Dunam
From Halbeeg, the open encyclopedia · Af-Soomaali
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A dunam (also spelled dunum or donum) is a unit of measurement for land area. It originated in the measurement system of the Ottoman Empire and was used for agricultural and residential land. The word derives from Turkish (dönüm), meaning 'turning'—referring to the area of land that could be ploughed or worked in a day.
The dunam in common use today is the 'metric dunam', equivalent to 1,000 square metres, or one-tenth of a hectare (0.1 hectares). One hectare contains ten dunams. It is used in countries and regions including Turkey, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and parts of the Balkans.
History and changes in value
During the Ottoman period, the dunam had no uniform value across all regions. It was based on longer measurements such as paces and arm's length, and therefore varied from place to place. The historical standard value commonly cited is approximately 900 square metres, though other figures were also in use.
When the metric system spread in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, states that emerged from the Ottoman Empire defined the dunam as 1,000 square metres to simplify land registration and calculation. Turkey formally adopted this value in the twentieth century, and others followed.
Current use
The dunam is commonly seen in land registries, property sales deeds, and agricultural reports in the Middle East. For administrative and international purposes, it is often converted to hectares or square metres for accurate comparison.