Convert Square Meter (m²) to Arpent (arpent (area)) instantly.
About these units
Square Meter (m²)
The square meter is the SI unit of area and represents the area of a square with sides exactly one meter in length. It is used universally across science, engineering, architecture, real estate, agriculture, and virtually every discipline that deals with two-dimensional space. Because it is derived directly from the meter, it connects seamlessly to other SI units for volume (m³), density (kg/m³), and pressure (Pa = N/m²). In practical contexts, square meters are used to describe the size of rooms, building floor plans, land plots, insulation coverage, and materials such as flooring and roofing. Its intuitive scale makes it ideal for medium-sized spaces. Smaller areas (such as mechanical components) use cm² or mm², while larger geographical spaces use hectares or square kilometers. The square meter's universality and coherence with the metric system make it one of the most important area units in global 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 In Louisiana, an arpent is typically standardized to 0.84628 acres for legal purposes, but French historical documents may use values closer to half a hectare.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.