What is square foot?
A square foot is a unit of area in imperial and US customary systems equal to 144 square inches. It is commonly used in the United States for real estate listings, floor plans, and building layouts.
Real-world uses
Square feet are the primary unit for real estate in the United States, Canada, and parts of South Asia. Office space, apartment listings, and retail floor plans are quoted in sq ft. Flooring, tiles, and paint coverage are sold per square foot in these markets.
History
The square foot derives directly from the foot, which has been used since ancient times. It became the de facto real estate standard in the United States and remains deeply entrenched in American property markets despite the global shift toward metric units.
Common mistakes
Forgetting that square footage is an area measure, not a length. A 1,000 sq ft apartment is not 1,000 feet long. Also, nominal tile sizes often include grout spacing, so actual coverage per tile is slightly less than the stated size.
What is hectare?
A hectare is a metric unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres. It is the standard unit for measuring agricultural land, forest areas, and large parcels of real estate in metric countries.
Real-world uses
Hectares are the standard unit for agricultural land measurement, forestry management, and urban planning worldwide. Wine regions report vineyard sizes in hectares, and environmental reports quantify habitat loss in hectares. One hectare is roughly the size of two American football fields.
History
The hectare was introduced during the French Revolution as part of the metric system, originally called a "hecto-are" (100 ares). Though not an official SI unit, it is accepted for use with SI and remains the predominant land area unit in global agriculture.
Common mistakes
Confusing hectares with acres—1 hectare is about 2.47 acres, not 1-to-1. Also, some people confuse "hectare" with "hectometre," but a hectare is 10,000 m² (100 m × 100 m), a unit of area, not length.
When is this conversion used?
Converting between square foot and hectare is common when working across metric and imperial systems, such as international trade, travel between countries with different measurement standards, or following instructions from a different region.
Worked examples
1 square foot = 0.00000929 hectare
1 hectare = 10,000 square metre
How to convert square foot to hectare
To convert square foot to hectare, multiply the value by 0.00000929.
To convert hectare back to square foot, multiply by 107,639.1041671.
Measurement standards
The square metre is the SI derived unit of area. The hectare (10,000 m²) is accepted for use with the SI by the BIPM, particularly for land measurement, though it is not an SI unit itself.
Did you know?
Vatican City, the world's smallest independent state, covers just 0.44 km² (about 109 acres) — smaller than many golf courses. By contrast, Russia spans over 17.1 million km², nearly 39 million times larger.
Quick reference: square foot to hectare
| square foot | hectare |
|---|---|
| 0.1 | 9.290304e-07 |
| 0.5 | 0.00000465 |
| 1 | 0.00000929 |
| 2 | 0.00001858 |
| 5 | 0.00004645 |
| 10 | 0.0000929 |
| 25 | 0.00023226 |
| 50 | 0.00046452 |
| 100 | 0.00092903 |
| 250 | 0.00232258 |
| 500 | 0.00464515 |
| 1,000 | 0.0092903 |
Common values
| square foot | hectare | |
|---|---|---|
| A4 paper | 0.66736245 square foot | 0.0000062 hectare |
| Parking space | 134.54888021 square foot | 0.00125 hectare |
| Tennis court | 2,807.98131041 square foot | 0.026087 hectare |
| Football field (soccer) | 76,854.32037531 square foot | 0.714 hectare |
| Central Park, NYC | 36,704,934.52098015 square foot | 341 hectare |