how big is a square mile
A square mile is the area of a square that is 1 mile long on each side. In more familiar units, it equals 640 acres and about 2.59 square kilometers.
What a square mile really is
- Imagine a square where each side is 1 mile long (5,280 feet).
- Its area is 5,280 ft×5,280 ft=27,878,400 square feet5,280\text{ ft}\times 5,280\text{ ft}=27,878,400\text{ square feet}5,280 ft×5,280 ft=27,878,400 square feet.
- That huge number of square feet is the same as 640 acres, which is why people say “1 square mile = 640 acres.”
So when you hear that a city is “100 square miles,” that means 100 of these big 1‑mile‑by‑1‑mile squares of land.
Key conversions (quick reference)
- 1 square mile = 640 acres.
- 1 acre = 1/640 of a square mile.
- 1 square mile ≈ 2.59 square kilometers.
- 1 square mile = 27,878,400 square feet.
Here’s the same info in a compact way:
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Square shape | 1 mile × 1 mile |
| In acres | 640 acres |
| In square kilometers | ≈ 2.59 km² |
| In square feet | 27,878,400 ft² |
A simple way to remember it: one square mile is a whole “section” of land in U.S. land surveying, and that’s always 640 acres.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.
