Hi Kelvin, You are correct on the definition of a "section" and that one such contains 640 acres but an acre contains 43,560 square feet. Of idle interest , the 640 acres that make up a square mile (or section) are not "square acres" which would require them to measure 208.71033 feet on a side. If I still remember my surveying correctly, the correct measurements are a rectangle measuring 132feet by 330 feet. This is based on the OLD surveying method of using a "surveyors chain" which comprised of 40 surveyors links, each 2/3 foot long, making the chain 66 feet long. Thus each acre measured 2 chains by 5 chains. This was the only combination of chain measurements that would go evenly into both the acre and the mile. Dick Dutton ================================================= Kelvin Kean wrote: > One "section" of land as used througout the entire midwest and seen from > any airplane when flying over the area in clear weather is one square > mile or 640 acres. In other words it's a square with sides one mile long. > So an area that was half a mile wide by 1-3/4 mile long would encompass > something around 600 acres. One can also think of it in terms of square > feet. An acre contains 40,000 square feet, and a square mile 640 times > that or 25,600,000 square feet. Since a mile is 5280 feet long, a plot of > land half a mile by 1-3/4 would contain 2640 ft x 9240 ft or 24,393,600 > square feet which is 609.84 acres. > > Kelvin Kean > Elverson, Chester County, Pennsylvania