Six miles by six-mile squares define which land unit?

• A. Township
• B. Section
• C. Range
• D. Meridian

Answer: (A)

In the Public Land Survey System, the land is organized into a grid where the basic six-by-six mile unit is called a township. That six-mile square is the standard building block used to describe large parcels of land, and each township is further divided into 36 one-mile-square sections. The larger concept here is that township size is defined by 6 miles on each side, making it the township unit. The lines that create this grid are based on reference lines called principal meridians and baselines, with ranges marking the columns and township lines forming the rows; these locate where a township sits, but the size of a township remains six miles by six miles.