In poetry, a foot is a certain number of syllables forming part of a line of verse, measured for effect in English as long beats (accented) and short beats (unaccented).
In many other languages criteria such as duration of the syllable (long or short) is the effect measured.
... density of 300.6/km² (778.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 94.37% White, 1.11% African American, 0.18% Native American, 1.74% Asian, 0.01% Pacific ...