# Why is (did) one are = 100 sq. meters?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-did-one-are-100-sq-meters/497825
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 27, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-did-one-are-100-sq-meters/497825 "2009-05-27T18:41:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@woodpusher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodpusher)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-did-one-are-100-sq-meters/497825/1 "2009-05-27T18:41:15Z")
Were the row houses in Paris 10 m x 10 m?
The best I could find was that a square km was too big and a sq m was too small. If something approximating the acre was desired, then they should have let one are = 10000 sq m (the modern-day hectare).
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-did-one-are-100-sq-meters/497825/2 "2009-05-27T18:45:50Z")
I had to look this one up.
> [@](#):
>
> **are (a)**
> a unit of area equal to 100 square meters. The word is pronounced the same as “air.” Being the area of a square 10 meters on each side, the are is a little large for measuring areas indoors and a little small for measuring areas outdoors. As a result, the are is not used as often as its multiple, the hectare (ha). One are is approximately 1076.3910 square feet, 119.5990 square yards, or 0.02471 acre.
ISTM that it’s a logical unit for the metric system. One square meter is 1 x 1, one are is 10 x 10, and one hectare is 100 x 100.