Chains (ch)
The chain, or Gunter's chain, is a surveying unit equal to 66 feet, 22 yards, or 100 links.
Convert chains to any length unit
1 chain = 792 inches
Quick facts
- Unit
- Chain (plural: chains)
- Symbol
- ch
- Measures
- Length / Distance
- System
- Imperial & US customary
- Equals
- 20.1168 meters
- Definition
- 66 feet (20.1168 m), or 4 rods.
- Also written
- Gunter's chain
1 chain in other units
| Inches | 792 in |
| Meters | 20.1168 m |
| Centimeters | 2,011.68 cm |
| Feet | 66 ft |
| Kilometers | 0.0201168 km |
| Miles | 0.0125 mi |
| Millimeters | 20,116.8 mm |
| Yards | 22 yd |
What is a chain?
The chain, or Gunter's chain, is a surveying unit equal to 66 feet, 22 yards, or 100 links. It was introduced by Edmund Gunter in 1620 and made land arithmetic easy: 10 square chains are exactly one acre, and 80 chains make a mile.
Where the chain sits among length units
The chain is number 147 of 231 on our scale of length units, ordered from smallest to largest.
What chains are used for
- Land surveying and property deeds in the UK, US, Australia and Canada
- Railway distances in the UK (miles and chains)
- Length of a cricket pitch (exactly one chain)
Chains in real life
- A cricket pitch is 22 yards, exactly 1 chain long
One chain is about 4.5 cars laid end to end, or about 3.7 giraffes laid end to end, or about 9.9 doors stacked laid end to end, or about 11 adult men standing on each other's heads laid end to end.
Top chain conversions
Common amounts of chains
Convert chains to all 230 other units
Metric (SI)
- ch to m
- ch to cm
- ch to km
- ch to mm
- ch to µm
- ch to nm
- ch to dm
- ch to pm
- ch to fm
- ch to dam
- ch to hm
- ch to Gm
- ch to Mm
Imperial & US customary
- ch to in
- ch to ft
- ch to mi
- ch to yd
- ch to ftm
- ch to fur
- ch to hh
- ch to th
- ch to lea
- ch to rd
- ch to cubit
- ch to barleycorn
- ch to li
- ch to span
- ch to line
- ch to ell
- ch to palm
- ch to Ramsden's chain
- ch to finger
- ch to nail
- ch to shaftment
US survey
Nautical
Astronomical
- ch to ly
- ch to au
- ch to pc
- ch to kpc
- ch to Mpc
- ch to R⊕
- ch to ls
- ch to light-minute
- ch to LD
- ch to R☉
- ch to Gpc
- ch to light-day
- ch to light-hour
- ch to RJ
- ch to light-week
- ch to Hubble length
- ch to siriometer
Scientific & atomic
Ancient
- ch to Roman mile
- ch to royal cubit
- ch to stadion
- ch to Biblical cubit
- ch to Roman foot
- ch to Greek foot
- ch to Roman pace
- ch to parasang
- ch to Egyptian common cubit
- ch to Egyptian digit
- ch to Egyptian palm
- ch to Gallic league
- ch to Greek cubit
- ch to Greek finger
- ch to Roman cubit
- ch to Roman digit
- ch to Roman inch
- ch to Roman palm
- ch to Roman stadium
- ch to Roman step
- ch to handbreadth
- ch to Biblical finger
- ch to Biblical parasang
- ch to Biblical span
- ch to Greek palm
- ch to Greek span
- ch to Sabbath day's journey
- ch to Talmudic mil
- ch to bema
- ch to beru
- ch to day's journey
- ch to diaulos
- ch to dichas
- ch to hippikon
- ch to iteru
- ch to khet
- ch to kondylos
- ch to kush
- ch to nindan
- ch to orgyia
- ch to plethron
- ch to pygme
- ch to reed
- ch to remen
- ch to shu-si
- ch to ush
East & Southeast Asian
- ch to 里
- ch to 尺
- ch to 寸
- ch to 尺
- ch to 里
- ch to 間
- ch to 寸
- ch to wa
- ch to 리
- ch to 丈
- ch to 步
- ch to 分
- ch to 厘
- ch to 分
- ch to 치
- ch to 町
- ch to 자
- ch to 丈
- ch to khuep
- ch to kujirajaku
- ch to nio
- ch to sen
- ch to sok
- ch to 引
- ch to yot
- ch to 厘
- ch to 푼
- ch to 毫
- ch to 忽
- ch to kraphiat
- ch to 毛
- ch to 丝
South Asian & Middle Eastern
- ch to gaj
- ch to kos
- ch to yojana
- ch to angul
- ch to farsakh
- ch to hasta
- ch to arsin
- ch to barid
- ch to danda
- ch to dhira
- ch to qasaba
European (pre-metric)
- ch to Swedish mil
- ch to versta
- ch to arshin
- ch to lieue
- ch to ligne
- ch to pied du roi
- ch to sazhen
- ch to toise
- ch to Irish mile
- ch to Prussian mile
- ch to Russian mile
- ch to Scottish mile
- ch to pouce
- ch to vershok
- ch to Danish mile
- ch to French point
- ch to Prussian ell
- ch to Prussian foot
- ch to Prussian inch
- ch to Prussian rod
- ch to Rhineland rod
- ch to Russian foot
- ch to Swiss hour
- ch to aln
- ch to aune
- ch to duim
- ch to dyuym
- ch to famn
- ch to liniya
- ch to pyad
- ch to Welsh mile
- ch to fjardingsvag
- ch to tochka
Spanish & Portuguese
- ch to Castilian vara
- ch to Spanish league
- ch to Texas vara
- ch to pulgada
- ch to Castilian foot
- ch to Mexican vara
- ch to braca
- ch to legua
- ch to Portuguese foot
- ch to Portuguese vara
- ch to palmo
- ch to polegada
- ch to Spanish pace
- ch to linea
- ch to linha
- ch to punto
Everyday comparisons
- ch to American football field
- ch to marathon
- ch to smoot
- ch to Earth circumference
- ch to Eiffel Tower height
- ch to Olympic pool length
- ch to banana
- ch to double-decker bus
- ch to soccer pitch length
- ch to Mount Everest height
- ch to blue whale length
- ch to credit card length
- ch to human hair width
- ch to Burj Khalifa height
- ch to Earth diameter
- ch to Empire State Building height
- ch to Statue of Liberty height
- ch to human height
- ch to giraffe height
- ch to grain of rice
- ch to paperclip length
- ch to pencil length
- ch to sheppey
- ch to smartphone length
Convert to chains
Frequently asked questions
What is a chain?
The chain, or Gunter's chain, is a surveying unit equal to 66 feet, 22 yards, or 100 links.
How is the chain defined?
66 feet (20.1168 m), or 4 rods.
How many inches are in a chain?
One chain equals 792 inches.
How many meters are in a chain?
One chain equals 20.1168 meters.
How many centimeters are in a chain?
One chain equals 2,011.68 centimeters.