Final answer:
One square mile is equal to 2.59 square kilometers when rounded to two decimal places. You get this by squaring the conversion factor of 1.61 kilometers per mile.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find out how many square kilometers are in one square mile, we need to square the conversion between miles and kilometers since we are dealing with area. Given that one mile is approximately 1.61 kilometers, we square this figure to convert square miles to square kilometers.
So, we calculate 1.61 kilometers (for one mile) times 1.61 kilometers (for the other mile in a square mile), which gives us:
1.61 km × 1.61 km = 2.5921 km²
Rounded to two decimal places, this result is 2.59 square kilometers in one square mile.
This conversion is crucial when dealing with measurements in geography, earth sciences, or any other field that involves measuring large tracts of land.