, and the closest near-miss on this page after the guntha. The nali is 2,160 sq ft against two ares at 2,152.78 sq ft: a gap of 7.22 sq ft, or 0.335%.

That near-miss is worth naming because it is the kind of gap a converter silently rounds away: two ares is 2,152.78 sq ft against the nali's 2,160, a difference of 7.2 sq ft that compounds across a terraced holding of twenty nali into more than a tenth of an are.

Ares = Nali × 2.006706

Ares Nali
1 0.498329
2 0.996658
3 1.494988
5 2.491646
10 4.983292
20 9.966584
50 24.916459
100 49.832919
200 99.665837
500 249.164593
1,000 498.329186

Nali = Ares ÷ 2.006705664 · reverse Ares = Nali × 2.006705664

Ares to Pura

1 are = 0.0186873445 pura, or, usefully, 1 pura = 53.5122 ares. This is the largest single conversion on the page, and the only one where the are is small enough that the sensible working unit is the hectare instead.

Reliability warning. No instrument defining the pura was located anywhere in this series, although six judgments state its ratio to the bigha. It is a rural and older-record usage with no formal role in the Indian property market, and its absolute size inherits whichever bigha is local. The 57,600 sq ft figure is the best-attested; a 108,900 sq ft figure also circulates but appears to be a converter default.

Ares = Pura × 53.5122

Ares Pura
1 0.018687
2 0.037375
3 0.056062
5 0.093437
10 0.186873
20 0.373747
50 0.934367
100 1.868734
200 3.737469
500 9.343672
1,000 18.687344

Pura = Ares ÷ 53.51215104 · reverse Ares = Pura × 53.51215104

How to Calculate Land Area in Ares

If Measurements Are in Metres

Length × Width = Square Metres Square Metres ÷ 100 = Ares

Worked Example

A plot measuring 20 m × 10 m:

20 × 10 = 200 square metres 200 ÷ 100 = 2 ares

A plot measuring 45 m × 60 m:

45 × 60 = 2,700 square metres 2,700 ÷ 100 = 27 ares (= 0.27 hectare = 0.667185 acre = 26.6874 gunthas)

If Measurements Are in Feet

First get square feet, then:

Square Feet ÷ 1,076.391041671 = Ares

Or, more precisely in two exact steps: square feet × 0.09290304 = square metres, then ÷ 100 = ares.

Example. A plot measuring 100 ft × 200 ft:

100 × 200 = 20,000 sq ft 20,000 × 0.09290304 = 1,858.0608 square metres 1,858.0608 ÷ 100 = 18.580608 ares

If You Are Reading It Off a 7/12

You do not calculate anything. The are figure is already there, in the middle column. What you do is convert from the square-metre total, not from the are figure treated as gunthas:

(hectares × 10,000) + (ares × 100) + square metres = total square metres

Then divide once: by 4,046.8564224 for acres, by 101.17141056 for gunthas, by 40.468564224 for cents.

Irregular Land

Length × width works for a rectangle and nothing else. For an irregular parcel you need the cadastral map (the tippan, shajra or FMB sketch held by the revenue office), or a licensed surveyor with a total station or DGPS.

For terraced hill land there is a further trap: the horizontal projected area and the surface area of a slope are different numbers, and land is sold on projected area.

Do not assume length × width works for every parcel. A "100 × 200" plot that is actually a trapezium can differ from 20,000 sq ft by several percent, and the discrepancy is always found after payment.

Which Figure Governs

If your own calculation disagrees with the record of rights, the record is what the state recognises until it is corrected, but the record's figure descends from the last cadastral settlement and may be a century old. Under about 1% the gap is measurement noise; above that, seek a formal demarcation (mojni) and a record correction rather than recalculating.

Ares Conversion Accuracy and Rounding

Where the Uncertainty Lives

For the are, unusually, the arithmetic is the whole story. The unit itself is exactly defined, unlike the bigha or the ankanam. So accuracy here is genuinely about rounding, and about one specific wrong factor.

Source of error Size Fix
Using 1 are = 1 guntha 1.171411% Use 0.988421526
Using 40 ares per acre instead of 40.468564 1.157847% Use the correct factor
Using 1 are ≈ 120 square yards 0.335% Use 119.599005
Rounding 1,076.391042 to 1,076.39 sq ft 0.0000968% More decimals
Rounding 0.0247105381 to 0.02471 acre 0.0022% More decimals

The first two rows are wrong factors, not rounding errors, and no amount of decimal precision fixes them. The third is a wrong factor too, though a closer one. Only the last two are rounding, and both are three to five orders of magnitude smaller than the first two, on a one-hectare holding, the larger of them moves the answer by about a fifth of a square metre.

Exact and Recurring, Listed

Exact: square metre, square centimetre, hectare, square kilometre. That is the complete list.

Recurring: square feet, square yard, gaj, gajam, square inch, square mile, acre, killa, murabba, cent, decimal, dismil, guntha, ground, ankanam, perch, marla, kanal, square karam, chatak, lessa, nali, and every regional unit.

Why Your Calculator Shows 1,076.39 and Not 1,076.391041671

Because the extra digits describe less than a hundredth of a square centimetre, and no land transaction needs that. But round at the point of display, not at the point of calculation:

Ares Using 1,076.391042 Using 1,076.39 Difference (sq ft)
1 1,076.391042 1,076.39 0.0010
100 107,639.104167 107,639.00 0.1042
1,000 1,076,391.041671 1,076,390.00 1.0417
10,000 10,763,910.416710 10,763,900.00 10.4167

Trivial on one plot; a visible ten square feet across ten thousand ares.

  1. Compute from square metres, which is exact, and round only the final output.
  2. Mark recurring values. "0.9884 guntha (recurring)" is honest; "0.9884 guntha" alone implies the decimal ends.
  3. State the factor you used for any conversion into a regional unit, and the region it belongs to.
  4. Never round the guntha factor to 1. It is the one rounding on this page that will actually cost money.
  5. Never imply legal precision. A conversion is arithmetic on a definition. It is not a survey and it establishes nothing.

Reverse Ares Conversions

Common Reverse Conversions

From Formula Exact?
Square Metre Sq M ÷ 100 Exact
Square Centimetre Sq Cm ÷ 1,000,000 Exact
Hectare Hectares × 100 Exact
Square Kilometre Sq Km × 10,000 Exact
Square Feet Sq Ft ÷ 1,076.391041671 Recurring
Square Yard / Gaj / Gajam Sq Yd ÷ 119.599004630 Recurring
Square Inch Sq In ÷ 155,000.310001 Recurring
Square Mile Sq Miles × 25,899.881103 Recurring
Acre / Killa Acres × 40.468564224 Exact
Murabba Murabba × 1,011.7141 Recurring
Cent / Decimal / Dismil × 0.404685642 Recurring
Guntha Guntha × 1.011714106 Recurring
Ground Ground × 2.229673 Recurring
Ankanam (72 sq ft) Ankanam × 0.066890189 Recurring
Perch / Marla (standard) × 0.252928526 Recurring
Kanal (standard) Kanal × 5.058571 Recurring
Square Karam (standard) × 0.02810317 Recurring
Chatak Chatak × 0.041806368 Recurring
Lessa Lessa × 0.13378038 Recurring
Nali Nali × 2.006706 Recurring
Pura (Assam) Pura × 53.5122 Recurring
Bigha, Biswa, Katha, Dhur Depends on the regional definition n/a

Note the one exception. Acres → ares terminates at exactly 40.468564224, even though ares → acres does not. That is because the acre's metric value, 4,046.8564224 m², is itself exact, divide it by 100 and you get a terminating number. This is the only non-metric conversion on the page that is exact in one direction.

The general reverse formula for any unit whose square-metre size you know:

Ares = (number of units × size of unit in m²) ÷ 100

Practical Ares Conversion Examples

Example 1: 5 Ares to Square Metres

5 × 100 = 500 square metres

Example 2: 10 Ares to Hectares

10 ÷ 100 = 0.10 hectares

Example 3: 50 Ares to Square Kilometres

50 ÷ 10,000 = 0.005 square kilometres

Example 4: Square Metres to Ares

Given 2,500 m²:

2,500 ÷ 100 = 25 ares

Example 5: Reading a Maharashtra 7/12

A 7/12 extract shows 1.25.00, 1 hectare, 25 ares, 0 square metres.

(1 × 10,000) + (25 × 100) + 0 = 12,500 square metres 12,500 ÷ 4,046.8564224 = 3.0888 acres 12,500 ÷ 101.17141056 = 123.5527 gunthas 12,500 × 10.763910417 = 134,548.88 square feet

Now the comparison that matters. A broker reading "1 hectare 25" as 1 hectare 25 gunthas would compute 2.4711 + (25 ÷ 40) = 3.0961 acres. The correct figure is 3.0888 acres. The shorthand overstates by 0.0072 acre, about 315 square feet, and the error scales with the parcel.

Example 6: The Guntha Trap at Scale

A seller quotes ₹4,00,000 per guntha for a holding the 7/12 records as 10.00.00, 10 hectares.

10 hectares = 1,000 ares = 100,000 square metres 100,000 ÷ 101.17141056 = 988.42 gunthas

Billed as 1,000 gunthas (because "1,000 ares" was read as "1,000 gunthas") the buyer pays for 11.58 gunthas that do not exist:

11.58 × ₹4,00,000 = ₹46,31,390

That is the 1.17% gap, on a single transaction, in rupees.

Example 7: Ares to a Regional Unit

First establish the applicable regional definition, then go through square metres.

30 ares = 3,000 m² In West Bengal (bigha = 1,337.804 m²): 3,000 ÷ 1,337.804 = 2.2425 bigha In UP pucca (bigha = 2,529.285 m²): 3,000 ÷ 2,529.285 = 1.1861 bigha In Himachal Pradesh (bigha = 809.371 m²): 3,000 ÷ 809.371 = 3.7066 bigha

Same 3,000 square metres. Three different bigha figures, none of them wrong.

Important Things to Check Before Converting Ares to Indian Land Units

  1. Confirm the "R" column is ares, not gunthas. On a Maharashtra 7/12 it is ares. This single check is worth more than everything else on this page.
  2. Convert from the square-metre total, not from the are figure. It removes the guntha ambiguity entirely and costs one extra keystroke.
  3. Check whether the record is agricultural or non-agricultural. Agricultural land is recorded in hectare–are–square metre; non-agricultural in are–square metre, with no hectare column.
  4. Ask whether the area includes pot kharaba, and which class. Class B is land you may not cultivate.
  5. For a conversion into a traditional unit, identify the state, and where it matters, the district. Bigha, biswa, biswa kacha, katha, dhur, nali and ankanam all need it; kanal, marla and sarsahi need the karam belt.
  6. Use 40.468564 ares per acre, never 40. The figure 40 is the guntha count.
  7. Do not carry a rounded factor into a price. The are-to-guntha factor in particular must never be rounded to 1.
  8. Confirm the figure the mutation will carry. Where the record of rights is already metric, the are figure in it governs; a listing quoted in acres or gunthas is a restatement and not the operative number.
  9. Treat every online conversion as informational. For the transaction, use the record of rights, the registered documents and, where the value justifies it, a licensed survey.

Frequently Asked Questions About Ares Conversion

What is an Are?

An are (symbol a) is a metric unit of area equal to a square ten metres on a side: 100 square metres exactly. One hundred ares make a hectare. It is one of the original metric units, defined by the French law of 1795 and adopted by the CIPM in 1879.

In India it is the unit of the middle column of a Maharashtra 7/12 extract, and, under the Legal Metrology (National Standards) Rules, 2011, the first named unit for measurement of land area.

How many square metres are in 1 Are?

Exactly 100. This is the definition, not a conversion of it. Ares × 100 = Square Metres.

How many square feet are in 1 Are?

1,076.391041671 square feet, a recurring value, commonly shown as 1,076.39. Multiply ares by 1,076.391042, or more precisely multiply by 100 to get square metres and then by 10.763910417.

How many acres are in 1 Are?

0.0247105381 acre, recurring. In the other direction, 1 acre = 40.468564224 ares, which terminates exactly.

Not 40. The figure 40 is the number of gunthas in an acre. Substituting 40 for 40.468564 costs you 1.17% of the parcel.

How many hectares are in 1 Are?

0.01 hectare, exactly. Move the decimal point two places.

How many ares are in 1 hectare?

Exactly 100. No rounding, no regional variation.

Is an Are bigger than an Acre?

No: the acre is far bigger. 1 acre = 40.468564224 ares. An are is about a fortieth of an acre, roughly the size of a small building plot.

Is an Are the same as a square metre?

No. 1 are = 100 square metres. The square metre is India's general unit of area; the are is the first named unit of land area. Both are defined in the Legal Metrology (National Standards) Rules, 2011.

Is Are a metric unit?

Yes: one of the founding ones, from the French law of 1795. But note that it is not part of the SI. In the SI Brochure version 4.01, published 4 June 2026, the are and the hectare are both listed under "Historical names for decimal multiples and submultiples of SI units." Neither is deprecated; neither is part of the SI proper.

Is an Are the same as a Guntha?

No, and this is the most important question on this page. A guntha is 1,089 square feet (101.17141056 m²); an are is 1,076.391042 square feet (100 m²). The guntha is 1.171411% larger.

1 are = 0.988421526 guntha · 1 guntha = 1.011714106 ares · 1 hectare = 98.842153 gunthas, not 100

They get confused because 33 feet = 10.0584 metres. The two units are built on side lengths 5.84 cm apart. On a Maharashtra 7/12 the "R" column is ares.

How do I convert Ares to Square Feet?

Ares × 1,076.391041671 = Square Feet. Example: 10 ares = 10,763.91 sq ft.

How do I convert Square Feet to Ares?

Square Feet ÷ 1,076.391041671 = Ares. Example: 10,000 sq ft = 9.2903 ares.

How do I convert Ares to Acres?

Ares × 0.024710538147 = Acres, or Ares ÷ 40.468564224. Example: 100 ares = 2.471054 acres.

How do I convert Ares to Bigha?

Only after establishing the local bigha, which ranges from about 6,806 to 27,225 square feet. Route it through square metres: ares × 100 ÷ (local bigha in m²). Rajasthan's own Land Revenue (Land Records) Rules, 1957 concede that the bigha varies within that single state.

How do I convert Ares to Cent?

Ares × 2.4710538147 = Cent. A cent is exactly 1/100 acre (435.6 sq ft), so an are is about two and a half cents, the same ratio as hectare to acre.

Are Decimal and Dismil the same?

Yes: same word, same unit, both 435.6 square feet = 1/100 acre. So are the southern cent and the Bengali shatak. One are is 2.4711 of any of them.

Can Ares be converted to Ankanam?

Yes, but establish which ankanam first. At the standard 72 sq ft ankanam, 1 are = 14.9499 ankanam; around Tirupati the ankanam is 36 sq ft and the count doubles to 29.8998. The ankanam has no official definition and appears in no government record.

Which is better for measuring large land areas, Are or Hectare?

The hectare, for anything above roughly one hectare. The are is right for a plot; the hectare for a holding. In practice you rarely choose. The record chooses for you, and a 7/12 gives you both in adjacent columns.

Why does my land record show ares when everyone talks in gunthas?

Because the state records in metric and the market speaks in customary units. Maharashtra's revised 7/12 format, mandated by a government resolution of 2 September 2020, replaced the older acre–guntha presentation with hectare–are–square metre for agricultural land and are–square metre for non-agricultural land.

Marathi property writers describe the gap exactly: the documents say आर, and people say गुंठा. The two are not the same size, and no official guidance explaining the columns appears to have been published.

No. The word "acre" does not appear in the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 or in the Legal Metrology (National Standards) Rules, 2011. Neither do bigha, guntha, cent, kanal or marla. The units those Rules name are the square metre, the are and the hectare.

We are not aware of any enforcement action against land-area advertising, and the acre remains universal in practice. But the legal position is that the are has standing and the acre does not, which is the reverse of how India actually transacts.

If a conversion source is wrong, how would I know?

Four checks catch almost everything:

  1. Does the chain close? 1 are = 100 m²; 100 ares = 1 hectare = 10,000 m². If a source's metric chain does not close exactly, stop.
  2. Is the guntha factor 0.9884, not 1? This single check catches the most common error in Indian land conversion. The other two checks are general to Indian land units rather than to the are, and the Four-Check Method page sets them out in full: whether a kachha unit is smaller than its pucca counterpart, and whether the source asked where the land is before answering. Neither can be settled from an are figure alone, which is the point. The are is one of the few units in this series where a conversion needs no location at all.

Specific claims to reject: "1 are = 1 guntha" (0.988421526) · "1 acre = 40 ares" (40.468564224) · "the hectare is accepted for use with the SI while the are is not" (superseded on 4 June 2026) · "1 are = 1 Japanese 畝" (the se is 12,000/121 m² ≈ 99.174) · "1 gajam ≈ 43.56 sq ft" (it is 9).

Most useful from here: Square Metre · Hectare · Acre · Guntha · Square Feet · Square Yard · Cent

Also in the series: Ankanam · Bigha · Biswa · Chatak · Decimal · Dhur · Gajam · Ground · Kanal · Katha · Killa · Lessa · Marla · Murabba · Nali · Perch · Pura · Square Karam · Square Centimetre · Square Inch · Square Kilometre · Square Mile

Background reference: Indian Land Units by State collects the regional definitions this page converts into. It is the page to read first if you are holding a figure in a unit that has more than one size; the are itself has only one.

Sources and Method

How the numbers were produced. Every figure was computed in exact fraction arithmetic from one anchor (1 are = 100 m², against the exact international definitions (1 ft = 0.3048 m, 1 acre = 4,046.8564224 m²)), and machine-checked. Nothing was copied from another converter. Every value on this page is marked exact or recurring.

Standards - BIPM, SI Brochure, 9th edition, version 4.01, 4 June 2026: Table 8 retitled "Non-SI units"; the are and hectare listed under "Historical names for decimal multiples and submultiples of SI units"; footnote: "The CIPM adopted the units are and hectare, and their symbols, in 1879." - BIPM announcement, 4 June 2026: "Updated SI Brochure clarifies the status of non-SI units" - Loi du 18 germinal an III (7 April 1795): the French law defining the are as 100 m² for area of land

Indian law - Legal Metrology (National Standards) Rules, 2011, Sixth Schedule, Rule 17, item 4(1) and 4(2) (the are as the first unit for measurement of land area, the hectare as the second; Second Schedule, Rule 13) the square metre as the unit of area - Legal Metrology Act, 2009: ss. 4, 10, 11 - Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1956, s.9: "The primary unit of area shall be the square metre" - IS 1890 (Part 0):1995, identical with ISO 31-0:1992: checked; does not name the are or hectare - Rajasthan Land Revenue (Land Records) Rules, 1957, Rule 70 - Punjab Land Records Manual, Chapter 9, para 9.11 - Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966, s.43 (pot kharaba Class B)

Land records - Maharashtra 7/12 format: हे.आर.चौ.मी for agricultural land, आर.चौ.मी for non-agricultural; government resolution dated 2 September 2020 (date confirmed from two Marathi sources; GR number not retrieved) - Marathi revenue-practice sources on गाव नमुना ७ and पोट खराबा वर्ग अ / वर्ग ब - Andhra Pradesh Adangal / Form 1-B: acres and cents; corroborated by a Government of India study on land-record quality - Mahabhulekh (Maharashtra Land Records Department)

What is original to this page. The observation that the are is named as India's first unit of land area while the acre is named nowhere in Indian metrology law · the June 2026 SI Brochure reclassification read as a demotion of the hectare rather than only a promotion of the are · the root cause of the are/guntha confusion identified as 33 ft = 10.0584 m, a 5.84 cm difference in side length · four documented instances of that confusion in published Marathi material, including a conversion table that asserts both "१ आर = १ गुंठा" and "1 hectare = 98.8 gunthas" · the agricultural/non-agricultural column asymmetry on the 7/12 · the guntha error quantified in rupees at scale · and the observation that only four of this page's conversions are exact, and all four are metric.

What we could not verify, and are not going to invent. The exact wording of the 1879 CIPM decision (we cite the SI Brochure footnote, not a Procès-Verbaux page) · what ISO 80000-3 says about the are or hectare (paywalled; not asserted) · Gujarat's official 7/12 column headings (apparent, not confirmed) · the area units used in the digitised records of Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odisha, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, searches returned no citable government source, and a confident state-by-state table would have been the least defensible thing here · the number of the 2 September 2020 Maharashtra resolution · the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code section prescribing the unit · any official are-to-guntha conversion table (none appears to exist) · any court case or documented dispute arising from the confusion · whether the Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976 listed the are · and the Sixth Schedule heading "Temporarily accepted Units," seen in a single copy and not checked against the gazette.

Disclaimer

This page is an informational reference for land-area conversion. It is not legal, valuation or survey advice.

The are itself is exactly defined, but several units on this page are not: conversion factors for bigha, biswa, biswa kacha, katha, dhur, nali, ankanam, kanal, marla and square karam reflect the regional definitions identified here and may not match the definition applied in your district or by a particular authority.

For any purchase, sale, mutation, partition, litigation or other transaction, rely on the applicable record of rights, the registered documents and, where appropriate, a survey by a licensed surveyor or the revenue authority, not on a converted figure.

Conversion factors and standards references current as of September 2026.

Ares Conversion Quick Reference

Conversion 1 Ares Note
Acre 0.024711 Recurring; Exact by definition: 43,560 sq ft = 4,840 sq yd
Ankanam 14.949876 (Standard) Region-specific; also 29.899751 (Tirupati)
Bigha 0.061776 (Rajasthan kachha / Gujarat vigha / Uttarakhand Terai) Region-specific; also 0.039537 (UP pucca / Bihar / Rajasthan pucca) · 0.118611 (UP kachha (6⅔ biswa)) · 0.158147 (UP kachha (5 biswa) / Uttarakhand hills)
Biswa 0.790737 (UP / Rajasthan pucca) Region-specific; also 1.235527 (Rajasthan kachha) · 2.372212 (Punjab / Haryana old records) · 2.471054 (Himachal Pradesh)
Biswa Kacha 2.372212 (Punjab / Haryana revenue definition) Region-specific; also 1.235527 (Rajasthan kachha reading)
Cent 2.471054 Recurring; One hundredth of an acre, exactly
Chatak 23.919801 Recurring; 5 sq yd exactly; 16 to the cottah, 968 to the acre. Reported, not stated by any instrument located
Decimal 2.471054 Recurring; One hundredth of an acre, exactly
Dhur 15.814744 (Bihar / Jharkhand (Patna chain)) Region-specific; also 298.997512 (Tripura)
Dismil 2.471054 Recurring; The decimal under another name
Gaj 119.599005 Recurring; The square yard, 9 sq ft
Gajam 119.599005 Recurring; The square yard in Telugu, 9 sq ft
Ground 0.448496 Recurring; Tamil Nadu Urban Land Tax Act 1966, s.2(8-A): "an area comprising two hundred and twenty three square metres (two thousand and four hundred square feet)"
Guntha 0.988422 Recurring; 121 sq yd; 40 guntha = 1 acre exactly
Hectare 0.01 Exact; 10,000 m² exactly
Kanal 0.197684 (Standard (66-inch karam)) Region-specific; also 0.239198 (Majha belt (60-inch karam)) · 0.26045 (Doaba belt (57.5-inch karam)) · 0.295306 (Kapurthala belt (54-inch karam))
Katha 0.790737 (Bihar state standard) Region-specific; also 1.494988 (West Bengal / Jharkhand) · 0.373747 (Assam) · 0.617763 (Bihar (Chhapra))
Killa 0.024711 Recurring; The acre under its Punjabi name
Lessa 7.474938 Recurring; The 12-foot mauzadari jar squared (Assam Land Records Manual r.117); 20 to a katha, 100 to a bigha
Marla 3.953686 (Standard (66-inch karam)) Region-specific; also 4.78396 (Majha belt (60-inch karam)) · 5.209 (Doaba belt (57.5-inch karam)) · 5.906124 (Kapurthala belt (54-inch karam))
Murabba 0.000988 (Punjab canal colony) Region-specific; also 0.001581 (Rajasthan (Indira Gandhi Canal))
Nali 0.498329 Recurring; 240 sq yd; 16 mutthi of 135 sq ft. No instrument located states the figure
Perch 3.953686 Recurring; 30.25 sq yd; 160 perches = 1 acre
Pura 0.018687 Recurring; 4 Assam bigha of 14,400 sq ft. The 4:1 ratio is SOURCED -- the Supreme Court states it in 1961 and 1971 and the Gauhati High Court in 1986, 2023, 2024 and 2026 -- but no instrument, judgment or manual states the square-foot figure, which is derived from the Assam bigha
Square Centimeter 1,000,000 Exact; One ten-thousandth of a square metre
Square Feet 1,076.391042 Recurring; The base of this series
Square Inch 155,000.310001 Recurring; One 144th of a square foot
Square Karam 35.583175 (Standard (66-inch karam)) Region-specific; also 43.055642 (Majha belt (60-inch karam)) · 46.881001 (Doaba belt (57.5-inch karam)) · 53.155113 (Kapurthala belt (54-inch karam))
Square Kilometer 0.0001 Exact; 1,000,000 m²
Square Meter 100 Exact; The SI unit of area
Square Mile 0.0000386 Recurring; Standards of Weights and Measures Act 1976, Schedule (see s.79): "1 square mile = 2 589 988.110 336 square metres"; 640 acres exactly
Square Yard 119.599005 Recurring; 9 sq ft exactly

Ares to the Units That Are the Same Area

Six of the thirty-two units are two names for one area with another, so their figures are identical to the last digit.

Ares to Decimal

1 are = 2.471054 decimal. A decimal and a cent are the same area, 435.6 square feet, so any Ares figure converts to the same number of either. Decimal = Ares ÷ 0.40468564224 · reverse Ares = Decimal × 0.40468564224

Ares to Dismil

1 are = 2.471054 dismil. A dismil and a cent are the same area, 435.6 square feet, so any Ares figure converts to the same number of either. Dismil = Ares ÷ 0.40468564224 · reverse Ares = Dismil × 0.40468564224

Ares to Gajam

1 are = 119.599005 gajam. A gajam and a gaj are the same area, 9 square feet, so any Ares figure converts to the same number of either. Gajam = Ares ÷ 0.0083612736 · reverse Ares = Gajam × 0.0083612736

Ares to Killa

1 are = 0.024711 killa. A killa and an acre are the same area, 43,560 square feet, so any Ares figure converts to the same number of either. Killa = Ares ÷ 40.468564224 · reverse Ares = Killa × 40.468564224

Ares to Perch

1 are = 3.953686 perches. A perch and a marla are the same area, 272.25 square feet, so any Ares figure converts to the same number of either. Perch = Ares ÷ 0.2529285264 · reverse Ares = Perch × 0.2529285264

Ares to Square Yard

1 are = 119.599005 square yards. A square yard and a gaj are the same area, 9 square feet, so any Ares figure converts to the same number of either. Square Yard = Ares ÷ 0.0083612736 · reverse Ares = Square Yard × 0.0083612736

The tables above are arithmetic, and for an are the arithmetic is the easy half. What decides whether the figure you started with is the right one to convert at all is The Are in Indian Law: the Unit the Acre Is Not.

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