What is a 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.

Visual reference for how the dunam relates to other area units. Each row links to the full converter for that pair.

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

• ✓1 dunam = 1000 m² = 0.1 ha.
• ✓10 dunams = 1 hectare.
• ✓Historical Ottoman dunam was 919.3 m² — avoid if possible; modern is 1000.

• ✗Using Ottoman dunam figures in modern Turkish contracts — assume metric.
• ✗Confusing with other Middle Eastern units (feddan, etc.).
• ✗Assuming all regional dunams are identical — confirm modern 1000 m² value.