Spanish units of measurement

Castilian system of units

Spanish	English	Length in pies	Length in SI
	"point"	1⁄1728	0.1613 mm
	"line"	1/144	1.935 mm
	"inch"	1/12	23.216 mm
	"foot"	1	278.6 mm
	"yard"	3	0.8359 m
	"pace"	5	1.3932 m
	"mile"	5,000	1.3932 km
	"league"	15,000	4.1795 km

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

File:50 Vara Plot in San Francisco CA.jpg

This street block is made up of six (2 × 3) 50- plots. The California is Template:Convert, so 50 results in Template:Convert plots. Subplots are within the original boundary lines. The San Francisco business district bounded by Union, Kearny, Filber, and Montgomery Streets was originally called the 50 District.

File:Ivory vara.jpg

Ivory vara (yardstick) used by Franciscan missionaries during the California Mission period.

A (meaning "rod" or "pole", abbreviation: var) is an old Spanish unit of length. Varas are a surveying unit that appear in many deeds in the southern United States due to the land previously being part of Mexico, and becoming part of the United States under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Varas were also used in many parts of Latin America. It varied in size at various times and places; the Spanish unit was set at about Template:Convert in 1801. In Argentina, the vara measured about Template:Convert, and typical urban lots are Template:Convert wide (10 Argentine varas). At some time a value of Template:Convert was adopted in California.

In Texas, a was defined as Template:Convert, or 1 yard = 1.08 . The and the corresponding unit of area, 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. Template:Convert is equivalent to 5,645.376 Texan square . A league is equivalent to 5,000 squared or Template:Convert.

Standardisation of measurement in Texas 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 Template:Convert.

(unit of area)

The (Template:IPAc-en in West Texas) is a unit of area, used to express an area of land, that is equal to 1 million square . A is equivalent to about Template:Convert. 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 of land). It is still encountered in modern real estate transactions.

League (unit of area)

A league can also be a unit of area, used to express the area of land, that is equal to 25 million square . A (square) league is equivalent to about Template:Convert. It was used in the archaic system of old Spanish land grants affecting Texas and parts of adjoining states and this use of league is used throughout the Texas Constitution.

A common Texas land grant size, discussed in James A. Michener's Texas, was a " and a league": a of good riparian 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 Template:Convert (9 pulgadas). Half of a palmo in Castile was called the coto, described as six fingers and defined as Template:Convert. The ancient Romans had a similar, smaller unit called the palmus, which was Template:Convert.

Local units

Although some standardisation was achieved with the law of 1801, particularly in defining the league as 6666+2⁄3 long, varying measures continued to be used in various cities and regions.

Town	(m)	(kg)	or (wine) (l)	(oil) (l)	(l)	(km)
Alava	0.836	0.4601	16.133	12.563	55.501 ()	5.5727
Albacete	0.837	0.458	6.365		28.325
Alicante	0.912	0.533	0.60	11.55	20.775	5.555
Almería	0.833	0.460	8.18	Template:N/A	27.531	5.573
Ávila	0.836	0.460	7.96	Template:N/A	28.20
Badajoz	0.836	0.460	8.21	6.21	27.92	5.573
Balearic Islands	0.782	0.407			35.17
Barcelona	1.555	0.400	30.35	4.15	34.759
Burgos	0.836	0.4001	7.05	Template:N/A	27.17	5.573
Cáceres	0.836	0.456	1.73	1.60	26.88
Cádiz	0.836	0.460	7.922	6.26		5.573
Canary Islands	0.842	0.460	5.08 (Santa Cruz) 5.34 (Las Palmas)		31.33 (Santa Cruz)
Castellón	0.906	0.358	11.27	12.14	16.60	5.573
Ciudad Real	0.839	0.460	8.00	6.22	27.29	6.687
Córdoba	0.836	0.460	16.31	Template:N/A	27.60	5.573
A Coruña	0.843	0.575	15.58 (wine) 16.43 ()	12.43	16.15 (flour)	5.573
Cuenca	0.836	0.460	7.88	Template:N/A	27.10
Girona	1.559	0.400	15.48	Template:N/A	18.08	3.762
Granada	0.836	0.460	8.21	Template:N/A	27.35	5.573
Guadalajara	0.836	0.460	8.21	Template:N/A	27.40
Guipuzcoa	0.837	0.492			27.65
Huelva	0.836	0.460	7.89	Template:N/A	27.531	5.573
Huesca	0.772	0.351	9.98	0.37	22.46	4.1173
Jaén	0.839	0.460	8.02	7.12	27.37
León	0.836	0.460	7.92	Template:N/A	18.11
Lleida	0.778	0.401	11.38	Template:N/A	18.34
Logroño	0.837	0.460	16.04	Template:N/A	27.47	5.573
Lugo	0.855	0.573	0.47		13.13
Madrid	0.843	0.460	8.15	Template:N/A	27.67	5.573
Málaga	0.836	0.460	8.33	Template:N/A	26.97	5.573
Murcia	0.836	0.460	7.80	Template:N/A	27.64	5.573
Navarra	0.785	0.372	11.77	0.41	28.13	5.495
Ourense	0.836	0.574	15.96	13.88	18.79
Palencia	0.836	0.460	7.88	6.12	27.7505
Pontevedra	0.836	0.579	16.35	15.58	20.86
Salamanca	0.836	0.460	7.99		27.29	5.573
Segovia	0.837	0.460	8	Template:N/A	27.30
Sevilla	0.836	0.460	15.66	Template:N/A	27.35	5.573
Soria	0.836	0.460	7.90	Template:N/A	27.57
Teruel	0.768	0.367	10.96	Template:N/A	21.40	5.573
Toledo	0.837	0.460	8.12	6.25	27.75	5.573
Valencia	0.906	0.355	10.77	11.93	16.75
Valladolid	0.836	0.460	7.82	Template:N/A	27.39	5.573
Vizcaya	0.836	0.488		6.74	28.46	5.573
Zaragoza	0.772	0.350	9.91	13.93 (aceite) 13.33 ()	22.42	5.573

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); 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 Template:Convert
• 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.

See also

• International System of Units
• Metrication in Guatemala
• Portuguese customary units
• Systems of measurement
• Units of measurement

External links

• Vara from the Handbook of Texas Online
• www.sizes.com, "Vara Conversions in 19th Century Spain"
• Rowlett's A Dictionary of Units of Measurement
• Reasonover's Land Measures A Reference to Spanish and French land measures(and their English equivalents with conversion tables) used in North America
• http://www.sizes.com/units/