How do I measure a plot of land on a map?

Pick a shape (circle, rectangle or polygon) and draw it on the map. With the polygon you can click the corners of your plot one by one and close the shape by clicking the first point. The tool instantly shows the area in hectares, square metres, acres and square kilometres.

How many square metres are in a hectare?

One hectare is 10,000 square metres: a square measuring 100 × 100 metres. One square kilometre is 100 hectares, and one hectare is about 2.47 acres.

How accurate is the measurement?

The area is computed spherically, i.e. taking the curvature of the Earth into account, and coordinates are stored with a precision of roughly one metre. The real accuracy depends on where you click: the more you zoom in while drawing, the finer the measurement.

Why does a self-intersecting polygon give a strange area?

If the sides of the polygon cross each other, the area calculation can be misleading, because some regions subtract from others. Draw the outline without crossings to get a reliable measurement.

Measure any area by drawing it on the map

This tool is the Hectareometer in reverse: instead of typing a number of hectares to see them drawn, here you draw a shape on the map and we instantly tell you how much area it contains, in hectares, square metres, acres and square kilometres. Use it to measure a plot, a field, a farm, the roof where you want to fit solar panels, or any patch of the world you are curious about. The area you draw travels in the link: copy the URL and share it, and whoever opens it will see your exact shape.

How to use it

Pick a shape with the buttons on the map and draw:

◯ Circle: one click to set the centre, another to set the radius.
▭ Rectangle: one click on a corner, another on the opposite corner.
⬠ Polygon: click point after point — the corners of your plot, for example — and close the shape by clicking the first point (or with the “Close shape” button).

Afterwards you can adjust the shape by dragging it around or moving its handles, and the measurement recalculates on its own. Press Esc to cancel a half-drawn shape, or “✕ Clear” to start over.

Quick equivalences

Area	Equivalence
1 hectare	10,000 m² · 2.47 acres · ≈ 1.4 football fields
1 acre	4,046.86 m² · 0.4047 hectares
1 km²	100 hectares · 247.1 acres
1 square mile	640 acres · 259 hectares

Need to convert between more units (square feet, square yards…)? Use the area unit converter.

Examples: famous areas already drawn

Click one and the shape appears on the map, ready to adjust:

Central Park in New York as a polygon: about 340 hectares
Hyde Park in London as a polygon: about 115 hectares
A circle with a 1 km radius over Trafalgar Square: about 314 hectares

Compare with known areas

Articles

Hectares

Is a hectare bigger than a football field?

A standard football pitch is about 7,140 m² — 0.71 hectares. See both drawn to scale on a real map and get a feel for the difference.

Read →

All articles →

Frequently asked questions about measuring areas

How do I measure a plot of land on a map?: Pick a shape (circle, rectangle or polygon) and draw it on the map. With the polygon you can click the corners of your plot one by one and close the shape by clicking the first point. The tool instantly shows the area in hectares, square metres, acres and square kilometres.
How many square metres are in a hectare?: One hectare is 10,000 square metres: a square measuring 100 × 100 metres. One square kilometre is 100 hectares, and one hectare is about 2.47 acres.
How accurate is the measurement?: The area is computed spherically, i.e. taking the curvature of the Earth into account, and coordinates are stored with a precision of roughly one metre. The real accuracy depends on where you click: the more you zoom in while drawing, the finer the measurement.
Why does a self-intersecting polygon give a strange area?: If the sides of the polygon cross each other, the area calculation can be misleading, because some regions subtract from others. Draw the outline without crossings to get a reliable measurement.

Prefer the opposite direction — typing a figure and seeing it drawn? That is the classic Hectareometer. You can also visualize distances, liters or kilos, or convert units with the area converter.