Orders of magnitude (area)

This page is a progressive and labelled list of the SI area orders of magnitude, with certain examples appended to some list objects.

An area of one square kilometre consists of 100 hectares each containing 10,000 square metres.

10⁻⁷⁰ to 10⁻⁹ square metres

List of orders of magnitude for area 10⁻⁷⁰ to 10⁻⁹ square metres

Factor (m^2)	Multiple	Value	Item
10^−70		2.6×10^−70 m^2	Planck area, ${\displaystyle {\frac {G\hbar }{c^{3}}}}$ ^[1]
10^−60	1 square quectometre
10^−54	1 square rontometre
10^−52		10^−52 m^2	1 shed^[2]
10^−48	1 square yoctometre (ym^2)	1 ym^2
10^−43		100,000 ym^2	1 femtobarn^[3]
10^−42	1 square zeptometre (zm^2)	1 zm^2
10^−36	1 square attometre (am^2)	1 am^2
10^−30	1 square femtometre (fm^2)	1 fm^2
10^−29		66.52 fm^2	Thomson cross-section of the electron^[4]
10^−28		100 fm^2	1 barn, roughly the cross-sectional area of a uranium nucleus^[5]
10^−24	1 square picometre (pm^2)	1 pm^2
10^−20	1 square angstrom (Å^2)	10,000 pm^2
10^−19		100,000 pm^2	Area of a lipid bilayer, per molecule^[6]
		75,000–260,000 pm^2	Surface area of the 20 standard amino acids^[7]
10^−18	1 square nanometre (nm^2)	1 nm^2
10^−16		100 nm^2	Globular proteins: solvent-accessible surface area of a typical globular protein, having a typical molecular mass of ~35000 u (quite variable)^[8]
10^−14		17,000 nm^2	Cross-sectional area of a nuclear pore complex in vertebrates^[9]
10^−12	1 square micrometre (μm^2)	6 μm^2	Surface area of an E. coli bacterium^[10]
10^−10		100 μm^2	Surface area of a red blood cell^[11]
10^−9		6,000–110,000 μm^2	Range of common LCD screen pixel sizes^[12]
		7,000 μm^2	Area of a dot printed using 300 dots per inch resolution^[13]
		8,000 μm^2	Cross-sectional area of a straight human hair that is 100 μm^[14] in diameter^[15]

10⁻⁸ to 10⁻¹ square metres

List of orders of magnitude for areas 10⁻⁸ to 10⁻¹ square metres

Factor (m^2)	Multiple	Value	Item
10^−8		55,000 μm^2	Size of a pixel on a typical modern computer display
10^−7		2-400,000 μm^2	Cross-sectional area of a mechanical pencil lead (0.5-0.7 mm in diameter)^[16]
10^−6	1 square millimetre (mm^2)	1–2 mm^2	Area of a human fovea^[17]
		2 mm^2	Area of the head of a pin
10^−5		30–50 mm^2	Area of a 6–8 mm hole punched in a piece of paper by a hole punch^[18]
10^−4	1 square centimetre (cm^2)	290 mm^2	Area of one side of a U.S. penny^[19]^[20]
		500 mm^2	Area of a typical postage stamp
10^−3		1,100 mm^2	Area of a human retina^[21]
		4,600 mm^2	Area of the face of a credit card^[22]
		4,800 mm^2	Largest side of a cigarette box
10^−2	1 square decimetre (dm^2)	10,000 mm^2	Index card (3 × 5 inches)^[23]
		60,000 mm^2	American letter paper (11 × 8.5 inches, "A" size)
		62,370 mm^2	International A4 paper (210 × 297 mm)
		92,903 mm^2	1 square foot^[24]
10^−1		125,000 mm^2	International A3 paper (297 × 420 mm)
		180,000 mm^2	Surface area of a basketball (diameter 24 cm)^[25]^[26]
		250,000 mm^2	International A2 paper (420 × 594 mm)
		500,000 mm^2	International A1 paper (594 × 841 mm)

10⁰ to 10⁷ square metres

List of orders of magnitude for areas 10⁰ to 10⁷ square metres.

Factor (m^2)	Multiple	Value	Item
10^0	1 square metre	1 m^2	International A0 paper (841 × 1189 mm)
		1.73 m^2	A number commonly used as the average body surface area of a human^[27]
		1–4 m^2	Area of the top of an office desk
10^1		10–20 m^2	A parking space
		70 m^2	Approximate surface area of a human lung^[28]
10^2	1 square decametre (dam^2)	100 m^2	One are (a)
		162 m^2	Size of a volleyball court (18 × 9 metres)^[29]
		202 m^2	Floor area of a median suburban three-bedroom house in the US in 2010: 2,169 sq ft (201.5 m^2)^[30]
		261 m^2	Size of a tennis court^[31]
		437 m^2	Size of an NBA/WNBA/NCAA basketball court^[32]
10^3	1 kilo square meter k(m²)	1,000 m^2	Surface area of a modern stremma or dunam
		1,250 m^2	Surface area of the water in an Olympic-size swimming pool^[33]
		4,047 m^2	1 acre^[34]
		5,400 m^2	Size of an American football field^[35]^[36]
		7,140 m^2	Size of a typical football (soccer) field^[37]^[38]
10^4	1 square hectometre (hm^2)	10,000 m^2	1 hectare (ha)^[39]
		17,000 m^2	Approximate area of a cricket field (theoretical limits: 6,402 m^2 to 21,273 m^2)^[40]
		22,100 m^2	Area of a Manhattan city block
		53,000 m^2	Base of the Great Pyramid of Giza^[41]^[42]
10^5		195,000 m^2	Irish National Botanic Gardens^[43]
		490,000 m^2	Vatican City^[44]
		600,000 m^2	Total floor area of the Pentagon^[45]
		887,800 m^2	AvtoVAZ main assembly building, Tolyatti, Russia (largest building by footprint)
10^6	1 mega square meter M(m²) 1 square kilometre (km^2)	1.76 km^2	New Century Global Center, Chengdu, China (largest building by total floor area)
		2 km^2	Monaco (country ranked 192nd by area)^[46]
		2.59 km^2	1 square mile^[47]
		2.9 km^2	City of London (not all of modern London)^[48]
10^7		59.5 km^2	Manhattan Island (land area)^[49]
		61 km^2	San Marino^[50]

10⁸ to 10¹⁴ square metres

Factor (m^2)	Multiple	Value	Item
10^8		105 km^2	Paris (inner city only)^[51]
		110 km^2	Walt Disney World^[52]
		272 km^2	Taipei City^[53]
		630 km^2	Toronto^[54]
10^9	1 giga square meter G(m²)	1100 km^2	Hong Kong^[55]
		1290 km^2	Los Angeles, California, United States (city)^[56]
		1962 km^2	Jacksonville, Florida; largest city in the Continental US^[57]
		2188 km^2	Tokyo^[58]
		2511 km^2	Moscow
		5780 km^2	Administrative area of Bali^[59]
		8030 km^2	Community of Madrid, Spain
10^10		11,000 km^2	Jamaica^[60]
		30,528 km^2	Belgium
		68,870 km^2	Lake Victoria^[61]
		84,000 km^2	Austria^[62]
10^11		100,000 km^2	South Korea^[63]
		167,996 km^2	Jiuquan in China
		232,000 km^2	Total area covered by underwater search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (including both 2014-2017 and 2018 searches)
		301,338 km^2	Italy^[64]
		357,000 km^2	Germany^[65]
		377,900 km^2	Japan^[66]
		510,000 km^2	Spain^[67]
		780,000 km^2	Turkey^[68]
10^12	1 tera square meter T(m²) 1 square megametre (Mm^2)	1.0 Mm^2	Egypt (country ranked 29th by area)^[69]
		2 Mm^2	Mexico
		3.10 Mm^2	Sakha (Yakutia) Republic in Russia (largest subnational governing body)^[70]
		5 Mm^2	Largest extent of the Roman Empire^[71]^[72]
		7.74 Mm^2	Australia (country ranked 6th by area)^[73]
		8.5 Mm^2	Brazil
		9.5 Mm^2	China/ United States of America
10^13		10 Mm^2	Canada (including water)^[74]
		14 Mm^2	Antarctica^[75]
		14 Mm^2	Arable land worldwide^[76]
		16.6 Mm^2	Surface area of Pluto^[77]
		17 Mm^2	Russia (country ranked 1st by area)^[78]
		30 Mm^2	Africa^[79]
		35.5 Mm^2	Largest extent of the British Empire^[80]
		38 Mm^2	Surface area of the Moon^[81]
		77 Mm^2	Atlantic Ocean^[82]
10^14		144 Mm^2	Surface area of Mars^[83]
		150 Mm^2	Land area of Earth^[84]
		156 Mm^2	Pacific Ocean^[85]
		360 Mm^2	Water area of Earth^[84]
		510 Mm^2	Total surface area of Earth^[84]

10¹⁵ to 10²⁶ square metres

List of orders of magnitude for areas 10¹⁵ to 10²⁶ square metres.

Factor (m^2)	Multiple	Value	Item
10^15	1 peta square meter P(m²)	1,000 Mm^2	Surface area of the white dwarf, Van Maanen's star
		7,600 Mm^2	Surface area of Neptune^[86]
10^16		43,000 Mm^2	Surface area of Saturn^[87]
		61 000 Mm^2	Surface area of Jupiter,^[88] the "surface" area of the spheroid (calculated from the mean radius as reported by NASA). The cross-sectional area of Jupiter, which is the same as the "circle" of Jupiter seen by an approaching spacecraft, is almost exactly one quarter the surface-area of the overall sphere, which in the case of Jupiter is approximately 1.535×10^16 m^2.
10^17		2-600 000 Mm^2	Surface area of the brown dwarf CT Chamaeleontis B.
		460,000 Mm^2	Area swept by the Moon's orbit of Earth
10^18	1 square gigametre (Gm^2)	6.1 Gm^2	Surface area of the Sun^[89]
10^19		30 Gm^2	Surface area of the star Vega
10^20		100 Gm^2
10^21	1 zetta square meter Z(m²)	1 000 Gm^2
10^22		11 000 Gm^2	Area swept by Mercury's orbit around the Sun
		37 000 Gm^2	Area swept by Venus' orbit around the Sun
		71 000 Gm^2	Area swept by Earth's orbit around the Sun
10^23		160 000 Gm^2	Area swept by Mars' orbit around the Sun
		281 000 Gm^2	Surface area of a Dyson sphere with a radius of 1 AU
10^24	1 yotta square meter (m²) 1 square terametre (Tm^2)	1.9 Tm^2	Area swept by Jupiter's orbit around the Sun
		6.4 Tm^2	Area swept by Saturn's orbit around the Sun
		8.5 Tm^2	Surface area of the red supergiant star Betelgeuse
10^25		24 Tm^2	Surface area of the hypergiant star VY Canis Majoris
		26 Tm^2	Area swept by Uranus' orbit around the Sun
		64 Tm^2	Area swept by Neptune's orbit around the Sun
10^26		110 Tm^2	Area swept by Pluto's orbit around the Sun

10²⁷ square metres and larger

List of orders of magnitude for areas 10²⁷ square metres and larger.

Factor (m^2)	Multiple	Value	Item
10^30	1 square petametre (Pm^2)
10^31		10 Pm^2
10^32		200 Pm^2	Roughly the surface area of an Oort Cloud
		300 Pm^2	Roughly the surface area of a Bok globule
10^33		1 000 Pm^2
10^34		30 000 Pm^2	Roughly the surface area of The Bubble nebula
10^35		100 000 Pm^2
10^36	1 square exametre (Em^2)
...
10^41		700 000 Em^2	Roughly the area of Milky Way's galactic disk
10^42	1 square zettametre (Zm^2)
...
10^48	1 square yottametre (Ym^2)
10^54	1 square ronnametre (Rm^2)	2400 Ym^2	Surface area of the observable universe^[90]

See also

• Orders of magnitude
• List of political and geographic subdivisions by total area

References

1. Calculated: square of the Planck length = (1.62e-35 m)^2 = 2.6e-70 m^2
2. Russ Rowlett (September 1, 2004). "Units: S". How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
3. "Femtobarn". CERN writing guidelines. CERN. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
4. Eric W. Weisstein. "Thomson Cross Section". Eric Weisstein's World of Science. Wolfram Research. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
5. . SI brochure. BIPM. Archived from the original on 2008-08-21. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
6. ""Rule of thumb" for the area per molecule in lipid bilayer". BioNumbers. Retrieved 2011-10-09.
7. "Individual Properties of the 20 Standard Amino Acids: Properties and Images". The Amino Acid Repository. Jena Library of Biological Macromolecules. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
8. Janin, J. E. L. (1979). "Surface and inside volumes in globular proteins". Nature. 277 (5696): 491–492. Bibcode:1979Natur.277..491J. doi:10.1038/277491a0. PMID 763335. S2CID 4338901.
9. "The Nuclear Pore Complex". UIUC Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
10. . The CyberCell Database. Archived from the original on 2011-10-27. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
11. Marcelli, Gianluca; Parker, Kim H.; Winlove, C. Peter (2005). "Thermal Fluctuations of Red Blood Cell Membrane via a Constant-Area Particle-Dynamics Model". Biophysical Journal. 89 (4): 2473–2480. Bibcode:2005BpJ....89.2473M. doi:10.1529/biophysj.104.056168. PMC 1366746. PMID 16055528.
12. Calculated: Smallest and largest common pitches were 77 micrometers and 337 micrometers. (77e-6 m)^2 ~= 6e-9 m^2. (337e-6 m)^2 ~= 114e-9 m^2 ~= 110e-9 m^2
13. Calculated: (300 dots per inch / 2.54e-2 m/inch)^(-2) = 7.2e-9 m^2
14. "Hair Fiber Composition". Retrieved 2011-09-30.
15. Calculated: 100 μm in diameter => pi * ((1e-4 m)/2)**2 = 7.9e-9 m^2
16. Calculated: pi * (0.5mm/2)^2 = 2.0e-7 m^2 and pi * (0.7mm/2)^2 = 3.8e-7 m^2)
17. . Webvision. University of Utah. Archived from the original on 2011-10-11. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
18. Calculated: ((6e-3 m)/2)**2 * pi = 2.8e-5 m^2 and ((8e-3 m)/2)**2 * pi = 5.0e-5 m^2
19. "Coin specifications". United States Mint. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
20. Calculated: area = pi * diameter^2 / 4 = 3.14 * (19.05e-3 m)^2 = 2.850e-4 m^2
21. Taylor, Enid; Jennings, Alan (1971). "Calculation of total retinal area". Br. J. Ophthalmol. 55 (4): 262–5. doi:10.1136/bjo.55.4.262. PMC 1208280. PMID 5572268.
22. "Credit Card Dimensions". Retrieved 2011-09-30.
23. Calculated: 3 inches * 5 inches * (2.54e-2 m/inch)^2 = 9.7e-3 m^2 ~= 0.01 m^2
24. Calculated: 1 foot * 1 foot * (0.3048 meters / foot)^2 = 0.092.90304 m^2
25. . USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 2011-10-27. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
26. Calculated: 29.5-29.75 inch circumference * 2.54 cm / in = 23.85-24.05 cm diameter => radius = 0.119-0.120 m => Area = 4 * pi * (0.119 m)^2 = 0.18 m^2
27. Sacco, Joseph J.; Botten, Joanne; Macbeth, Fergus; Bagust, Adrian; Clark, Peter (2010). "The Average Body Surface Area of Adult Cancer Patients in the UK: A Multicentre Retrospective Study". PLOS ONE. 5 (1): e8933. Bibcode:2010PLoSO...5.8933S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008933. PMC 2812484. PMID 20126669.
28. Notter, Robert H. (2000). Lung surfactants: basic science and clinical applications. New York, N.Y: Marcel Dekker. p. 120. ISBN 0-8247-0401-0. Retrieved 2011-09-27.
29. "Section 1.1" (PDF). Official Volleyball Rules 2011-2012. FIVB. 2010. Retrieved 2011-10-27. The playing court is a rectangle measuring 18 x 9 m, surrounded by a free zone which is a minimum of 3 m wide on all sides.
30. "Median and Average Square Feet of Floor Area in New Single-Family Houses Completed by Location" (PDF). US Census Bureau. Retrieved 2011-09-26.
31. "Area of a Tennis Court". The Physics Factbook. Retrieved 2011-09-27.
32. Calculated: 4,700 sq ft * (0.3048 ft/m)² = 436.644288 m²
33. Calculated: 50 m * 25 m = 1250 m^2
34. (PDF). NIST. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-11-26. Retrieved 2011-10-28. 4046.87
35. "What are the Dimensions of a Football Field". Dimensions Guide. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
36. Calculated: 360 feet * 160 feet * (0.3048 m/ft)^2 = 5351 m^2 ~= 5400 m^2
37. "How Big Is An Olympic Soccer Field?". LIVESTRONG.COM. Retrieved 2012-01-04. For the Olympics, fields are supposed to measure exactly 105 meters long and 68 meters wide
38. Calculated: 105 m * 68 m = 7140 m^2
39. (PDF). NIST. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-11-26. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
40. "AFL Ground Sizes | Passy's World of Mathematics". passyworldofmathematics.com. 11 September 2011. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
41. Greenberg, Ralph. "THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA (Some Elegant Numerical Relationships)". Retrieved 2012-01-04. average length of the four sides is 230.364 meters
42. Calculated: 230.364 m^2 ~= 53068 m^2
43. Gartland, Fiona. "Valuable lead roofing stolen from Dublin bandstands". from the original on 30 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
44. "Holy See (Vatican City)". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
45. "The Pentagon - George Bergstrom". Great Buildings Online. Retrieved 2011-10-28. Floor area of 6.5 million square feet, 34 acres, 13.8 hectares, of which 3.7 million square feet are used for offices.
46. "Monaco". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
47. Calculated: 1 mile * 1 mile * (1.61 km / mile)^2 = 2.59 km^2
48. "Jurisdictions: London". The International Finance Centre Portal. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
49. . Census 2000 Summary File 1. US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2011-01-03. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
50. "San Marino". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
51. "Comparateur de territoire: Commune de Paris (75056)". INSEE. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
52. . Disney By The Numb3rs. Archived from the original on 2015-06-12. Retrieved 2011-10-28. 30,500 acres
53. . Taipei Yearbook 2010. Archived from the original on 2012-05-22. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
54. "Population and Dwelling Counts". 2001 Census. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
55. "Hong Kong". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
56. "California by Place: Los Angeles city". US Census. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2011-10-28. 498.29 square miles
57. . U.S. Census Bureau, Administrative and Customer Services Division, Statistical Compendia Branch. March 16, 2004. Archived from the original on October 17, 2002. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
58. . Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Archived from the original on 2011-11-08. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
59. "Kabupaten Klungkung : Data Agregat per Kecamatan" (PDF). Sp2010.bps.go.id. 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
60. "Jamaica". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
61. "Lake Profile: Victoria". World Lakes. LakeNet. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
62. "Austria". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
63. "South Korea". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
64. "Italy". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
65. "Germany". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
66. "Japan". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
67. "Spain". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
68. . The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
69. "Egypt". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
70. Rosstat (Russian Statistical Service), 2010 2012-10-18 at the Wayback Machine (xls). Retrieved 2012-06-15.
71. Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D (December 2006). "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires". Journal of World-Systems Research. 12 (2): 222. ISSN 1076-156X. Retrieved 2016-09-16.
72. Taagepera, Rein (1979). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.". Social Science History. 3 (3/4): 125. doi:10.2307/1170959. JSTOR 1170959.
73. "Australia". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
74. "Canada". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
75. "Antarctica". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
76. "FAO Resources page". FAO.org. 2010.
77. . Solar System Exploration. NASA. Archived from the original on 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
78. "Russia". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
79. "Map of Africa". Worldatlas.com. Retrieved 2012-01-04. 30,065,000 sq km
80. Rein Taagepera (September 1997). "Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia". International Studies Quarterly. 41 (3): 502. doi:10.1111/0020-8833.00053. JSTOR 2600793.
81. . Solar System Exploration. NASA. Archived from the original on 2004-02-24. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
82. "The World Factbook: Atlantic Ocean". Central Intelligence Agency. 2011-03-24. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
83. . Solar System Exploration. NASA. Archived from the original on 2003-12-15. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
84. "The World Factbook: World". Central Intelligence Agency. 2011-08-31. Retrieved 2011-09-27.
85. "The World Factbook: Pacific Ocean". Central Intelligence Agency. 2011-11-17. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
86. . Solar System Exploration. NASA. Archived from the original on 2003-12-15. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
87. . Solar System Exploration. NASA. Archived from the original on 2004-02-24. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
88. . Solar System Exploration. NASA. Archived from the original on 2003-12-15. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
89. . Solar System Exploration. NASA. Archived from the original on 2011-07-03. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
90. "Wolfram|Alpha: Computational Knowledge Engine". www.wolframalpha.com. Retrieved 2016-03-01.