Dunam
Template:Short description Template:Refimprove Template:Use dmy dates A donum (Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: Template:Lang; Template:Langx; Template:Langx; Template:Langx), also known as a dunam or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount of land that could be ploughed by a team of oxen in a day. The legal definition was "forty standard paces in length and breadth",<ref>V.L. Ménage, Review of Speros Vryonis, Jr. The decline of medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the process of islamization from the eleventh through the fifteenth century, Berkeley, 1971; in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) 36:3 (1973), pp. 659–661. at JSTOR (subscription required)</ref> but its actual area varied considerably from place to place, from a little more than Template:Convert in Ottoman Palestine to around Template:Convert in Iraq.<ref>Cowan, J. Milton; Arabic-English Dictionary, The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (4th Edition, Spoken Languages Services, Inc.; 1994; p. 351)</ref><ref name="lkn">Λεξικό της κοινής Νεοελληνικής (Dictionary of Modern Greek), Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών, Θεσσαλονίκη, 1998. Template:ISBN</ref>
The unit is still in use in many areas previously ruled by the Ottomans, although the new or metric dunam has been redefined as exactly one decare (Template:Convert), which is 1/10 hectare (1/10 × Template:Convert), like the modern Greek royal stremma.<ref name="lkn"/>
History
The name dönüm, from the Ottoman Turkish Template:Translit (Template:Lang Template:Gloss), appears to be a calque of the Byzantine Greek stremma and had the same size. It was likely adopted by the Ottomans from the Byzantines in Mysia-Bithynia.<ref>Ménage, op.cit.</ref>
The Dictionary of Modern Greek defines the old Ottoman stremma as approximately Template:Convert,<ref>Λεξικό, 1998</ref> but Costas Lapavitsas used the value of Template:Convert for the region of Naoussa in the early 20th century.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Definition
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro
In Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Serbia the unit is called the dulum (дулум) or dunum (дунум). In Bosnia and Herzegovina a dunum (or dulum) equals Template:Convert. In the region of Leskovac, south Serbia, one dulum is equal to Template:Convert. In Albania it is called a dynym or dylym and is equal to Template:Convert.<ref name=RGA>Template:Cite web</ref>
Bulgaria
In Bulgaria, the decare (декар) is used, which is an SI unit, literally meaning 10 ares.
Cyprus
In Cyprus, a donum is Template:Val or 14400 square feet.<ref>Department of Lands and Surveys web site http://www.moi.gov.cy/moi/dlsTemplate:Dead link (retrieved April 2014)</ref> In the Republic of Cyprus older Greek-Cypriots also still refer to the donum using the local Greek Cypriot dialect word σκάλες [skales], rather than the mainland Greek word stremma (equivalent to a decare). However, since 1986 officially Cyprus uses the square metre and the hectare.
A donum consists of 4 evleks, each of which consists of Template:Val or 3.600 square feet.
Greece
In Greece, the old dönüm is called a "Turkish stremma", while today, a stremma or "royal stremma" is exactly one decare, like the metric dönüm.<ref name="lkn"/>
Iraq
In Iraq, the dunam is Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Israel, Palestine and Turkey
In Israel, Palestine and Turkey, the dunam is Template:Convert, which is 1 decare. From the Ottoman period and through the early years of the British Mandate for Palestine, the size of a dunam was Template:Convert, but in 1928, the metric dunam of Template:Convert was adopted, and this is still used today in Israel and Palestine.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
United Arab Emirates
The Dubai Statistics Center and Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi use the metric dunam (spelt as donum) for data relating to agricultural land use.<ref name=":0" /> One donum equals Template:Convert.
Variations
Other countries using a dunam of some size include Libya and Syria.Template:Citation needed
Conversions
A metric dunam is equal to:Template:Fact
- 1,000 square metres (exactly)<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
- 10 ares (exactly)
- 1 decare (exactly)
- 0.1 hectares (exactly)<ref name=":0" />
- 0.001 square kilometres (exactly)
- 0.247105381 acres (approx)
- 1,195.99005 square yards (approx)
- 10,763.9104 square feet (approx)
Comparable measures
Template:See also The Byzantine Greek stremma was the probable source of the Turkish unit. The zeugarion (Turkish çift) was a similar unit derived from the area plowed by a team of oxen in a day. The English acre was originally similar to both units in principle, although it developed separately.Template:Fact
See also
- Orders of magnitude (area) for further comparisons
- Conversion of units
- Feddan, a similar non-SI unit of area used in Egypt, Sudan, and Syria
- Resm-i dönüm, a land tax based on the area of a farm