On Monday 02 January 2006 15:50, Martin Vlietstra wrote: > The are and hectare fill an awkward gap between the square metre and the > square kilometre. The ratio of the two is 1:10^6 so there is really room > for a unit between them. If the intermediate unit was 10^3 m^2, it would > represent an awkward area - a square with sides of length 10*10^2 m (approx > 31 m). Alternatively it could be defined as a "metric acre" - a strip 100 > m long and 10 m wide. Neither is particularly satisfactory. An awkward > situation all round.
This unit is actually used in Israel, where it is called a dunam (from Turkish dönüm). Somewhere else it's called a cong, though that's also the name for a mysterious archeological object mentioned on burtleburtle.net. Of course it's also a decare. phma
