Comparison of a wide range of areas
Image comparing various units: square mile (the entire yellow square), square kilometre , hectare and acre , as well as a soccer field and a Manhattan block . An area of one square kilometre consists of 100 hectares each containing 10,000 square metres .
This page is a progressive and labelled list of the SI area orders of magnitude, with certain examples appended to some list objects.
10 −70 to 10 −9 square metres
List of orders of magnitude for area 10 −70 to 10 −9 square metres
Factor (m2 )
Multiple
Value
Item
10 −70
2.6× 10 −70 m2
Planck area , [ 1]
10 −60
1 square quectometre
10 −54
1 square rontometre
10 −52
100 rm2
1 shed [ 2]
10 −48
1 square yoctometre (ym2 )
1 ym2
10 −43
100,000 ym2
1 femtobarn [ 3]
10−42
1 square zeptometre (zm2 )
1 zm2
10−36
1 square attometre (am2 )
1 am2
10−30
1 square femtometre (fm2 )
1 fm2
10−29
66.52 fm2
Thomson cross-section of the electron[ 4]
10−28
100 fm2
1 barn , roughly the cross-sectional area of a uranium nucleus [ 5]
10−24
1 square picometre (pm2 )
1 pm2
10−20
1 square angstrom (Å2 )
10,000 pm2
10−19
100,000 pm2
Area of a lipid bilayer , per molecule[ 6]
75,000–260,000 pm2
Surface area of the 20 standard amino acids [ 7]
10−18
1 square nanometre (nm2 )
1 nm2
10−16
100 nm2
Globular proteins : solvent-accessible surface area of a typical globular protein, having a typical molecular mass of ~35000 u (quite variable)[ 8]
10−14
17,000 nm2
Cross-sectional area of a nuclear pore complex in vertebrates[ 9]
10−12
1 square micrometre (μm2 )
6 μm2
Surface area of an E. coli bacterium[ 10]
10−10
100 μm2
Surface area of a red blood cell [ 11]
10−9
6,000–110,000 μm2
Range of common LCD screen pixel sizes [ 12]
7,000 μm2
Area of a dot printed using 300 dots per inch resolution[ 13]
8,000 μm2
Cross-sectional area of a straight human hair that is 100 μm[ 14] in diameter[ 15]
10−8 to 10−1 square metres
List of orders of magnitude for areas 10−8 to 10−1 square metres
Factor (m2 )
Multiple
Value
Item
10−8
55,000 μm2
Size of a pixel on a typical modern computer display
10−7
2-400,000 μm2
Cross-sectional area of a mechanical pencil lead (0.5-0.7 mm in diameter)[ 16]
10−6
1 square millimetre (mm2 )
1–2 mm2
Area of a human fovea [ 17]
2 mm2
Area of the head of a pin
10−5
30–50 mm2
Area of a 6–8 mm hole punched in a piece of paper by a hole punch [ 18]
10−4
1 square centimetre (cm2 )
290 mm2
Area of one side of a U.S. penny[ 19] [ 20]
500 mm2
Area of a typical postage stamp
10−3
1,100 mm2
Area of a human retina[ 21]
4,600 mm2
Area of the face of a credit card [ 22]
4,800 mm2
Largest side of a cigarette box
10−2
1 square decimetre (dm2 )
10,000 mm2
Index card (3 × 5 inches )[ 23]
60,000 mm2
American letter paper (11 × 8.5 inches , "A" size)
62,370 mm2
International A4 paper (210 × 297 mm)
92,903 mm2
1 square foot [ 24]
10−1
125,000 mm2
International A3 paper (297 × 420 mm)
180,000 mm2
Surface area of a basketball (diameter 24 cm)[ 25] [ 26]
250,000 mm2
International A2 paper (420 × 594 mm)
500,000 mm2
International A1 paper (594 × 841 mm)
100 to 107 square metres
List of orders of magnitude for areas 100 to 107 square metres.
Factor (m2 )
Multiple
Value
Item
100
1 square metre
1 m2
International A0 paper (841 × 1189 mm)
1.73 m2
A number commonly used as the average body surface area of a human[ 27]
1–4 m2
Area of the top of an office desk
101
10–20 m2
A parking space
70 m2
Approximate surface area of a human lung[ 28]
102
1 square decametre (dam2 )
100 m2
One are (a)
162 m2
Size of a volleyball court (18 × 9 metres)[ 29]
202 m2
Floor area of a median suburban three-bedroom house in the US in 2010: 2,169 sq ft (201.5 m2 )[ 30]
261 m2
Size of a tennis court [ 31]
437 m2
Size of an NBA/WNBA/NCAA basketball court [ 32]
845 m2
Wing area of Airbus A380 , the largest commercial airliner[ 33]
978 m2
Size of the primary mirror of the Extremely Large Telescope , the largest optical telescope in the world (under construction)[ 34]
103
1 kilo square meter k(m2 )
1,000 m2
Surface area of a modern stremma or dunam
1,250 m2
Surface area of the water in an Olympic-size swimming pool [ 35]
4,047 m2
1 acre [ 36]
5,400 m2
Size of an American football field [ 37] [ 38]
7,140 m2
Size of a typical football (soccer) field [ 39] [ 40]
104
1 square hectometre (hm2 )
10,000 m2
1 hectare (ha)[ 41]
17,000 m2
Approximate area of a cricket field (theoretical limits: 6,402 m2 to 21,273 m2 )[ 42]
22,100 m2
Area of a Manhattan city block
53,000 m2
Base of the Great Pyramid of Giza [ 43] [ 44]
105
195,000 m2
Irish National Botanic Gardens [ 45]
490,000 m2
Vatican City [ 46]
600,000 m2
Total floor area of the Pentagon [ 47]
887,800 m2
AvtoVAZ main assembly building, Tolyatti, Russia (largest building by footprint)
106
1 mega square meter M(m2 )
1 square kilometre (km2 )
1.76 km2
New Century Global Center , Chengdu, China (largest building by total floor area)
2 km2
Monaco (country ranked 192nd by area)[ 48]
2.59 km2
1 square mile [ 49]
2.9 km2
City of London (not all of modern London )[ 50]
107
59.5 km2
Manhattan Island (land area)[ 51]
61 km2
San Marino [ 52]
108 to 1014 square metres
Factor (m2 )
Multiple
Value
Item
108
105 km2
Paris (inner city only)[ 53]
110 km2
Walt Disney World [ 54]
272 km2
Taipei City [ 55]
630 km2
Toronto [ 56]
109
1 giga square meter G(m2 )
1100 km2
Hong Kong [ 57]
1290 km2
Los Angeles, California , United States (city)[ 58]
1962 km2
Jacksonville, Florida ; largest city in the Continental US [ 59]
2188 km2
Tokyo [ 60]
3,130 km2
Average area of an American county
5780 km2
Administrative area of Bali [ 61]
8030 km2
Community of Madrid , Spain
1010
11,000 km2
Jamaica [ 62]
30,528 km2
Belgium
68,870 km2
Lake Victoria [ 63]
84,000 km2
Austria[ 64]
1011
100,000 km2
South Korea [ 65]
167,996 km2
Jiuquan in China
232,000 km2
Total area covered by underwater search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (including both 2014-2017 and 2018 searches)
238,397
Romania [ 66]
301,338 km2
Italy [ 67]
357,000 km2
Germany[ 68]
377,900 km2
Japan[ 69]
510,000 km2
Spain[ 70]
780,000 km2
Turkey [ 71]
1012
1 tera square meter T(m2 )
1 square megametre (Mm2 )
1.0 Mm2
Egypt (country ranked 29th by area )[ 72]
2 Mm2
Mexico
3.10 Mm2
Sakha (Yakutia) Republic in Russia (largest subnational governing body )[ 73]
5 Mm2
Largest extent of the Roman Empire [ 74] [ 75]
7.74 Mm2
Australia (country ranked 6th by area )[ 76]
8.5 Mm2
Brazil
9.5 Mm2
China/ United States of America
1013
10 Mm2
Canada (including water)[ 77]
14 Mm2
Antarctica [ 78]
14 Mm2
Arable land worldwide[ 79]
16.6 Mm2
Surface area of Pluto [ 80]
17 Mm2
Russia (country ranked 1st by area )[ 81]
30 Mm2
Africa [ 82]
35.5 Mm2
Largest extent of the British Empire [ 83]
38 Mm2
Surface area of the Moon [ 84]
77 Mm2
Atlantic Ocean [ 85]
1014
144 Mm2
Surface area of Mars [ 86]
150 Mm2
Land area of Earth [ 87]
156 Mm2
Pacific Ocean [ 88]
360 Mm2
Water area of Earth[ 87]
510 Mm2
Total surface area of Earth[ 87]
1015 to 1026 square metres
List of orders of magnitude for areas 1015 to 1026 square metres.
Factor (m2 )
Multiple
Value
Item
1015
1 peta square meter P(m2 )
1,000 Mm2
Surface area of the white dwarf , Van Maanen's star
7,600 Mm2
Surface area of Neptune [ 89]
1016
43,000 Mm2
Surface area of Saturn [ 90]
61 000 Mm2
Surface area of Jupiter ,[ 91] the "surface" area of the spheroid (calculated from the mean radius as reported by NASA). The cross-sectional area of Jupiter, which is the same as the "circle" of Jupiter seen by an approaching spacecraft, is almost exactly one quarter the surface-area of the overall sphere, which in the case of Jupiter is approximately 1.535× 10 16 m2 .
1017
2-600 000 Mm2
Surface area of the brown dwarf CT Chamaeleontis B .
460,000 Mm2
Area swept by the Moon's orbit of Earth
1018
1 square gigametre (Gm2 )
6.1 Gm2
Surface area of the Sun [ 92]
1019
30 Gm2
Surface area of the star Vega
1020
100 Gm2
1021
1 zetta square meter Z(m2 )
1 000 Gm2
1022
11 000 Gm2
Area swept by Mercury's orbit around the Sun
37 000 Gm2
Area swept by Venus ' orbit around the Sun
71 000 Gm2
Area swept by Earth 's orbit around the Sun
1023
160 000 Gm2
Area swept by Mars ' orbit around the Sun
281 000 Gm2
Surface area of a Dyson sphere with a radius of 1 AU
1024
1 yotta square meter (m2 )
1 square terametre (Tm2 )
1.9 Tm2
Area swept by Jupiter 's orbit around the Sun
6.4 Tm2
Area swept by Saturn 's orbit around the Sun
8.5 Tm2
Surface area of the red supergiant star Betelgeuse
1025
24 Tm2
Surface area of the hypergiant star VY Canis Majoris
26 Tm2
Area swept by Uranus ' orbit around the Sun
64 Tm2
Area swept by Neptune 's orbit around the Sun
1026
110 Tm2
Area swept by Pluto 's orbit around the Sun
1027 square metres and larger
List of orders of magnitude for areas 1027 square metres and larger.
Factor (m2 )
Multiple
Value
Item
1030
1 square petametre (Pm2 )
1031
10 Pm2
1032
200 Pm2
Roughly the surface area of an Oort Cloud
300 Pm2
Roughly the surface area of a Bok globule
1033
1 000 Pm2
1034
30 000 Pm2
Roughly the surface area of The Bubble nebula
1035
100 000 Pm2
1036
1 square exametre (Em2 )
...
1041
700 000 Em2
Roughly the area of Milky Way 's galactic disk
1042
1 square zettametre (Zm2 )
...
1048
1 square yottametre (Ym2 )
1054
1 square ronnametre (Rm2 )
2.4 Rm2
Surface area of the observable universe[ 93]
See also
References
^ Calculated: square of the Planck length = (1.62e-35 m)^2 = 2.6e-70 m^2
^ Russ Rowlett (September 1, 2004). "Units: S" . How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement . University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Retrieved 2011-10-25 .
^ "Femtobarn" . CERN writing guidelines . CERN . Retrieved 2015-10-22 .
^ Eric W. Weisstein. "Thomson Cross Section" . Eric Weisstein's World of Science . Wolfram Research. Retrieved 2015-10-22 .
^ "Other non-SI units" . SI brochure . BIPM. Archived from the original on 2008-08-21. Retrieved 2011-10-25 .
^ " "Rule of thumb" for the area per molecule in lipid bilayer" . BioNumbers. Retrieved 2011-10-09 .
^ "Individual Properties of the 20 Standard Amino Acids: Properties and Images" . The Amino Acid Repository . Jena Library of Biological Macromolecules. Retrieved 2011-10-10 .
^ Janin, J. E. L. (1979). "Surface and inside volumes in globular proteins". Nature . 277 (5696): 491–492. Bibcode :1979Natur.277..491J . doi :10.1038/277491a0 . PMID 763335 . S2CID 4338901 .
^ "The Nuclear Pore Complex" . UIUC Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group. Retrieved 2011-10-14 .
^ "E. coli Statistics" . The CyberCell Database. Archived from the original on 2011-10-27. Retrieved 2011-09-11 .
^ Marcelli, Gianluca; Parker, Kim H.; Winlove, C. Peter (2005). "Thermal Fluctuations of Red Blood Cell Membrane via a Constant-Area Particle-Dynamics Model" . Biophysical Journal . 89 (4): 2473–2480. Bibcode :2005BpJ....89.2473M . doi :10.1529/biophysj.104.056168 . PMC 1366746 . PMID 16055528 .
^ Calculated: Smallest and largest common pitches were 77 micrometers and 337 micrometers. (77e-6 m)^2 ~= 6e-9 m^2. (337e-6 m)^2 ~= 114e-9 m^2 ~= 110e-9 m^2
^ Calculated: (300 dots per inch / 2.54e-2 m/inch)^(-2) = 7.2e-9 m^2
^ "Hair Fiber Composition" . Retrieved 2011-09-30 .
^ Calculated: 100 μm in diameter => pi * ((1e-4 m)/2)**2 = 7.9e-9 m^2
^ Calculated: pi * (0.5mm/2)^2 = 2.0e-7 m^2 and pi * (0.7mm/2)^2 = 3.8e-7 m^2)
^ "Part XIII: Facts and Figures concerning the human retina" . Webvision . University of Utah. Archived from the original on 2011-10-11. Retrieved 2011-09-28 .
^ Calculated: ((6e-3 m)/2)**2 * pi = 2.8e-5 m^2 and ((8e-3 m)/2)**2 * pi = 5.0e-5 m^2
^ "Coin specifications" . United States Mint. Retrieved 2011-12-28 .
^ Calculated: area = pi * diameter^2 / 4 = 3.14 * (19.05e-3 m)^2 = 2.850e-4 m^2
^ Taylor, Enid; Jennings, Alan (1971). "Calculation of total retinal area" . Br. J. Ophthalmol . 55 (4): 262–5. doi :10.1136/bjo.55.4.262 . PMC 1208280 . PMID 5572268 .
^ "Credit Card Dimensions" . Retrieved 2011-09-30 .
^ Calculated: 3 inches * 5 inches * (2.54e-2 m/inch)^2 = 9.7e-3 m^2 ~= 0.01 m^2
^ Calculated: 1 foot * 1 foot * (0.3048 meters / foot)^2 = 0.092.90304 m^2
^ "Rules of the Game" . USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 2011-10-27. Retrieved 2011-10-28 .
^ Calculated: 29.5-29.75 inch circumference * 2.54 cm / in = 23.85-24.05 cm diameter => radius = 0.119-0.120 m => Area = 4 * pi * (0.119 m)^2 = 0.18 m^2
^ Sacco, Joseph J.; Botten, Joanne; Macbeth, Fergus; Bagust, Adrian; Clark, Peter (2010). "The Average Body Surface Area of Adult Cancer Patients in the UK: A Multicentre Retrospective Study" . PLOS ONE . 5 (1): e8933. Bibcode :2010PLoSO...5.8933S . doi :10.1371/journal.pone.0008933 . PMC 2812484 . PMID 20126669 .
^ Notter, Robert H. (2000). Lung surfactants: basic science and clinical applications . New York, N.Y: Marcel Dekker. p. 120. ISBN 0-8247-0401-0 . Retrieved 2011-09-27 .
^ "Section 1.1" (PDF) . Official Volleyball Rules 2011-2012 . FIVB . 2010. Retrieved 2011-10-27 . The playing court is a rectangle measuring 18 x 9 m, surrounded by a free zone which is a minimum of 3 m wide on all sides.
^ "Median and Average Square Feet of Floor Area in New Single-Family Houses Completed by Location" (PDF) . US Census Bureau. Retrieved 2011-09-26 .
^ "Area of a Tennis Court" . The Physics Factbook . Retrieved 2011-09-27 .
^ Calculated: 4,700 sq ft * (0.3048 ft/m)2 = 436.644288 m2
^ "A380 Prestige Specifications" (PDF) . Airbus. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2016.
^ "Extremely Large Telescope - Timeline" . Retrieved 11 July 2023 .
^ Calculated: 50 m * 25 m = 1250 m^2
^ "General Tables of Units of Measurement" (PDF) . NIST. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-11-26. Retrieved 2011-10-28 . 4046.87
^ "What are the Dimensions of a Football Field" . Dimensions Guide . Retrieved 2011-10-27 .
^ Calculated: 360 feet * 160 feet * (0.3048 m/ft)^2 = 5351 m^2 ~= 5400 m^2
^ "How Big Is An Olympic Soccer Field?" . LIVESTRONG.COM. Retrieved 2012-01-04 . For the Olympics, fields are supposed to measure exactly 105 meters long and 68 meters wide
^ Calculated: 105 m * 68 m = 7140 m^2
^ "General Tables of Units of Measurement" (PDF) . NIST. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-11-26. Retrieved 2011-10-28 .
^ "AFL Ground Sizes | Passy's World of Mathematics" . passyworldofmathematics.com. 11 September 2011. Retrieved 2016-11-12 .
^ Greenberg, Ralph. "THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA (Some Elegant Numerical Relationships)" . Retrieved 2012-01-04 . average length of the four sides is 230.364 meters
^ Calculated: 230.364 m^2 ~= 53068 m^2
^ Gartland, Fiona. "Valuable lead roofing stolen from Dublin bandstands" . Archived from the original on 30 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018 .
^ "Holy See (Vatican City)" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-10-28 .
^ "The Pentagon - George Bergstrom" . Great Buildings Online. Retrieved 2011-10-28 . Floor area of 6.5 million square feet, 34 acres, 13.8 hectares, of which 3.7 million square feet are used for offices.
^ "Monaco" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-30 .
^ Calculated: 1 mile * 1 mile * (1.61 km / mile)^2 = 2.59 km^2
^ "Jurisdictions: London" . The International Finance Centre Portal. Retrieved 2011-10-28 .
^ "New York -- Place and County Subdivision: Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density 2000" . Census 2000 Summary File 1 . US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2011-01-03. Retrieved 2011-10-28 .
^ "San Marino" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-30 .
^ "Comparateur de territoire: Commune de Paris (75056)" . INSEE. Retrieved 2020-08-26 .
^ "Walt Disney World Resort" . Disney By The Numb3rs. Archived from the original on 2015-06-12. Retrieved 2011-10-28 . 30,500 acres
^ "Appendix II Statistics" . Taipei Yearbook 2010 . Archived from the original on 2012-05-22. Retrieved 2011-10-28 .
^ "Population and Dwelling Counts" . 2001 Census . Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2011-10-28 .
^ "Hong Kong" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
^ "California by Place: Los Angeles city" . US Census. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2011-10-28 . 498.29 square miles
^ "Cities with 100,000 or More Population in 2000 ranked by Land Area (square miles) /1, 2000 in Rank Order" . U.S. Census Bureau, Administrative and Customer Services Division, Statistical Compendia Branch . March 16, 2004. Archived from the original on October 17, 2002. Retrieved 2010-10-26 .
^ "OVERVIEW OF TOKYO" . Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Archived from the original on 2011-11-08. Retrieved 2011-10-28 .
^ "Kabupaten Klungkung : Data Agregat per Kecamatan" (PDF) . Sp2010.bps.go.id . 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2018 .
^ "Jamaica" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
^ "Lake Profile: Victoria" . World Lakes . LakeNet. Retrieved 2011-10-28 .
^ "Austria" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
^ "South Korea" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
^ The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
^ "Italy" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
^ "Germany" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
^ "Japan" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
^ "Spain" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
^ "Turkey" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
^ "Egypt" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
^ Rosstat (Russian Statistical Service), 2010 Archived 2012-10-18 at the Wayback Machine (xls). Retrieved 2012-06-15.
^ Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D (December 2006). "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires" . Journal of World-Systems Research . 12 (2): 222. ISSN 1076-156X . Retrieved 2016-09-16 .
^ Taagepera, Rein (1979). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.". Social Science History . 3 (3/4): 125. doi :10.2307/1170959 . JSTOR 1170959 .
^ "Australia" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-10-28 .
^ "Canada" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
^ "Antarctica" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-10-28 .
^ "FAO Resources page" . FAO.org. 2010.
^ "Pluto: By the Numbers" . Solar System Exploration . NASA. Archived from the original on 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2015-12-11 .
^ "Russia" . The World Factbook . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
^ "Map of Africa" . Worldatlas.com. Retrieved 2012-01-04 . 30,065,000 sq km
^ Rein Taagepera (September 1997). "Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia" (PDF) . International Studies Quarterly . 41 (3): 502. doi :10.1111/0020-8833.00053 . JSTOR 2600793 .
^ "Earth's Moon: Facts & Figures" . Solar System Exploration . NASA. Archived from the original on 2004-02-24. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
^ "The World Factbook: Atlantic Ocean" . Central Intelligence Agency. 2011-03-24. Retrieved 2011-09-30 .
^ "Mars: Facts & Figures" . Solar System Exploration . NASA. Archived from the original on 2003-12-15. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
^ a b c "The World Factbook: World" . Central Intelligence Agency. 2011-08-31. Retrieved 2011-09-27 .
^ "The World Factbook: Pacific Ocean" . Central Intelligence Agency. 2011-11-17. Retrieved 2011-09-30 .
^ "Neptune: Facts & Figures" . Solar System Exploration . NASA. Archived from the original on 2003-12-15. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
^ "Saturn: Facts & Figures" . Solar System Exploration . NASA. Archived from the original on 2004-02-24. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
^ "Jupiter: Facts & Figures" . Solar System Exploration . NASA. Archived from the original on 2003-12-15. Retrieved 2011-09-29 .
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^ "Wolfram|Alpha: Computational Knowledge Engine" . www.wolframalpha.com . Retrieved 2016-03-01 .