If you have ever bought, sold or rented property in Pakistan, you have met the marla, the kanal and the acre. Property dealers quote plots in marlas, housing societies advertise in kanals, and farmland is measured in acres — but the three units form one tidy chain, and once you know the links, converting between them is simple arithmetic.

What Is a Marla?

The marla is the workhorse of Pakistani property measurement. Under the standard used across Pakistan, one marla equals 272.25 square feet — the same as 30.25 square yards. It is the unit dealers quote for residential plots, the classic “5-marla plot” or “10-marla plot” you see in housing society advertisements.

One thing to watch: a marla is not exactly the same everywhere in the region. Pakistan standardised the marla at 272.25 sq ft, but older local measures — such as the Lahore marla of 30 square yards (270 sq ft) — still surface in conversation. In India, a marla is typically 25 square yards (225 sq ft), which is different again. For any Pakistani transaction today, assume the 272.25 sq ft standard unless the dealer’s documents say otherwise.

How Marla, Kanal and Acre Relate

The kanal — also spelled canal in older records — is simply 20 marlas. At the standard size, that works out to 5,445 square feet, roughly the footprint of a comfortable detached house plot in Lahore or Islamabad. The acre, familiar from British colonial land records, is 8 kanals or 160 marlas — exactly 43,560 square feet, the same acre used internationally. So the entire system collapses into two facts worth memorising: 20 marla = 1 kanal and 8 kanal = 1 acre.

Worked Examples

A common real-world check: a dealer says a plot is “1 kanal” but the plan shows 5,200 sq ft. At 272.25 sq ft per marla, 5,200 ÷ 272.25 = 19.1 marla — just short of a full kanal. Running this quick calculation before signing anything is exactly what the conversion chain is for.

Marla to Square Feet, Gaz and Yards

Property papers in Pakistan mix units freely, so it helps to connect the marla to the others. One marla is 272.25 sq ft and 30.25 square yards. A “gaz” is the local word for a yard (3 feet), so one marla is also 30.25 square gaz — handy when an older relative quotes land in gaz. A full kanal is 5,445 sq ft or 605 sq yd, and an acre is 43,560 sq ft or 4,840 sq yd.

Want the numbers without the arithmetic? Our Pakistan land measurement converter handles marla, kanal, acre and square feet in one place, and the dedicated marla to gaz converter covers the classic yard-based measure.

What to Watch Out For

Three details catch people out. First, the old Lahore marla (30 sq yd = 270 sq ft) can still appear in grandfathered documents — a 2.25 sq ft difference per marla that adds up on big plots. Second, the Indian marla (25 sq yd) is not interchangeable with the Pakistani one, so cross-border comparisons need care. Third, always confirm whether a quoted “gaz” is a linear gaz (a yard of length) or a square gaz — mixing them is one of the most common land-measurement mistakes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Conversions

Guide published by LengthConversion.online. Units follow the Pakistani standard (1 marla = 272.25 sq ft).