How many chains is 1 meter?

One meter equals approximately 0.04971 chains (about 1/20 of a chain).

How many meters are in 1 chain?

One chain equals exactly 20.1168 meters (66 feet x 0.3048 m/foot).

When is this conversion needed?

When digitizing old English or colonial property records that describe boundaries in chains. Modern land registries use meters, so chain-based descriptions must be converted.

Meters to Chains (m to ch) Converter

1 m = 0.0497 ch

1 Meter equals 0.0497 Chains (1 m = 0.0497 ch). Convert Meters to Chains with formula, table, and examples.

One meter equals approximately 0.04971 chains, or about 1/20 of a chain. A chain (66 feet / 20.1168 m) contains about 20.12 meters. This conversion connects the universal SI unit with the historical English land-surveying unit.

How to Convert Meters to Chains

ch = m × 0.0497096954

Multiply the value in Meters by 0.0497096954

Take your value in Meters
Multiply by 0.0497096954
Read the result in Chains

Common Meters to Chains Conversions

Meters (m)	Chains (ch)	Status
0.5 m	0.0249 ch
1 m	0.0497 ch
2 m	0.0994 ch
5 m	0.2485 ch
10 m	0.4971 ch
20 m	0.9942 ch
20.117 m	1 ch
50 m	2.4855 ch
100 m	4.971 ch
200 m	9.9419 ch
500 m	24.8548 ch
1,000 m	49.7097 ch
5,000 m	248.5485 ch

Good to Know About Meters to Chains Conversion

The chain was the imperial world's most practical surveying tool for 300 years. The meter replaced it everywhere. When old chain-based records meet modern metric databases, the conversion 1 chain = 20.1168 m is the bridge between centuries.

Meters to Chains: What You Need to Know

A chain is 20.1168 m. A 100 m track is about 4.97 chains. When converting historical English land records into modern metric databases, the chain-to-meter conversion is performed daily by GIS professionals and land registries worldwide.

What is a Meter? m

The base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Used worldwide as the standard measure of distance.

Metric construction athletics navigation

Learn more about Meter →

What is a Chain? ch

Exactly 66 feet or 4 rods (20.1168 m). Invented by Edmund Gunter for land surveying. 80 chains make one mile. Still used in US public land surveys.

Imperial land surveying US public land

Learn more about Chain →

Going the other way? Use our Chains to Meters converter.

Meters to Chains FAQ

One meter equals approximately 0.04971 chains (about 1/20 of a chain).
One chain equals exactly 20.1168 meters (66 feet x 0.3048 m/foot).
When digitizing old English or colonial property records that describe boundaries in chains. Modern land registries use meters, so chain-based descriptions must be converted.

Non-Frequently Asked Questions About Meters to Chains

Questions nobody should ask - but someone did.

Almost exactly. 100 m = 4.971 chains. Usain Bolt's world record 100 m time of 9.58 seconds means he ran about 5 chains in under 10 seconds. Bolt could have been a very fast surveyor.
A chain is 20.1168 m, so about 20 meter sticks. But a chain had 100 links for decimal calculation. The meter stick has no links. You would lose the decimal advantage that made Gunter's chain brilliant.
A typical 80 m² apartment is about 4 chains x 1 chain (80.5 x 20.1 m). In old English terms, your apartment is about 0.02 acres. Medieval peasants had more land. But they did not have wifi.