In the Public Land Survey System, what are the dimensions and area of a section?

• A. 1 mile x 1 mile; 1 square mile
• B. 2 miles x 2 miles; 4 square miles
• C. 1/2 mile x 1/2 mile; 1/4 square mile
• D. 3 miles x 3 miles; 9 square miles

Answer: (A)

In the Public Land Survey System, a section is the basic unit of land and is defined as a square one mile on each side, so its area is one square mile. This comes from townships that are 6 miles by 6 miles, subdivided into 36 sections, each 1 mile square. That makes the area of a section 1 square mile (also 640 acres in common reference). So the dimensions are 1 mile by 1 mile and the area is 1 square mile. The other options describe larger or smaller parcels (e.g., 2 miles by 2 miles would be 4 square miles; 1/2 mile by 1/2 mile is a quarter of a section; 3 miles by 3 miles is 9 square miles), which don’t match a standard section.