The term "cuerda" (Spanish for ''rope'') refers to a unit of measurement in some Spanish-speaking regions, including

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. In Puerto Rico, the term cuerda (and "Spanish acre"Archived
at the WayBack Machine on 16 August 2013, from the origina

Russ Rowlett. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.) refers to the unit of area measurement.
Sizes.com. Puerto Rico Act 135, section 4 (page 100), 1913–14, as amended by Act No. 3, 1913–14: A cuerda, quote: ''"a unit of land area, approximately 3,930 square meters (approximately 0.971 acres)...In land measurements and records, the measurement by cuerda customarily used in Porto 'sic''Rico...equivalent to 3,930.395625 square meters..."'' In

, ''cuerda'' is both a unit of length measurement as well as of area measurement. As a unit of area measurement, the Guatemalan cuerda can have various meanings. In

, ''cuerda'' refers to a unit of volume measurement; in

and

, it refers to a unit of distance (length).

By unit type

Cuerda is a unit of area, volume, and distance (length), depending on the country of use.

Area: Puerto Rico and Guatemala

, a ''cuerda'' is a traditional unit of land area nearly equivalent to 3,930 square meters, or 4,700

square yard The square yard (Indian English, Northern India: guz, gaj, Pakistani English, Pakistan: gaz) is an imperial unit and U.S. customary unit of area. It is in widespread use in most of the English language, English-speaking world, particularly the U ...

s, 0.971

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

, or 0.393

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

(ha). The precise conversion is 1 cuerda = 3,930.395625 m². The term "Spanish acre" instead has been used sometimes by mainlanders. A cuerda and an acre have often been treated as equal because they are nearly the same size. According to Carlos Menocal Villagran, in

, the term cuerda refers to a unit of area and can have various meanings. Cuerda can refer to areas that are 50 x 50, 40 x 40, 30 x 30, 25 x 25 or 20 x 20 varas (i.e. 2500, 1600, 900, 625, or 400 square varas). In addition, some sources describe a cuerda as 32 x 32 varas. In Guatemala, the linear vara is equivalent to 0.8421 meters. Thus, * One cuerda of 50 x 50 varas = 1,746.84 square meters * One cuerda of 40 x 40 varas = 1,117.98 square meters * One cuerda of 30 x 30 varas = 628.87 square meters * One cuerda of 25 x 25 varas = 436.71 square meters * One cuerda of 20 x 20 varas = 279.50 square meters

Volume: Cuba

, a cuerda is a traditional unit of volume for firewood, about 21% smaller than the U.S. cord. A cuerda of firewood is equivalent to 0.79 cord or 2.87 cubic meters (128 cubic ''pies)''.

Distance: Guatemala, Spain and Paraguay

, a cuerda is a traditional unit of distance, equal to exactly 25 varas or almost 21 meters (nearly 69 feet). During 19th-century Spain, a cuerda was a unit of length, of nearly 6.889 m (approx. 7.554 yd). However, in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, Spain, the cuerda measured 40 varas, over 5.4 times longer, as nearly 37.21 m (approx. 40.7 yd).

Notes

References

{{Reflist

External links

''A Comparison of the American Community Survey and the Puerto Rico Community Survey.'' Shows how the US Census uses "cuerda" to register property sizes.
Accessed 15 October 2020. Units of measurement Units of area