Square kilometre

A square kilometer (British English spelling square kilometre, in short km²) is a unit of measurement of area. It is based on the SI unit meter.

100 hectares make one square kilometer.

Equal areas

A square that has a side length of 1 kilometer (1000 meters) has an area of one square kilometer.

1,000 m × 1,000 m = 1 km × 1 km = 1,000,000 m² = 1 km²^[1]

There are 100 hectares in one square kilometer.^[2][1] One square kilometer is just less than 0.39 square miles.^[1]

Use

Square kilometer is often used to say how much surface something occupies on Earth. It can, for example, be used to describe the area of a city or country. These usually take more than 1 km² on Earth.

The number of people living in a square kilometer is known as population density.