Convert Dunams to Square Feet for Land Projects

1 dunam = 10,764 sq ft. Perfect for real estate and agriculture. Get accurate measurements for your land use. Convert now!

Quick Insight

1 dunam equals 10,763.9 square foot

In real estate, knowing that 1 dunam equals roughly the size of a large city lot can help visualize property dimensions quickly.

💡 Tip: Multiply by 10,800 for easy conversion.

🏡 Property Listings📐 Development Planning🌍 Cross-Border Transactions

Quick Values:

From

Formula: ft² = dunam × 10,763.9151

The dunam, a traditional unit of land measurement spanning 1,000 square meters, converts to approximately 10,763.91 square feet. This conversion in square foot is required for professionals working across Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Balkan real estate markets, where dunams remain the standard measurement despite increasing globalization. This relationship ensures accuracy in property transactions, agricultural planning, and international land development projects.

Why This Conversion Matters

Land measurement accuracy directly impacts property valuations, development costs, and agricultural productivity calculations. A single dunam error in a 100-dunam property transaction represents 1,076,391 square feet of miscalculation, potentially affecting project budgets by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Precise conversion is legally required in mixed-market transactions where international buyers and sellers operate simultaneously across different measurement systems.

Real-World Examples

Real Estate & Property Development

Real estate professionals in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean markets routinely convert dunams to square feet for international property listings, development feasibility studies, and cross-border transactions. Property developers need accurate conversions when planning mixed-use developments for both local and international investors who may be familiar with different measurement systems. Listing properties in both units expands market reach and ensures transparency across regions.

Examples:

Residential plot: 0.5 dunam = 5,381.96 square feet (typical urban residential lot in Lebanon)
Commercial development: 10 dunams = 107,639.10 square feet (medium shopping center in Turkey)
Agricultural land: 50 dunams = 538,195.50 square feet (olive grove in Palestine)

Pro Tips:

✓Always verify local property records list both dunams and square feet to prevent buyer confusion in international transactions
✓Use the precise factor 10,763.91 square feet per dunam for legal documentation; rounding to 10,760 creates 0.036% errors on large properties

Agriculture & Land Management

Agricultural professionals across the Levant, Balkans, and Turkey use dunams as their primary measurement for crop planning, irrigation system design, and yield calculations. Converting to square feet becomes necessary when importing agricultural equipment specifications, calculating fertilizer requirements based on US standards, or reporting to international agricultural organizations. Accurate conversion ensures proper resource allocation and productivity optimization.

Examples:

Small family farm: 3 dunams = 32,291.73 square feet (vegetable garden in Syria)
Wheat field: 25 dunams = 269,097.75 square feet (grain production in Iraq)
Vineyard: 8 dunams = 86,111.28 square feet (wine production in West Bank)

Pro Tips:

✓For irrigation planning: 1 dunam requires approximately 1,000 cubic meters of water annually; convert to square feet to match US pump specifications that use gallons per square foot
✓Pesticide application rates frequently use square feet measurements; multiply dunam acreage by 10,763.91 to determine precise chemical quantities needed

Quick Reference Table

dunams	square feet
1 dunam	10763.9 ft²
2 dunam	21527.8 ft²
5 dunam	53819.5 ft²
10 dunam	107639 ft²
20 dunam	215278 ft²

Formula: ft² = dunam × conversion factor

History & Background

The dunam originated in the Ottoman Empire as a standardized land measurement unit, derived from the Turkish 'dönüm,' meaning 'a turning' (the amount of land a plow could turn in a day). Standardized at 1,000 square meters, the dunam became the official measurement across Ottoman territories including present-day Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, and the Balkans. When the metric system was adopted internationally, the dunam was officially defined as exactly 1,000 square meters (10,763.91 square feet). While, the square foot evolved from English medieval measurements and remains the standard in the United States, Canada, and Commonwealth nations. This measurement divide reflects colonial history and regional development patterns.

Regional Usage

middleEast

In Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan, the dunam is the official legal measurement for all property transactions, land registration, and agricultural reporting. Property deeds, tax assessments, and government records exclusively use dunams. Real estate professionals must provide conversions to square feet only for international transactions. The Turkish government officially uses dunams in the Anatolian regions, though some urban areas increasingly adopt square meters.

balkans

In Turkey, Kosovo, Albania, and parts of Greece, dunams remain legally recognized for rural and agricultural land, though urban properties increasingly use square meters. Historical Ottoman land records spanning centuries use dunams, making this unit needed for property title verification and historical land research. Real estate markets in Istanbul and Ankara increasingly list properties in square meters, but rural land transactions still predominantly use dunams.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Confusing dunam with decare (which equals 1,000 square meters but is sometimes used interchangeably in some regions)

Using 10,000 square meters instead of 1,000 square meters creates a 10x error: a 5-dunam property would be calculated as 538,195.50 square feet instead of 53,819.55 square feet—a difference of 484,376 square feet or approximately 4.9 acres in property size

✓

Using approximate conversion factor 10,760 instead of precise 10,763.91 square feet per dunam

On a 100-dunam property, this creates a 391 square foot discrepancy (0.036% error), which in expensive real estate markets translates to thousands of dollars in valuation differences

✓

Did You Know?

💡

The Ottoman Empire's standardization of the dunam at 1,000 square meters created one of history's most enduring land measurement systems—over 400 years later, it remains the primary measurement across 15+ countries in the Middle East and Balkans

💡

A single square mile equals exactly 640 acres, which converts to 259 hectares or approximately 24.07 dunams; conversely, 1 dunam equals approximately 0.0414 acres or 0.01 hectares

Pro Tips

✓For quick mental conversion: multiply dunams by 10,764 to get approximate square feet (the precise factor is 10,763.91, so this introduces only 0.008% error)
✓Use the exact conversion factor 10,763.91 square feet per dunam for legal property documents, financial transactions, and official reports where accuracy is critical
✓When comparing properties across markets: 1 dunam = 10,763.91 sq ft = 1,000 sq meters = 0.247 acres; memorizing this relationship helps cross-market analysis

Frequently Asked Questions

How many square feet are in one dunam?

One dunam equals exactly 10,763.91 square feet (derived from 1 dunam = 1,000 square meters, and 1 square meter = 10.763910417 square feet). For quick mental calculations, remember that 1 dunam ≈ 10,764 square feet. This precise conversion is important for property transactions where small errors compound Worth noting—a 0.1% rounding error on a 50-dunam property creates a 538 square foot discrepancy.

Why do Middle Eastern countries use dunams instead of square feet or square meters?

The dunam is deeply embedded in legal, cultural, and historical systems across the Middle East and Balkans due to 400+ years of Ottoman standardization. Property deeds, land registries, tax records, and agricultural statistics all use dunams as the official measurement. While the metric system (square meters) is increasingly used in urban contexts, the dunam persists in legal documents because changing measurement systems would require massive administrative restructuring. International real estate investors must understand dunams to work with these markets successfully.