A traditional unit of area in the U.S. and western Canada. In the U.S. this unit equals 36 sections, or the area of a square nominally 6 miles on a side (about 93.24 square kilometers). Like the section, it is used by the U.S. Public Land Survey System, which applies to most of the country except for the original 13 states, Alaska, and Hawaii. In the four western provinces of Canada, the similar Dominion Lands Survey System used townships made of 36 square sections plus a road allowance between them. From 1871 to 1881 this allowance was 1.5 chains (99 feet), making the township nominally 6.1125 miles on a side (37.36 square miles or 96.77 square kilometers); it was then reduced to 1 chain with some roads removed, making the townships nominally 6.0375 by 6.075 miles (36.68 square miles or 95.00 square kilometers). In both countries the actual size varied slightly due to the curvature of the Earth. See: section