There are a number of Spanish units of measurement of length or area that are virtually obsolete due to

metrication Metrication or metrification is the act or process of converting to the metric system of measurement. All over the world, countries have transitioned from local and traditional Unit of measurement, units of measurement to the metric system. This ...

. They include the vara, the cordel, the league and the labor. The units of area used to express the area of land are still encountered in some transactions in land today.

(unit of length)

A (meaning "rod" or "pole", abbreviation: var) is an old

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

unit Unit may refer to: General measurement * Unit of measurement, a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law **International System of Units (SI), modern form of the metric system **English units, histo ...

length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with Dimension (physical quantity), dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a Base unit (measurement), base unit for length is chosen, ...

. Varas are a

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of Point (geom ...

unit that appear in many deeds in the southern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

due to the land previously being part of Mexico, and becoming part of the United States under the

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the defeat of its army and the fall of the cap ...

. Varas were also used in many parts of

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. It varied in size at various times and places; the Spanish unit was set at about in 1801. In Argentina, the vara measured about , and typical urban lots are wide (10 Argentine varas). At some time a value of was adopted in California. In

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, a was defined as , or 1 yard = 1.08 . The and the corresponding unit of

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

, the square , were introduced in the 19th century to measure Spanish land grants. Stephen F. Austin's early surveying contracts required that he use the as a standard unit. The can be seen in many deeds as late as the mid to late 1900s. is equivalent to 5,645.376 Texan square . A league is equivalent to 5,000 squared or . Standardisation of measurement in

came with the introduction of , cordeles, and leagues. A measure of 100 by 100 (Spanish) is almost 7000 square meters, and is known traditionally throughout Spain and Latin America as a (i.e., a "city block"). As well, lumber is still measured in Costa Rica using a system based on 4 , or 11 feet, for both round and square wood. With square wood, using inches, the width is multiplied by the depth to get a measurement called , or inches. The lumber is charged 'per inch', which is a measurement of .

(unit of area)

The ( in West

) is a

, used to express an area of land, that is equal to 1 million square . A is equivalent to about . It was used in the archaic system of old Spanish land grants affecting Texas and parts of adjoining states. The is often used as an approximate equivalent to a ''quarter-section'' (that is, one quarter of a

square mile The square mile (abbreviated as sq mi and sometimes as mi2)Rowlett, Russ (September 1, 2004) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved February 22, 2012. is an imperial and US unit of measure for area. One square mile is equa ...

of land). It is still encountered in modern real estate transactions.

League (unit of area)

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

can also be a

, used to express the area of land, that is equal to 25 million square . A (square) league is equivalent to about . It was used in the archaic system of old Spanish land grants affecting

and parts of adjoining states and this use of league is used throughout the

Texas Constitution The Constitution of the State of Texas is the document that establishes the structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of Texas and enumerates the basic rights of its citizens. The current document was adopted on February 15, 187 ...

. A common Texas land grant size, discussed in

James A. Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations, set in particular geographic locales ...

's ''

'', was a " and a league": a of good

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

land and a (square) league of land away from the river. The (square) league is still encountered in modern real estate transactions.

''Palmo'' and ''coto'' (unit of length)

The '' palmo'' ("palm") measured the distance between the tip of the thumb and the tip of the little finger with all fingers splayed. Its standardized value is (9 ''pulgadas''). Half of a ''palmo'' in Castile was called the ''coto'', described as six fingers and defined as . The

ancient Romans The Roman people was the ethnicity and the body of Roman citizenship, Roman citizens (; ) during the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire. This concept underwent considerable changes throughout the long history of the Roman ...

had a similar, smaller unit called the ''palmus'', which was .

Local units

Although some standardisation was achieved with the law of 1801, particularly in defining the league as long, varying measures continued to be used in various cities and regions.

Other units

* Units of weight ** (ounce), a unit of weight (28 grammes) used for chocolate. ** , subdivision of the ounce. ** , subidivision of the adarme. ** subdivision of the ounce, used for pharmaceuticals. ** (pound), a unit of weight equivalent to 16 . ** , a unit of weight equivalent to 100 . ** , the fourth part of a * Units of volume ** , a unit of volume. ** , a unit of volume equivalent to approximately 4.625 L. ** , measure of grain by volume ** (of which there are 12 ) used in Galicia in northwestern peninsular Spain. * Units of length ** , a unit of length used for measuring depths (similar to the

fathom A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to , used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom is neither an international standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally accepted non-SI unit. H ...

); 7 ** (inch: 24.5 mm) used in Spain. ** Jeme, measure of length, from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the index finger of an extended hand. ** (league), a unit of length. ** , unit of length equal to * Units of area ** , a unit of land measure in Honduras. ** , a unit of land measure in Cuba. ** , a unit of land measure in the Philippines. ** , a unit of land measure in Valencia.

References

External links

*
www.sizes.com, "Vara Conversions in 19th Century Spain"
* Rowlett'

* Reasonover's Land Measure

* http://www.sizes.com/units/ {{systems of measurement Systems of units Obsolete units of measurement Customary units of measurement Units of measurement by country