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# Area

The **Area** function calculates the area of a geography polygon, in specified units.

When you apply the **Area** function to geography points or geography lines, Sigma returns 0.

This function isn't compatible with all data platform connections. To check if your connection supports it, see [Supported data platforms and feature compatibility](/docs/region-warehouse-and-feature-support#supported-data-platforms-and-feature-compatibility).

## Syntax

```
Area(units, polygon)
```

The function arguments are:

<dl>
  <dt>
    units
  </dt>

  <dd>
    Required
  </dd>

  <dd>
    The unit of measurement for the area
  </dd>

  <dd>
    Valid values are 

    <code>"square_kilometers"</code>

    , 

    <code>"square_meters"</code>

    , and 

    <code>"square_miles"</code>

    .
  </dd>

  <dt>
    polygon
  </dt>

  <dd>
    Required
  </dd>

  <dd>
    The object for which we calculate the area
  </dd>

  <dd>
    Must be in valid Geography polygon format.
  </dd>

  <dd>
    To work from known latitude and longitude values, use the 

    <a href="/docs/makepoint" target="_self">MakePoint</a>

     or 

    <a href="/docs/makeline" target="_self">MakeLine</a>

     functions.
  </dd>
</dl>

## Examples

```
Area("square_kilometers", [Coordinates])
```

```
Area("square_meters", [Coordinates])
```

```
Area("square_miles", [Coordinates])
```

The **Area** function returns the following values for the **Coordinates** column values that define a polygon, when specifying area in square kilometers, square meters, or square miles:

![All three examples of the area function are shown in a table for several records worth of coordinates](https://files.buildwithfern.com/sigma.docs.buildwithfern.com/5ab8e2740518d2398f0ace6a3f29779a320c0225fc67007bbf579cb509d5fd34/assets/docs-images/afb5234-function-area-example.png)

On Databricks connections, values might differ slightly from those shown in the examples. This is because Databricks represents earth using the [WGS 84 ellipsoid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Geodetic_System), while other connections assume a perfect sphere.

## Related resources

* [Distance](/docs/distance)
* [Perimeter](/docs/perimeter)
* [Geography functions](/docs/geography-functions)