--- title: "Aliquot Parts – PLSS Glossary | Township America" description: "Aliquot parts are the standardized subdivisions of a PLSS section: quarter sections (160 acres), quarter-quarter sections (40 acres), and smaller parcels down to 10 acres, used in legal land descriptions across all 30 PLSS states." url: https://townshipamerica.com/learn/glossary/aliquot-parts --- [ Back to Glossary ](/learn/glossary) Glossary # Aliquot Parts Aliquot parts are the standardized subdivisions of a PLSS section: quarter sections (160 acres), quarter-quarter sections (40 acres), and smaller parcels down to 10 acres, used in legal land descriptions across all 30 PLSS states. # Aliquot Parts An **aliquot part** is a fractional subdivision of a PLSS [section](/learn/glossary/section) created by dividing it into equal quarters, then quartering those quarters, and so on. The word "aliquot" means "contained an exact number of times": each subdivision divides evenly into its parent. Aliquot parts are how the Public Land Survey System describes parcels smaller than a full 640-acre section without ambiguity. ## [How Aliquot Subdivision Works](#how-aliquot-subdivision-works) Every standard section starts as a one-mile square containing 640 acres. The first division splits it into four **quarter sections** of 160 acres each, labeled by compass direction: NE¼, NW¼, SE¼, and SW¼. Each quarter section measures half a mile on each side. Those quarter sections can be divided again into **quarter-quarter sections** of 40 acres each. The NE¼ of the SW¼ (written NE¼SW¼) is a specific 40-acre parcel sitting in the northeast corner of the southwest quarter. This 40-acre unit was the standard homestead claim size under the original Homestead Act. The process continues. A quarter of a quarter-quarter section yields a 10-acre parcel, the smallest standard aliquot part the BLM recognizes. That gives four levels of subdivision: | Level | Size | Acres | Example | | ----------------------- | --------------- | ----- | --------------- | | Quarter section | ½ mile × ½ mile | 160 | NE¼ | | Quarter-quarter | ¼ mile × ¼ mile | 40 | NE¼SW¼ | | Quarter-quarter-quarter | ⅛ mile × ⅛ mile | 10 | NE¼NE¼SW¼ | | Half section | 1 mile × ½ mile | 320 | N½ (north half) | Half designations (N½, S½, E½, W½) also qualify as aliquot parts. The N½ of the NE¼ is an 80-acre rectangle across the top of the northeast quarter. ## [Reading Aliquot Descriptions](#reading-aliquot-descriptions) PLSS legal descriptions read from the smallest parcel outward to the largest. This is the opposite of a mailing address, and it trips up people who encounter it for the first time. **NW¼SE¼ Sec 14, T4N R68W, 6th Principal Meridian** Read this right to left: 1. Start at the 6th Principal Meridian (eastern Colorado) 2. Find Township 4 North, Range 68 West 3. Go to Section 14 4. Locate the SE¼ (southeast quarter, 160 acres) 5. Within that, find the NW¼ (northwest quarter of the southeast quarter, 40 acres) That final 40-acre parcel is the land being described. Every piece of the notation narrows the location, from an entire meridian system down to a specific tract. ## [Where Aliquot Parts Show Up in Practice](#where-aliquot-parts-show-up-in-practice) Aliquot parts appear in virtually every PLSS-based land record: **Oil and gas leases:** A drilling permit might cover the SW¼NW¼ of Section 22, T15N R2E, Indian Meridian. That 40-acre parcel defines the permitted drilling unit in central Oklahoma. The spacing unit for a well often maps directly to an aliquot subdivision. **Agricultural filings:** Crop insurance acreage reports and USDA program enrollments (ARC, PLC) require legal descriptions at the quarter-section or quarter-quarter-section level. A farm operator in North Dakota might file coverage for the N½NE¼ of Section 10, T142N R98W, 5th Principal Meridian, an 80-acre tract of spring wheat. **Real estate transactions:** Title documents and deeds in PLSS states describe property boundaries using aliquot parts. A residential lot carved from the SE¼SE¼ of a section still traces its legal lineage back through the aliquot chain. **Mineral rights:** Mineral ownership is frequently severed from surface rights at the aliquot level. A mineral deed might convey rights to the E½SW¼ of Section 30, T10S R20E, Salt Lake Meridian, 80 acres of subsurface rights in eastern Utah, separate from whoever owns the surface. ## [Aliquot Parts vs. Government Lots](#aliquot-parts-vs-government-lots) Not every parcel within a section can be described with aliquot notation. Where a section's boundaries are interrupted by a river, lake, or state line, the irregular remnants are assigned numbered [government lots](/learn/glossary/government-lot) instead of compass-direction subdivisions. A single section can contain both: standard aliquot parts on one side and government lots where the grid breaks down. The key difference is predictability. If someone tells you "NE¼SW¼ of Section 14," you know exactly where that 40 acres sits and how large it is. No plat required. A government lot description like "Lot 3, Section 6" requires the original GLO survey plat to determine shape, size, and location. ## [Converting Aliquot Descriptions to Coordinates](#converting-aliquot-descriptions-to-coordinates) An aliquot description gives you a precise location within the PLSS grid, but translating that to latitude and longitude requires the underlying survey data: the township plat coordinates, section corner positions, and subdivision geometry. Township America handles this conversion across all 30 PLSS states and all 37 [principal meridians](/learn/glossary/principal-meridian). Enter a description like "NW¼SE¼ Sec 14 T4N R68W 6th PM" into the [PLSS converter](/plss-converter) and get back the centroid coordinates, parcel boundary, and acreage. The converter supports aliquot parts down to the quarter-quarter-quarter section level (10 acres). For bulk work (title searches, lease audits, acreage verification), the [batch converter](/learn/how-to/batch-convert-plss) processes hundreds of aliquot descriptions from a CSV upload in a single pass. ## [Common Mistakes with Aliquot Parts](#common-mistakes-with-aliquot-parts) **Reading order:** The description NE¼SW¼ means "the northeast quarter _of_ the southwest quarter," not "the northeast quarter _and_ the southwest quarter." Misreading this places you in the wrong 40-acre parcel. **Assuming uniform size:** Along the north and west edges of a township, sections may be slightly over or under 640 acres due to convergence corrections. The aliquot parts in those sections inherit the size variation. The NE¼ of a 650-acre section is 162.5 acres, not 160. **Mixing lot and aliquot notation:** In fractional sections, some tracts are government lots and others are standard aliquot parts. A legal description that says "Lot 2 and the SE¼" is describing two different kinds of subdivisions within the same section. Both are valid, but they follow different rules. ## [FAQ](#faq) **What does "aliquot" mean in land surveying?**Aliquot means "contained an exact number of times." In PLSS context, it refers to the standard fractional divisions of a section (quarters, quarter-quarters, and so on) where each piece divides evenly into its parent parcel. **What is the smallest aliquot part?**The BLM recognizes aliquot parts down to 1/64th of a section (10 acres), which is a quarter-quarter-quarter section. Some states and local recording offices accept descriptions at the 1/256th level (2.5 acres), but this varies by jurisdiction. **How many aliquot parts are in a section?**A section contains 4 quarter sections, 16 quarter-quarter sections, or 64 quarter-quarter-quarter sections. The number depends on which subdivision level you are counting. Half-sections and other combinations add further options. **Can I convert an aliquot part description to GPS coordinates?**Yes. Enter any aliquot description into the Township America [PLSS converter](/plss-converter) to get latitude and longitude coordinates, a boundary polygon, and the computed acreage. The converter handles all standard aliquot levels across every PLSS state. ### Related Terms [Block and Section (Texas)In the Texas Survey System, a Block & Section reference identifies a one-square-mile parcel within a named railroad survey grant, the dominant land description convention in West Texas.](/learn/glossary/block-and-section)[Government LotA government lot is an irregularly shaped parcel within a PLSS section that cannot be divided into standard quarter sections, typically found along rivers, lakes, and state boundaries.](/learn/glossary/government-lot)[PLSS GlossaryDefinitions for PLSS, township, range, section, quarter section, principal meridian, and all US public land survey terms.](/learn/glossary)[League and LaborLeague and labor are Spanish colonial land measurement units used in Texas Survey System descriptions: a league is about 4,428 acres (cattle grants), a labor is about 177 acres (farming grants).](/learn/glossary/league-and-labor) ### See it in action Try the converter with a real PLSS description. 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