A township can have different meanings depending on the country and context in which it is used:
United States and Canada (North America): In North America, a township is a specific type of administrative division used in land survey systems. In the United States, townships are most commonly used in the Midwest and some other parts of the country. In Canada, townships are used primarily in the eastern provinces. These townships are typically a square area of land, typically six miles by six miles (36 square miles), or a similar configuration depending on the specific survey system used. Townships can be further divided into smaller units, such as sections, for land management and ownership purposes.
South Africa: In South Africa, a township refers to a residential area established during the apartheid era for non-white citizens. These areas were segregated from the main cities and towns and often experienced poor living conditions. Today, many townships have evolved and have improved living conditions, but the term is still associated with historically segregated communities.
Australia: In Australia, the term "township" is often used to refer to small rural towns or settlements. These are typically smaller than cities or larger towns and often serve as centers for local communities.
A rood is an old and largely obsolete unit of land area measurement. It was historically used in some English-speaking countries, particularly in the United Kingdom and Ireland, but it is not commonly used today, and its use in official measurements has been largely phased out.
In the traditional system, one rood is equal to one-quarter of an acre. This means that there are 4 roods in one acre. Converting to modern units, one rood is approximately 1,011.71 square meters (m²) or 0.101171 hectares (ha).
The term "rood" is often associated with medieval land measurement systems and was used in land and property transactions in the past. While it may occasionally appear in historical documents or literature, it is no longer a standard unit of measurement for land area in most countries.