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The hectometer (symbol: hm) is a unit of length in the metric system. It is defined as exactly one hundred (100) meters, which is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Therefore, 1 kilometer equals 10 hectometers.

The hectometer originates from the French Revolution era, alongside the development of the metric system in the 1790s. The system aimed for rational, decimal-based units derived from the meter. The prefix "hecto-" (derived from Greek "hekaton" meaning hundred) signifies a factor of one hundred (10²). While the meter and kilometer became the more common standards for many applications, the hectometer was defined as part of the systematic decimal structure of the metric system.

The hectometer is not frequently used in everyday language or general measurements compared to meters or kilometers. However, it finds niche applications in specific fields:

• Agriculture and Forestry: Sometimes used for measuring land parcel dimensions or distances in large fields or forests where measurements are typically in the hundreds of meters.
• Surveying: Can be used in land surveying, particularly in contexts where metric units are standard but kilometers are too large and meters too small for convenient expression of certain distances.
• Meteorology: While not a length unit, the related unit hectopascal (hPa), using the same prefix, is the standard international unit for atmospheric pressure.
• Radio Astronomy: Certain radio wavelengths might be expressed in hectometers.
• Education: Useful in teaching the metric system to illustrate the powers of 10 and the relationship between different metric length units (1 km = 10 hm = 100 dam = 1000 m).