Jerib

The jerib or djerib (Persian: جریب; Turkish: cerip) is a traditional unit of land measurement in the Middle East and southwestern Asia. It is a unit of area used to measure land holdings (real property) in much the way that an acre or hectare are. Like most traditional units of measure, the jerib originally varied substantially from one location to another. However, in the twentieth century, the jerib has been regionally, if not uniformly defined. In many countries where it was traditionally used, it is equated with the hectare, for example in Turkey and Iran. In Afghanistan, however, it is standardized at 2,000 square metres (0.49 acres). The jerib was roughly equivalent to the other customary land measures in south Asia and the Middle East, the Indian bigha and the Sumerian iku, varying between 1,600 and 3,600 square metres (0.40 and 0.89 acres). The word is probably derived from Arabic.