1 cent to square feet is 435.6 square feet. A cent is one hundredth of an acre, so 100 cents make 1 acre of 43,560 square feet. In reverse, 1 square foot is 0.002296 cent.
Where the cent is used
The cent is the everyday plot unit in Kerala, where it is the main unit people use when buying and selling land. It is also used in Tamil Nadu for rural and semi urban plots, in the coastal districts of Karnataka such as Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, and alongside the acre in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The size is the same in every one of these places. A cent in Thrissur and a cent in Mangaluru are both 435.6 square feet. That makes the cent much easier to work with than the bigha or katha, which change from district to district.
How to convert cents to square feet
Square feet = cents × 435.6
Worked example: a house plot is listed as 3.5 cent. 3.5 × 435.6 = 1,524.6 square feet. If you prefer to work through the acre, 3.5 cent is 0.035 acre, and 0.035 × 43,560 gives the same 1,524.6.
What a cent looks like on the ground
Numbers like 435.6 are hard to picture. These exact shapes help:
- 1 cent is a strip 66 ft long and 6.6 ft wide.
- 5 cents is exactly 33 ft by 66 ft, which is 2,178 square feet.
- 10 cents is exactly 66 ft by 66 ft, which is 4,356 square feet.
The last column below gives the side of a perfectly square plot of that size, rounded to one decimal.
| Plot | Square feet | Side if square |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cent | 435.6 sq ft | 20.9 ft |
| 1.5 cent | 653.4 sq ft | 25.6 ft |
| 2 cent | 871.2 sq ft | 29.5 ft |
| 2.5 cent | 1,089 sq ft | 33 ft |
| 3 cent | 1,306.8 sq ft | 36.1 ft |
| 3.5 cent | 1,524.6 sq ft | 39 ft |
| 5 cent | 2,178 sq ft | 46.7 ft |
| 7 cent | 3,049.2 sq ft | 55.2 ft |
| 10 cent | 4,356 sq ft | 66 ft |
Cent to square feet table
| Cent | Square feet |
|---|---|
| 1 | 435.6 |
| 2 | 871.2 |
| 3 | 1,306.8 |
| 4 | 1,742.4 |
| 5 | 2,178 |
| 6 | 2,613.6 |
| 8 | 3,484.8 |
| 10 | 4,356 |
| 15 | 6,534 |
| 20 | 8,712 |
| 25 | 10,890 |
| 40 | 17,424 |
| 50 | 21,780 |
| 100 | 43,560 |
Cent next to other South Indian units
- Ground: in Chennai, plots are often quoted in grounds of 2,400 square feet. One ground is 5.5096 cents.
- Are: Kerala land tax and resurvey records use ares and hectares. 1 are is 1,076.39 square feet, or 2.4711 cents.
- Gunta: in Karnataka and Telangana, 1 gunta is 1,089 square feet, which is 2.5 cents.
Practical tips
- A Patta or Chitta in Tamil Nadu shows hectare, are and square meter, not cents. Convert those figures before comparing with what the seller says.
- Keep two decimals when you convert cents to square feet. Plot prices per cent are high, and small rounding adds up.
- Confirm the extent with the village or taluk office and the land record before a sale or partition.
Questions people ask
1 cent how many square feet?
1 cent is 435.6 square feet. This is fixed, because a cent is defined as one hundredth of an acre and an acre is 43,560 square feet.
Is 1 cent the same in Kerala and Tamil Nadu?
Yes. 1 cent is 435.6 square feet in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Only the local units like the ground or kuzhi need extra care.
How many square feet is 2.5 cent?
2.5 cent is 1,089 square feet. Multiply 2.5 by 435.6 to get it.
How many cents make one acre?
100 cents make 1 acre. So 50 cents is half an acre and 25 cents is a quarter acre.
Is a cent the same as a decimal?
Yes, in size. Both are 435.6 square feet, one hundredth of an acre. South India says cent, while Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal say decimal or dismil.
Local units can differ inside a state. Before a sale, partition or court filing, confirm the unit with your tehsil, circle or revenue office and check the land record. How we check our numbers.