Square kilometre is a unit of area measurement equal to a square measuring one kilometer on each side.
Abbreviation used for this unit, which is the SI unit of area or surface area, include km2 and sq. km. While the spelling used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures is Square kilometre, the unit is also spelled as square kilometer in the US.
A unit of the metric system, one square km is equal to:
1,000,000 square metres
100 hectares
0.3861 square miles
247.1 acres
In modern day, the unit is often used to describe the length and breadth of cities as well as countries. India, for example, has a total area of 3,287,263 square kilometres.
This is how the sq km is traditionally used as well. While the Old City of Jerusalem is almost 1 square kilometre in area, the area enclosed by the walls of many European medieval cities were about one square kilometre. These walls are often either still standing or the route they followed is still clearly visible.
Some of the most famous parks in the world are also almost exactly one square kilometre in area namely Kiest Park, Dallas, Texas, Brierley Forest Park, UK. Golf courses across the world are also built in an area of about one square kilometre. These include the Manchester Golf Club in the UK and the Trophy Club in the US.