How many 1-mile square pieces make up a section?

A section in the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) is defined as an area of land that is one square mile in size. Each section is further divided into smaller subdivisions, often referred to as quarter sections. To fully understand how many one-mile square pieces comprise a section, it is important to consider the configuration of survey sections.

A section measures 1 mile by 1 mile, equating to a total area of 640 acres. Each section can be divided into 4 quarter sections, each of which is 0.5 miles by 0.5 miles, yielding 4 pieces per section. However, when dividing a section into smaller square units, each quarter section can further be split into 4 equal parts, resulting in a total of 16 smaller sections within each quarter section. Therefore, if a section is thought of in terms of being subdivided into smaller square units, it can indeed be conceptualized as containing 36 separate 1-mile square sections.

In this context, a section itself does not consist of multiple smaller 1-mile square pieces within it but instead stands alone as a singular entity of that size. However, when analyzing broader subdivisions, particularly within the landscape of larger town grids or planning regions, the