Square Kilometers and Hectares Converter
Using the Square Kilometers and Hectares Converter
This converter allows for conversion between two of the largest units of area within the metric system.
Start by choosing between the British and the American spelling, which will affect how the word kilometer is spelled (if you choose the British version, it will be spelled as โkilometreโ).
The next step is choosing your input unit (choose between km2 and ha in the โCONVERT FROMโ section) and also your output unit (choose between the same 2 units in the โCONVERT TOโ section).
If you prefer, you can simply use the preselected units, or click on the icon with the 2 arrows pointed in opposite directions, to swap the order of the units.
Insert the value of your input, by typing it in as a decimal number into the โVALUE TO CONVERTโ section.
The final step is to choose the number of decimal places you want your result rounded toward.
Once you are happy with all of your settings, click on โCONVERTโ and you will receive your result as a decimal number, rounded to the desired number of decimal places, in the output unit of your choice.
Additionally, you will also receive the conversion rate between the two units you are working with and an option to easily copy your result by clicking on the โCOPYโ icon next to it.
Converting Square Kilometers and Hectares Manually
Both square kilometers and hectares are units of the metric system, which means that the conversion rates between them are going to be determined by multiples of 10. This makes the conversions a matter of moving the decimal dot in appropriate directions.
A square kilometer is an area that is covered by a square with side lengths of 1 km, which is also equivalent to 1,000 meters. That makes the area of a km2 equivalent to 1,000ร1,000 = 1,000,000 m2.
A hectare is an area that is covered by 10,000 m2. This means that a hectare is 1/100 of a km2.
An alternative point of view would be imagining a hectare as a square with a side length of 100 meters.
This relationship leads to two possible formulae that can help us with manually converting between the two units.
The following 2 examples will guide us through the practical usage of these formulae.
EXAMPLE 1: New York City has an area of 78,380 ha. What is the area of New York City in km2?
Since our input unit is in hectares, while we are aiming for km2 as the output unit, the first formula is the easiest to apply. We substitute 78,380for hectares and solve as follows.
EXAMPLE 2: The area of the state of Rhode Island is 3,144 km2. What is the area of this state in hectares?
The second formula will be best applied to this problem, by substituting 3,144 for km2 and calculating hectares as follows.
Converting Square Kilometers and Hectares Quickly
Since both units belong to the metric system, we notice that their conversion rates involve the values of 100 or 0.01. In other words, converting from km2 to ha requires us to multiply the value by 100, while converting the other way around requires us to divide by 100.
This means that if we receive a value in km2 and need to convert it into ha, we simply move the decimal dot two places to the right. If there are no numbers to move the decimal point along, we add 0.
In the case of converting ha to km2, we move the decimal dots 2 places to the left.
EXAMPLE 1: Convert 7.2 km2 to ha.
We must move the decimal dot 2 places to the right. However there is only one number after the decimal dot, hence we add a zero at the end. The conversion ends up being equal to 720 ha.
EXAMPLE 2: Convert 4 ha to km2.
Here we must move the decimal dot 2 places to the left. However there is only one number to move the decimal dot along, hence we add a zero in front of the 4. The conversion ends up being equal to 0.04 km2.
What Is a Hectare?
The metric unit of a hectare is defined as the area of a square with side lengths of 100 meters. This is how the area of 10,000 m2 is determined, as 100 x 100 = 10,000.
The name of this unit is derived from a different unit of area, the are. An are is defined as 100 m2, or simply a square with a side length of 10 meters.
The Greek word โhekatonโ, meaning โa hundredโ is the origin of the prefix inserted before the word โareโ.
The etymology here reveals the mathematical definition, as 100 ares are indeed equal to 1 hectare.
This further proves that a knowledge of Latin and Greek prefixes makes remembering metric units much easier.