Convert Square Mile to Dunam (mi² → dunam)

Converting square miles to dunams is straightforward: multiply by the conversion factor. Follow these three steps to do it by hand or in your head.

1. 1
   Take your value in square miles

   Start with the number of square miles (mi²) you want to convert.
2. 2
   Multiply by 2,589.9881

   The conversion factor from mi² to dunam is 2,589.9881. Multiply your value by this number.
3. 3
   Read the result in dunams

   The result is your value in dunams (dunam).

Multiply the value in square miles by 2,589.9881. For the reverse direction, multiply by 0.000386.

• ✓1 mi² = 2.59 km² = 640 acres.
• ✓US land survey "section" = 1 mi²; "township" = 36 mi².
• ✓Common in US geography; replaced by km² in most of world.

• ✗Confusing square miles with statute miles (length).
• ✗Using 2.5 km² shortcut — correct 2.59 km² differs by 3.5%.
• ✗Mixing nautical square miles (irregular) with statute square miles.

What is the Square Mile?

The square mile equals exactly 2.589988110336 square kilometers (or 640 acres) and is the American unit for measuring large geographic areas: counties, states, watersheds, and large parks. The continental United States covers about 3 million square miles, and Texas alone is 268,597 mi². Population density in US contexts is given in people per square mile (e.g., New York City has about 27,000 people/mi²). The square mile relates to the acre (640 acres = 1 mi²), the square kilometer (1 mi² ≈ 2.59 km²), the square foot (1 mi² = 27,878,400 ft²), and the hectare (1 mi² ≈ 259 ha). It is the natural large-area unit for American geographic discussion, though metric countries use square kilometers for the same purpose.

• US states, counties and cities
• UK geographic and historical boundaries
• Large estate and national-park reporting in Anglo contexts

What is the Dunam?

The dunam equals exactly 1,000 square meters in its modern metric form, used primarily in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey for land measurement and real estate. The unit's name derives from Ottoman Turkish 'dönüm,' itself from a verb meaning 'to turn' — historically the area a yoke of oxen could plow in a day, similar to the acre's origin. Older 'Ottoman dunam' values varied (around 919 m²), but most countries in the region have standardized to the metric dunam of 1,000 m². The dunam is the everyday unit in Middle Eastern real estate and agricultural contexts. It relates to the square meter (1 dunam = 1,000 m² = 0.1 ha), the hectare (10 dunams = 1 ha), and the acre (1 acre ≈ 4.047 dunams). Family olive groves, vineyards, and urban building plots are routinely measured in dunams.

• Israeli and Palestinian land records
• Turkish rural property
• Agricultural documents in the former Ottoman region