Measurement of Land in Costa Rica

Land in Costa Rica is most often sold by the square meter, which is about 10.76 square feet. For larger plots of land, other units of measure become necessary. Rural land is usually referred to in hectáreas (hectares) or manzanas.

• A hectare measures 10,000 square meters.
• A manzana measures 7,000 square meters.
  

Most Costa Ricans are also familiar with acres and approximate it to 4,000 square meters--which is quite close to the more accurate 4,046 square meters.

The original idea behind the the manzana as a unit of measure was that it approximated the area of a city block and the Manzana is 7,000 square metres.

Another interesting approximation that Costa Ricans make is for the gallon, which is often assumed to be four liters. This gallon measurement comes somwehere between the 3.79 liters used in the United States and the 4.54 liters for the imperial gallon.

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