Dunam

Template:Short description Template:Refimprove Template:Use dmy dates A dunam (Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; Template:Langx; Template:Langx; Template:Langx), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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^(when?) "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 of when, by who?)} as exactly one decare (Template:Convert), which is 1/10 hectare (1/10 × Template:Convert), like the modern Greek royal stremma.<ref name="lkn"/>

HistoryEdit

The name dönüm, from the Ottoman Turkish dönmek ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, "to turn"), 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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

DefinitionEdit

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, MontenegroEdit

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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

BulgariaEdit

In Bulgaria, the decare (декар) is used, which is an SI unit, literally meaning 10 ares.

CyprusEdit

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/dls Template: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.

GreeceEdit

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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"/>

IraqEdit

In Iraq, the dunam is Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Israel, Palestine and TurkeyEdit

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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

United Arab EmiratesEdit

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.

VariationsEdit

Other countries using a dunam of some size include Libya and Syria.Template:Citation needed

ConversionsEdit

A metric dunam is equal to:Template:Fact

1,000 square metres (exactly)<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=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 measuresEdit

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

ReferencesEdit

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