Convert Square Dekameter (dam²) to Arpent (arpent (area)) instantly.
About these units
Square Dekameter (dam²)
A square dekameter equals 100 square meters and is used in agriculture, sports field planning, and land measurement in some metric-oriented countries. It is particularly useful for measuring the footprint of small buildings, gardens, or sport courts. Landscape architects and civil engineers may express project areas in dam² when m² values become too large and hectares too large-scale. Although not as common as the square meter or hectare, the dam² exemplifies the flexibility of the metric system for scaling area units to suit practical needs.
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 In Louisiana, an arpent is typically standardized to 0.84628 acres for legal purposes, but French historical documents may use values closer to half a hectare.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.