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Adunam (Ottoman Turkish,Arabic:دونم;Turkish:dönüm;Hebrew:דונם;Yiddish:דונאם), also known as adonum ordunum and as theold,Turkish, orOttomanstremma,[1] was theOttoman unit ofarea analogous in role (but not equal) to theGreekstremma orEnglishacre, representing the amount of land that could be ploughed by a team ofoxen in a day. The legal definition was "forty standardpaces in length and breadth",[2] but its actual area varied considerably from place to place, from a little more than 900square metres [9,690 sq ft] inOttoman Palestine to around 2,500square metres [26,910square feet] inIraq.[3][4]
The unit is still in use in many areas previously ruled by the Ottomans, although thenew ormetric dunam has been redefined as exactly onedecare (1,000square metres [10,760square feet]), which is 1/10hectare (1/10 × 10,000square metres [107,640square feet]), like the modern Greekroyal stremma.[4]
The namedönüm, from theOttoman Turkishdönmek (دونمك'to turn'), appears to be acalque of theByzantine Greekstremma and had the same size. It was likely adopted by the Ottomans from the Byzantines inMysia-Bithynia.[5]
The Dictionary of Modern Greek defines the old Ottoman stremma as approximately 1,270 square metres (13,700 sq ft),[6] butCostas Lapavitsas used the value of 1,600 square metres (17,000 sq ft) for the region ofNaoussa in the early 20th century.[7]
InBosnia and Herzegovina and inSerbia the unit is called thedulum (дулум) ordunum (дунум). In Bosnia and Herzegovina a dunum (or dulum) equals 1,000 square metres (10,764 sq ft). In the region ofLeskovac, south Serbia, one dulum is equal to 1,600 square metres (17,222 sq ft). InAlbania it is called a dynym or dylym and is equal to 1,000 square metres (10,764 sq ft).[8]
InBulgaria, thedecare (декар) is used, which is anSI unit, literally meaning 10 ares.
InCyprus, a donum is1337.803776 m2 or 14400 square feet.[9] In theRepublic of Cyprus older Greek-Cypriots also still refer to the donum using the localGreek Cypriot dialect word σκάλες [skales], rather than the mainland Greek wordstremma (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 of334.450944 m2 or 3.600 square feet.
In Greece, the old dönüm is called a "Turkish stremma", while today, astremma or "royal stremma" is exactly onedecare, like the metric dönüm.[4]
InIraq, the dunam is 2,500 square metres (0.25 ha).[10]
InIsrael,Palestine andTurkey, the dunam is 1,000 square metres (10,764 sq ft), which is 1decare. From the Ottoman period and through the early years of theBritish Mandate for Palestine, the size of a dunam was 919.3 square metres (9,895 sq ft), but in 1928, the metric dunam of 1,000 square metres (0.10 ha) was adopted, and this is still used today in Israel and Palestine.[11][12]
The Dubai Statistics Center andStatistics Centre Abu Dhabi use the metric dunam (spelt as donum) for data relating to agricultural land use.[13] One donum equals 1,000 square metres (10,764 sq ft).
Other countries using a dunam of some size includeLibya andSyria.[citation needed]
A metric dunam is equal to:[citation needed]
TheByzantineGreekstremma was the probable source of the Turkish unit. Thezeugarion (Turkishçift) was a similar unit derived from the area plowed by a team of oxen in a day. TheEnglishacre was originally similar to both units in principle, although it developed separately.[citation needed]
