Convert length and distance units — meters, feet, inches, kilometers, miles, light years and more.
| Unit | Name | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 0.001 chain | 2.01168 cm | |
| 0.01 chain | 20.1168 cm | |
| 0.1 chain | 201.168 cm | |
| 1 chain | 2011.68 cm | |
| 5 chain | 10058.4 cm | |
| 10 chain | 20116.8 cm | |
| 50 chain | 100584 cm | |
| 100 chain | 201168 cm | |
| 1000 chain | 2.01168e+06 cm |
Multiply the number of Chains by 2011.68 to get Centimeters. Formula: cm = chain × 2011.68. Example: 10 chain × 2011.68 = 20116.8 cm. To reverse, divide Centimeters by 2011.68 to get Chains.
| Chain (chain) | Centimeter (cm) |
|---|---|
| 0.001 chain | 2.01168 cm |
| 0.01 chain | 20.1168 cm |
| 0.1 chain | 201.168 cm |
| 0.5 chain | 1005.84 cm |
| 1 chain | 2011.68 cm |
| 2 chain | 4023.36 cm |
| 5 chain | 10058.4 cm |
| 10 chain | 20116.8 cm |
| 20 chain | 40233.6 cm |
| 50 chain | 100584 cm |
| 100 chain | 201168 cm |
| 250 chain | 502920 cm |
| 500 chain | 1005840 cm |
| 1000 chain | 2011680 cm |
| 10000 chain | 20116800 cm |
To convert Chain to Centimeter, multiply by 2011.68. Example: 10 chain = 20116.8 cm
To convert Centimeter back to Chain, divide by 2011.68 (multiply by 0.000497097). Use the swap button above.
Start with 100 Chains = 201168 cm as your reference point. Scale up or down from there.
Property boundaries in old UK, Australian, and Commonwealth deeds are still recorded in chains. Converting to centimeters is needed when updating historic land records to metric for modern GIS and cadastral mapping systems.
Road and rail engineers working with legacy survey data expressed in chains convert to centimeters when specifying structural elements, drainage pipe diameters, and earthwork profiles in modern metric engineering drawings.
Farmers and rural valuers in Commonwealth countries encounter chain-based field measurements in historic title deeds, converting to centimeters and meters when applying for planning permission or agricultural subsidies.
Archaeologists measuring historical field systems and Roman road alignments — often originally set out in chains — convert to centimeters for precise recording in site plans and academic publications.
Model railway enthusiasts building layouts to scale convert prototype track spacings (surveyed in chains in the railway's original survey records) to centimeters for accurate gauge and curve radius modelling.
Teachers use chain-to-centimeter conversion to show how imperial and metric land measurement systems relate — 1 chain = 2,011.68 cm is a useful bridge between two systems students encounter in real documents.
The Chain is a unit of Length measurement (symbol: chain). 1 chain = 2011.68 cm. Used in scientific and practical Length measurement applications.
The Centimeter is a unit of Length measurement (symbol: cm). It is part of an internationally recognised measurement system used alongside the Chain.
Edmund Gunter invented the surveyor's chain in 1620. His design — 100 links totalling exactly 66 feet — was brilliantly chosen: 10 chains × 10 chains = 1 acre, making area calculation trivially simple in the field. 80 chains = 1 mile, 10 chains = 1 furlong. The chain became standard across the British Empire and is written into American law — the US Public Land Survey System still divides land using chains and links.
The centimetre was introduced in 1795 as part of the French metric system — one-hundredth of a metre, from the Latin 'centum' (hundred). The CGS (centimetre-gram-second) system, built around the centimetre, became the dominant scientific measurement system in the 19th century and remains standard in astrophysics and electromagnetism today. The centimetre is now the primary unit for human body measurements, clothing sizes, and everyday objects in most of the world.
Common use: Chain to Centimeter conversion is needed when working with international standards, scientific publications, or reference materials that use different unit systems for Length measurement.