Convert Section (section) to Arpent (arpent (area)) instantly.
About these units
Section (section)
A section is a unit of area equal to one square mile, or 640 acres, derived from the PLSS township system. Each township contains 36 sections arranged in a 6-by-6 grid. Sections were historically granted to settlers, railroads, and states for development, education funding, and agricultural expansion. Because a section is large but manageable, it provided a logical unit for dividing land among homesteaders. Even today, the section persists as a foundation of rural property boundaries. Many farms, ranches, and municipal boundaries reference section lines, reflecting how 19th-century surveying still shapes 21st-century land use.
Arpent (arpent (area))
The arpent is a historical French land-measurement unit whose exact value varied across regions but is commonly taken as about 0.34 hectares, or roughly 3,400 square meters. The arpent was widely used in France before the metric system and carried over into French colonial territories, especially Louisiana, Quebec, and the Caribbean. In North America, the arpent became intertwined with colonial land grants, settlement patterns, and agricultural design. Properties in Louisiana often follow long, narrow "ribbon farms" extending from riverbanks, measured in arpents of frontage width. This arrangement maximized river access for transportation and irrigation, producing a unique landscape still visible today. Because of its regional variation, historians and land-survey experts must interpret arpents within local context. In Louisiana, an arpent is typically standardized to 0.84628 acres for legal purposes, but French historical documents may use values closer to half a hectare. The arpent thus reflects not only agricultural needs but also the administrative and cultural imprint of French colonization on North American geography.