Section

US land surveyTraditional unit (still used in some regions)

One square US survey mile (640 acres). The basic unit of the US Public Land Survey System.

1 section = 2,589,998.47 square meters (approximately).

About the section

Under the Land Ordinance of 1785, territory outside the existing states could not be sold or settled until it had been surveyed, and the basic parcel of that grid was the section: a square mile, about 2.6 square kilometers, holding 640 acres. Thirty-six of them make a township. Numbering runs back and forth in a snaking pattern, starting with section 1 in the northeast corner and ending with section 36 in the southeast.

Sections were meant to be cut into smaller pieces. A quarter section is 160 acres, and the Homestead Act of 1862 let a settler claim that amount after living on it and improving it for five years. Quarter-quarters of 40 acres are still used in legal descriptions. Section 16 was set aside to fund local schools, and in several western states section 36 was added too. In practice few sections are perfect squares, because the curve of the Earth, compass errors and rough terrain bent the lines, and the original survey monuments still take legal precedence over later measurement.

Sources: Wikipedia: Section (United States land surveying); Wikipedia: Public Land Survey System

Section conversion chart

1 section expressed in every other area unit:

More US land survey units

• US survey acre (area)
• township (area)
• US survey foot (length)
• US survey mile (length)

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