Obsolete Spanish and Portuguese units of measurement

Castilian
Castile (historical region)
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...

system of units
Spanish	English	Length in pie	Length in SI Units International System of Units The International System of Units is the modern form of the metric system and is generally a system of units of measurement devised around seven base units and the convenience of the number ten. The older metric system included several groups of units...	U.S. Units
punto	"point" Point (typography) In typography, a point is the smallest unit of measure, being a subdivision of the larger pica. It is commonly abbreviated as pt. The point has long been the usual unit for measuring font size and leading and other minute items on a printed page....		0.1613 mm	0.00635 in
línea	"line" Line (length) The line is a unit of measurement, one line being equal to of an English inch. It was defined as one-quarter of a barleycorn, which defined the inch even before 1066. The French ligne was simarly defined as of the pouce...		1.935 mm	.0762 in
pulgada	"inch Inch An inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot... "		23.22 mm	.9142 in
pie	"foot"	1	27.86 cm	10.969 in
vara	"yard Yard A yard is a unit of length in several different systems including English units, Imperial units and United States customary units. It is equal to 3 feet or 36 inches... "	3	0.8359 m	32.909 in
paso	"pace"	5	1.3932 m	54.850 in
legua	"league"	15,000	4.1795 km	2.597 mi

There are a number of Spanish units of measurement of length

Length

In geometric measurements, length most commonly refers to the longest dimension of an object.In certain contexts, the term "length" is reserved for a certain dimension of an object along which the length is measured. For example it is possible to cut a length of a wire which is shorter than wire...

or area

Area

Area is a quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional surface or shape in the plane. Area can be understood as the amount of material with a given thickness that would be necessary to fashion a model of the shape, or the amount of paint necessary to cover the surface with a single coat...

that are now virtually obsolete (due to metrication

Metrication

Metrication refers to the introduction and use of the SI metric system, the international standard for physical measurements. This has involved a long process of independent and systematic conversions of countries from various local systems of weights and measures. Metrication began in France in...

). 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. For example, the 'vara' is still used in Costa Rica when ordering lumber.

Vara (unit of length)

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

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

unit

Units of measurement

A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention and/or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same physical quantity. Any other value of the physical quantity can be expressed as a simple multiple of the unit of...

of length

Length

. Varas are a surveying

Surveying

See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

unit that appears in many deeds in the southern United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and varas were also used in many parts of Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

. It varied in size at various times and places; the Spanish unit was set at about 835.905 mm (32.91 in) in 1801. In Argentina, the vara measured about 866 mm (34.1 in), and typical urban lots are 8.66 m (28.41 ft) wide (10 Argentine varas). At some time a value of 33 inches (838.2 mm) was adopted in California.

In Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, a vara was defined as 33+1/3 in, or 1 yard = 1.08 vara. The vara and the corresponding unit of area

Area

, the square vara, were introduced in the 19th century to measure Spanish land grants. In Texas

Texas

, Stephen F. Austin

Stephen F. Austin

Stephen Fuller Austin was born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri. He was known as the Father of Texas, led the second, but first legal and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States. The capital of Texas, Austin in Travis County,...

's early surveying contracts required that he use the vara as a standard unit. The vara can be seen in many deeds as late as the mid to late 1900's. An 1 acre (0.404686 ha) is equivalent to 5,645.376 Texan square varas. A league is equivalent to 5,000 varas squared or 4428.4 acres (1,792.11 ha).

To convert varas to feet, take the varas and divide by 0.36.

Standardization of measurement in Texas

Texas

came with the introduction of varas, cordels, and leagues.

A measure of 100 varas by 100 varas is equal to 7000 meters square, and is known traditionally throughout Latin America as a manzana (i.e., a "city block"). As well, lumber is still measured in Costa Rica using a system based on 4 vara, 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 which they call pulgadas, or inches. The lumber is charged 'per inch', which is a measurement 11/12 of a board foot

Board foot

The board-foot is a specialized unit of measure for the volume of lumber in the United States and Canada. It is the volume of a one-foot length of a board one foot wide and one inch thick....

Labor (unit of area)

A labor ( in West Texas

Texas

) is a unit

Units of measurement

of area

Area

, used to express the area of land, that is equal to 1 million square varas. A labor is equivalent to about 177.1 acres (71.67 ha). It was used in the archaic system of old Spanish land grants affecting Texas and parts of adjoining states. The labor is often used as an approximate equivalent to a quarter-section (that is, one quarter of a square mile

Square mile

The square mile is an imperial and US unit of measure for an area equal to the area of a square of one statute mile. It should not be confused with miles square, which refers to the number of miles on each side squared...

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

League (unit of area)

A league can also be a unit

Units of measurement

of area

Area

, used to express the area of land, that is equal to 25 million square varas. A (square) league is equivalent to about 4428.4 acres (1,792.11 ha). It was used in the archaic system of old Spanish land grants affecting Texas

Texas

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

Texas Constitution

The Constitution of the State of Texas is the document that describes the structure and function of the government of the U.S. State of Texas.Texas has had seven constitutions: the constitution of Coahuila y Tejas, the 1836 Constitution of the Republic of Texas, the state constitutions of 1845,...

.

A common Texas land grant size, discussed in James Michener's

James A. Michener

James Albert Michener was an American author of more than 40 titles, the majority of which were sweeping sagas, covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and incorporating historical facts into the stories...

Texas
Texas (novel)
Texas is a novel by James A. Michener based on the history of the Lone Star State. Characters include real and fictional characters, explorers , Spanish and German Texan settlers, ranchers, oil men, aristocrats, Chicanos, and others, all based on extensive historical research.Although Michener...

, was a "labor and a league": one labor 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 pinky finger with all fingers splayed. Its standardized value is 20.873 cm (8.2177 in). Half of a palmo in Castile

Crown of Castile

The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...

was called the coto, described as six fingers and defined as 10.4365 cm (4.10886 in). The ancient Romans had a similar, smaller unit called the palmus, which was 7.3925 cm (2.91043 in).

Local units

Although some standardisation was achieved with the law of 1801, particularaly in defining the league as 6666⅔ varas long, varying measures continued to be used in various cities and regions.

Town	Vara ("rod“) (cm)	Libra (pound of 16 ounces) (kg)	(Media) Cántara or Arroba Arroba The word arroba has its origin in Arabic ar-rubʿ , the fourth part .Arroba was a Spanish and Portuguese customary unit of weight, mass or volume. Its symbol is @. In weight it was equal to 25 pounds in Spain, and 32 pounds in Portugal.The unit is still used in Portugal by cork merchants, and in... (wine) (l)	Arroba (oil) (l)	Media Fanega (dry goods) (l)	Legua (of 6666⅔ Vara) (km)
Alava Álava Álava is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Álava. Its capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz which is also the capital of the autonomous community...	0.836	0.4601	16.133	12.563	55.501 (Fanega)	5.5727
Albacete Albacete Albacete is a city and municipality in southeastern Spain, 258 km southeast of Madrid, the capital of the province of Albacete in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The municipality had a population of c. 169,700 in 2009....	0.837	0.458	6.365		28.325
Alicante Alicante Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...	0.912	0.533 ("Libra gruesa“ à 18 oz.)	0.60	11.55	20.775	5.555
Almería Almería Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...	0.833	0.46001	8.18 ("media arroba“)	---	27.531	5.573
Ávila	0.836	0.46001	7.96 ("media arroba“)	---	28.20
Badajoz Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain, situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana, and the Madrid–Lisbon railway. The population in 2007 was 145,257....	0.836	0.46001	8.21	6.21	27.92	5.573
Balearic Islands Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...	0.782	0.407			35.17
Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...	1.555 ("cana“)	0.400 ("medicinal:“ 0.300)	30.35 ("barrilón“)	4.15 ("cuartán“)	34.759
Burgos Burgos Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...	0.836	0.4001	7.05	---	27.17	5.573
Cáceres Cáceres (province) The province of Cáceres is a province of western Spain, in the northern part of the autonomous community of Extremadura. It is bordered by the provinces of Salamanca, Ávila, Toledo, and Badajoz, and by Portugal....	0.836	0.456	1.73 ("cuarto“)	1.60 ("cuarto“)	26.88
Cádiz Cádiz Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....	0.836	0.46001	7.922	6.26		5.573
Canary Islands Canary Islands The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...	0.842	0.46001	5.08 (Santa Cruz Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital , second-most populous city of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the 21st largest city in Spain, with a population of 222,417 in 2009... ) 5.34 (Las Palmas Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Las Palmas de Gran Canaria commonly known as Las Palmas is the political capital, jointly with Santa Cruz, the most populous city in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the ninth largest city in Spain, with a population of 383,308 in 2010. Nearly half of the people of the island... )		31.33 (Santa Cruz)
Castellón	0.906	0.358	11.27	12.14	16.60	5.573
Ciudad Real Ciudad Real Ciudad Real is a city in Castile-La Mancha, Spain, with a population of c. 74,000. It is the capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It has a stop on the AVE high-speed rail line and has begun to grow as a long-distance commuter suburb of Madrid, located 115 miles to the north. A high capacity...	0.839	0.46001	8.00	6.22	27.29	6.687
Córdoba	0.836	0.46001	16.31	---	27.60	5.573
La Coruña	0.843	0.575	15.58 (wine) 16.43 (Aguardiente)	12.43	16.15 (flour)	5.573
Cuenca	0.836	0.46001	7.88	---	27.10
Gerona Girona (province) Girona is a province of north-eastern Spain, in the northern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered by the provinces of Barcelona and Lleida, and by France and the Mediterranean Sea....	1.559 ("cana“)	0.400	15.48 ("mallal”)	---	18.08	3.762 (4500 varas castellanas)
Granada Granada Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...	0.836	0.46001	8.21	---	27.35	5.573
Guadalajara	0.836	0.46001	8.21	---	27.40
Guipuzcoa	0.837	0.492			27.65
Huelva Huelva Huelva is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous region of Andalusia. It is located along the Gulf of Cadiz coast, at the confluence of the Odiel and Tinto rivers. According to the 2010 census, the city has a population of 149,410 inhabitants. The...	0.836	0.46001	7.89	---	27.531	5.573
Huesca Huesca Huesca is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the comarca of Hoya de Huesca....	0.772	0.351	9.98	0.37 ("medida de libra“)	22.46	4.1173 ("hora de camino“)
Jaén Jaén, Spain Jaén is a city in south-central Spain, the name is derived from the Arabic word Jayyan, . It is the capital of the province of Jaén. It is located in the autonomous community of Andalusia....	0.839	0.46001	8.02 ("medida arroba de vino“)	7.12 ("medida arroba de aceite“)	27.37
León León, Spain León is the capital of the province of León in the autonomous community of Castile and León, situated in the northwest of Spain. Its city population of 136,985 makes it the largest municipality in the province, accounting for more than one quarter of the province's population...	0.836	0.46001	7.92	---	18.11
Lérida	0.778	0.401	11.38	---	18.34
Logroño Logroño Logroño is a city in northern Spain, on the Ebro River. It is the capital of the autonomous community of La Rioja, formerly known as La Rioja Province.The population of Logroño in 2008 was 153,736 and a metropolitan population of nearly 197,000 inhabitants...	0.837	0.46001	16.04	---	27.47	5.573
Lugo Lugo Lugo is a city in northwestern Spain, in the autonomous community of Galicia. It is the capital of the province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 97,635 in 2010, which makes is the fourth most populated city in Galicia.-Population:...	0.855	0.573	0.47 ("cuartillo“)		13.13
Madrid Madrid Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...	0.843	0.46001	8.15	---	27.67	5.573
Málaga Málaga Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...	0.836	0.46001	8.33 ("media arroba“)	---	26.97	5.573
Murcia Murcia -History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...	0.836	0.46001	7.80 ("media arroba“)	---	27.64	5.573
Navarra	0.785	0.372	11.77	0.41 ("libra para media aceite“)	28.13	5.495
Orense	0.836	0.574	15.96	13.88	18.79
Palencia Palencia Palencia is a city south of Tierra de Campos, in north-northwest Spain, the capital of the province of Palencia in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon...	0.836	0.46001	7.88	6.12	27.7505
Pontevedra Pontevedra (province) Pontevedra is a province of Spain along the country's Atlantic coast in southwestern Europe. The province forms the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Galicia...	0.836	0.579	16.35	15.58	20.86
Salamanca Salamanca Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...	0.836	0.46001	7.99 ("medio“)		27.29	5.573
Segovia Segovia Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of Segovia Province in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated north of Madrid, 30 minutes by high speed train. The municipality counts some 55,500 inhabitants.-Etymology:...	0.837	0.46001	8	---	27.30
Sevilla	0.836	0.46001	15.66	---	27.35	5.573
Soria Soria Soria is a city in north-central Spain, the capital of the province of Soria in the autonomous community of Castile and León. , the municipality has a population of c. 39,500 inhabitants, nearly 40% of the population of the province...	0.836	0.46001	7.90	---	27.57
Teruel Teruel Teruel is a town in Aragon, eastern Spain, and the capital of Teruel Province. It has a population of 34,240 in 2006 making it one of the least populated provincial capitals in the country...	0.768	0.367	10.96	---	21.40	5.573
Toledo Toledo, Spain Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...	0.837	0.46001	8.12 ("media cantara“)	6.25 ("media arroba“)	27.75	5.573
Valencia	0.906	0.355	10.77	11.93	16.75
Valladolid Valladolid Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...	0.836	0.46001	7.82	---	27.39	5.573
Vizcaya Biscay Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...	0.836	0.488		6.74	28.46	5.573
Zaragoza Zaragoza Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...	0.772	0.350	9.91	13.93 (aceite) 13.33 (aguardiente)	22.42	5.573

Other units

Almud
Almud
The almud is an obsolete unit of measurement of volume used in Spain and in parts of the Americas that were colonized by Spain. The exact value of the almud was different from region to region...

, a unit of volume
Arroba
Arroba
The word arroba has its origin in Arabic ar-rubʿ , the fourth part .Arroba was a Spanish and Portuguese customary unit of weight, mass or volume. Its symbol is @. In weight it was equal to 25 pounds in Spain, and 32 pounds in Portugal.The unit is still used in Portugal by cork merchants, and in...

, the fourth part of a quintal
Celemín, a unit of volume equivalent to approximately 4.625 l.
Quintal
Quintal
Quintal may refer to:* Quintal , a unit of mass* Quartal and quintal harmony in music* Quintal, Haute-Savoie, a commune of the Haute-Savoie département in France* Stéphane Quintal, NHL ice hockey player...

, a unit of weight
League
League (unit)
A league is a unit of length . It was long common in Europe and Latin America, but it is no longer an official unit in any nation. The league originally referred to the distance a person or a horse could walk in an hour...

, a unit of length

External links

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/

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Vara (unit of length)

Labor (unit of area)

League (unit of area)

Palmo and coto (unit of length)

Local units

Other units

See also

External links