braza

1

A unit of length in Spain and many Spanish-speaking South American nations, ? – 20th century. In original concept the braza, like the English fathom, is the distance from tip to tip of outstretched arms.

Country	Length	Source
Argentina	= 2 vara, 1.7332 meters (about 5.682 feet)	1
Spain, Chile and Costa Rica	about 1.672 meters (about 5.48 feet)	1
province of Valencia, Spain 19th century	braza = 2 varas = 6 pies = 8 palmos = 32 quartos about 1.860 m, (but Altés says 1.814 meters) The braza real (royal braza) = 9 palmos about 2.041 meters	2
Colombia	1.60 meters (about 1.750 yards)	1

1. United Nations, 1966.

2. Doursther (1840), page 73, whose values are from Kelly and Altés.

2

A unit of land area in Spain. In most cases it is simply a square braza.

Country	Nomenclature	Area in square meters	Source
province of Valencia, Spain 19th century	braza	3.462	2
province of Valencia, Spain 19th century	braza real	4.165² 4.1554³	2, 3
province of Canarias, Spain	braza	3.2801	3
province of Castellón, Spain	braza real	4.1554	3
Colombia, Panama and the Philippines	braza	2.79 (3.34 square yards)	1

1. United Nations, 1966.

2. Doursther (1840), page 73.

3. Dirección General del Instituto Geográfico y Estadístico.
Equivalencias entre las Pesas y Medidas Usadas Antiguamente en las Diversas Provincias de España y las Legales del Sistema Métrico-Decimal.
Publicadas de Real Orden.
Madrid: Imprenta de la Dirección General del Instituto Geográfica y Estadístico, 1886.