Almost all countries in the world use the metric system, officially known as the International System of Units (SI). Before the introduction of the metric system, there was no worldwide standard in measurements, and every geographic region or country used their own system. Some of these historic measurement systems are still in use, for example variations of the old English system (or its descendants U.S. customary and the imperial system) of weights and measures survive in various forms in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and Liberia, while Myanmar still plows its own furrow. In all these countries except for the U.S., the metric system is widely understood. In the U.S., you'll find the metric system only used in scientific, military, and most medical contexts, while in the UK and Canada, usage is more mixed. In scientific usage, the metric system is used exclusively in all countries of the world.

Some countries that are officially metric use non-standard units in everyday speech. While most of them are "metricated" (e.g. a German Pfund ("pound") being exactly 500 grams or a Dutch ons ("ounce") being exactly 100 grams), some are not, and the vague definitions of what exactly is meant by a "pound" or a vara ("rod", a Latin American unit of distance, somewhere between 0.8 and 1.1 meters) give you a sense of the confusion that led to the introduction of the metric system in the first place. Canada is also officially fully metricated, though imperial units continue to be widely used by Anglophone Canadians in daily conversation. The rest of the Anglosphere (such as Australia, Ireland and New Zealand) switched to metric beginning in the 1970s and are now fully metric in daily use, though the imperial system still survives to varying extents in colloquial usage. Some special uses still apply non-metric units almost globally (such as inches for bicycles and television sets, feet in aviation, and knots and nautical miles in maritime contexts and aviation), although few are of interest to the average traveller.

Since use of the metric system is taught in schools in science classes, younger generations in most of the world exclusively know metric units, and historic units gradually die out. When traveling in The Netherlands for example, the elderly may still use ounce in spoken language, but teenagers won't have any idea what you're talking about. The most notable exception to this rule is the United States, where metric units are virtually unknown to the average person in the street, and would likely only be understood if you are lucky enough to meet a doctor or scientist. Exceptions exist in fields where particular units are well established. Jewelers typically measure the weight of diamonds in carat (which is 0.2 g), so entering a shop and asking for a diamond ring of 2.4 g will definitely raise some eyebrows. Another example is the energy contained in food, which is traditionally measured in calories. Food items will often list the value in kcal (kilocalories) and metric unit kJ (kilojoules) side by side.

There are so many historic units that listing them all on this page would be nearly impossible, and of limited use to the traveler. The goal here is to list the most commonly used historic units and their conversions to metric equivalents to give the traveler a rough idea of quantity. The conversions are not exact, some are approximations even though the "=" is used below.

Temperature

Temperature is among the most relevant of quantities for travellers. Thirty degrees in one scale (i.e. Fahrenheit) is really cold whereas in another scale (i.e Celsius or Centigrade), it can be very hot. Therefore, it is pretty useful to know the equivalents between the two scales, especially if you're from the US or one of the few other countries to use Fahrenheit. For everyday applications (e.g. weather), you can approximate with very simple math. To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, double the number and add 30. To convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, subtract 30 and divide in half.

The exact formulas are similar, but are harder to calculate in your head:

${\displaystyle Fahrenheit={(}Celsius\times {1.8}{)}+{32}}$

or

${\displaystyle Fahrenheit={(}Celsius\times {9 \over 5}{)}+{32}}$

And to go the other direction:

${\displaystyle Celsius={{(}Fahrenheit-{32}{)} \over {1.8}}}$

or

${\displaystyle Celsius={{(}Fahrenheit-{32}{)}}\times {5 \over {9}}}$

Comparisons

Length and distance

The standard metric unit of length is the meter (spelled as "metre" in all of the English-speaking world except for the U.S. and Phillipines).

• 1 inch (1" (U.S.), 1" or 1 in (UK and Ireland)) = 2.54 cm (exact)
• 1 foot (1' (U.S.), 1' or 1 ft (UK and Ireland)) = 12 inches = 30 cm
• 1 yard (1 yd) = 3 feet = 90 cm
  • Yards are not used as frequently as miles, feet, and inches in the U.S., though they are regularly seen on road signs in the UK. Americans mostly know that a meter is "about a yard", and that yards are used in some sports.
• 1 mile (1 mi) = 1,760 yards = 1.6 km, or 1 km = 0.6 miles
  • For mental arithmetic, this gives several useful conversions that are fairly accurate:
    • 3 miles = 5 km (off by 5%)
    • 5 miles = 8 km
    • 6 miles = 10 km (off by 5%)
    • 10 miles = 16 km
• 1 nautical mile = 1.852 km (not used in normal conversation, but standard in air and sea navigation; the "knot", used for speeds in those contexts, is 1 nautical mile per hour). Rounding the nautical mile to 2 km is surprisingly accurate (off by 7.4%).
• 1 furlong = 1/8 miles = 220 yards = 201.168 m (rarely used in daily life, but often used in horse racing)
• There are also other miles, such as the Scandinavian "mil", which is 10 km. German explorers deliberately misleading local leaders on Prussian miles versus English miles (with the former being much larger and unknown to the locals) also played some role in the early colonial history of Namibia

Comparisons

• A credit card is about 0.75mm (3/4 of a millimeter) thick
• 1 cm (centimeter) is the width of an average fingernail.
• 1 foot is, unsurprisingly, the length of an average man's foot in shoes. 1 foot is slightly more than the long side of a sheet of paper (U.S. letter or A4).
• Most adults are between 1.5 and 2 meters tall.
• The average person walks 5 km/h or 3 miles/hour (without heavy luggage). At that speed, 1 km takes 12-15 minutes, and 1 mile takes 20 minutes.
• Ten yards are a little less than a yard shy of ten meters. An American football field is exactly 100 yards from end zone to end zone, with each end zone being 10 yards deep. In Canadian football, the field is exactly 110 yards between end zones, and the end zones are 20 yards deep.
• Denver (Colorado), Johannesburg (South Africa) and Volcán Concepción on Ometepe are roughly at one mile (5260 ft or 1600 m) altitude. Chamonix town and Katoomba are both about a kilometer (3300 ft or 1000 m) above sea level.
• Human heights in the U.S., UK, Canada, and Ireland are commonly given in feet and inches, stylized as 6'3" (pronounced as "six three", or "six foot three" when the context is unclear), which would be 190.5 centimeters. The same height could also be stylized "6 ft 3 in".
• A marathon is run over 42.195 kilometers, or 26 miles and 385 yards.
• The maximum speed limit for legacy rail lines in Germany that the signaling technology allows is 160 km/h or roughly 100 mph
• 100 km/h is around 60 mph — in many parts of the world this is the speed limit on highways
• Despite what you may have heard, the average length of a step is not a meter or a yard, an error that likely originates from counting both feet. Step lengths of adults usually fall in the range of 60 to 80 centimeters - on the parade ground, a soldier's pace is 75 cm (30 in). When running, the step grows to be above a meter.

Driving speed

The speed limits in most countries are quoted in kilometres per hour (km/h). The principal exceptions are the United States, Liberia and the United Kingdom, which all use miles per hour (mph). Americans who take their cars to Canada or Mexico and Britons who take their cars to Ireland or the European continent often need to convert between mph and km/h while driving. The symbol for "kilometres per hour" is "km/h" regardless of how it is written in full in the local language – for example the Italians use "km/h" even though the Italian for "kilometres per hour" is "chilometri all'ora".

Many (but not all) modern cars in these countries have both mph and km/h scales on their speedometers. Some cars that use a computer monitor for a speedometer can change between mph and km/h by changing a setting. If not, an easy conversion is to remember the sequence

This sequence means that

• 20 mph ≈ 30 km/h
• 30 mph ≈ 50 km/h
• 50 mph ≈ 80 km/h
• 80 mph ≈ 130 km/h

Weight

• 1 kilogram (1 kg) ≈ 2.2 pounds
• 1 ounce (1 oz) ≈ 28.35 grams
• 1 pound (1 lb) = 16 ounces ≈ 454 grams
• 1 stone (1 st) = 14 pounds ≈ 6.35 kg (used in the UK and Ireland)

Some food in some countries is sold per 100 g (hectogram), i.e. about ¼ lb or 4 oz.

A Troy ounce, customarily used only for precious metals and gemstones, is approximately 31.1 grams.

The jin (斤) or catty, a Chinese unit of weight, was traditionally approximately 600 grams, though in mainland China it is now exactly 500 grams. The jin was traditionally divided into 16 liang (兩) or taels, though in modern China it is now 10 liang. In Germany the pound (Pfund) likewise nowadays refers to a weight of exactly 500 g.

Both the U.S. and the UK have their own version of the hundredweight (cwt) and the ton (t). The imperial hundredweight is 8 stone (112 pounds), while the U.S. hundredweight is 100 pounds, and a ton is 20 hundredweights in both systems. This means that the U.S. ton is 2000 pounds (about 907.18 kg), while the imperial ton is 160 stone (2240 pounds, about 1016.05 kg). The metric ton (UK: "tonne") is 1000 kg.

Surface area

• 1 square inch (in²) ≈ 6.5 square centimeters (cm²).
• 1 square meter (m²) ≈ 11 square feet
• 1 hectare (ha) = 10,000 m² ≈ 2.5 acres
• 1 square kilometer (km²) = 100 ha ≈ 0.4 square miles.

In Greece, 1000m² is called stremma.

Comparisons

• An association football (soccer) pitch is roughly one hectare in area.
• In the U.S., two of that country's states are often used for nation-sized objects, depending on the area being compared:
  • Rhode Island, the smallest state by area, has a surface area of 1,214 square miles or 3,140 square kilometers.
  • Texas, the largest by area of the contiguous states, has a surface area of 268,601 square miles or 695,670 square kilometers.
• Wales, commonly used for such comparisons in the UK, has an area of 8,023 square miles or 20,779 km².

Volume

The standard metric unit of volume is the liter (spelled as "litre" in all of the English-speaking world except for the U.S.).

Many things, however, are measured in mL (milliliters) or equivalently in cc (cubic centimeters). Roughly, a teaspoon is 5mL and a fluid ounce (depending on the system) is a little under 30mL.

In both the U.S. and imperial systems, 4 quarts = 1 gallon and 2 pints = 1 quart but the U.S. pint is divided into 16 fluid ounces while the imperial pint is divided into 20 fluid ounces. An imperial gallon is 4.55 litres and a U.S. gallon is 3.79 liters while an imperial fluid ounce is 28.125 mL and a U.S. fluid ounce is 29.5 mL.

For car and motorcycle engines, displacement is usually given in cc or in liters. American cars used to have their displacement measured in cubic inches, but car manufacturers switched to liters in the early 1980s. 1000cc or one liter is 61 cubic inches.

Large amounts of liquids are sometimes measured in hectoliters equivalent to hundred liters or in cubic meters equivalent to a thousand liters. A small brewery might e.g. state their beer production to be below 100 hectoliters while a municipal water service will likely bill you in cubic meters. For very large volumes, the U.S. also uses acre-feet.

Comparisons

• 1 L of water weighs 1 kg at 4°C. Since many liquids (milk, orange juice) are sold in liter containers, it is easy to judge 1 L or 1 kg.
• 1 L is equivalent to a cube 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm.
• One U.S. pint of water weighs one pound
• One Imperial gallon of water weighs ten pounds
• One fluid ounce of water weighs one ounce
• 1 cubic meter (1 m³) = 1000 liters. 1 m³ of water weighs 1,000 kg = 1 Tonne.
• In Europe and many parts of Canada, wine is usually sold in 750 mL (0.75 L) bottles (occasionally 700 mL or 1 L).
• 12 fl. oz. (common size for beer bottles in the Americas) is roughly equivalent to 355 milliliters, more or less the same as a "small" European beer at 333 mL (a third of a liter)
• One imperial pint (a common serving size for beer in the UK, Ireland and Canada) is 568.26125 milliliters (exactly) or roughly 10% more than a big (or regular depending on whom you ask) "continental" European beer at 500 mL.
• The fuel tank on a small family car (e.g. Volkswagen Golf or Toyota Corolla) typically has a capacity of 50 L or 13 US gallons.
• One acre-foot (in the U.S. commonly cited as a rough estimate for a family's yearly water needs) is equivalent to roughly 1233 m³

Wind speed

Wind speed is usually given in m/s, knots, km/h or mph, depending on country and context. 1 m/s = 2 knots (exactly in this context). 1 knot is 1 nautical mile per hour, which is about 1.15 mph. For km/h: divide by two to get knots (actually 1.852) or mph (actually 1.609), by four (3.6) to get m/s.

The Beaufort scale was in wide use before, and winds are still often classified according to it. Here is a rough conversion table.

Hurricanes have their own scale. The scale below only applies to hurricanes originating in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean.

Power and energy

The SI unit for power is watt (W), where 1 W = 1 V · 1 A. The SI unit for energy is joule (J), where 1 J = 1 W · 1 s. The alternative units are horsepower (hp) and calories (cal), both still used in some contexts even in countries where metric units dominate.

Often thousands of watts, joules and calories are used; particularly in a dietary context, "calories" is often used for what scientists would call "kilocalories". Electrical energy usage is sometimes measured in kilowatt-hours, where 1 kWh = 3.6 MJ.

Horsepower is an approximation of what power a horse can deliver on average in long-time work, such as pumping water out of a mine, as measured by James Watt. The horsepower has several definitions (depending on what units they are based on), the main ones being the mechanical or imperial horsepower (about 0.746 kW) and the metric horsepower (about 0.735 kW). For engines the figures vary also depending on what power is measured: to what extent friction in the motor and transmission as well as other factors are included.

One calorie is defined as the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. A human needs about 2,000 or 2,600 kcal i.e. 8,400 or 10,900 kJ a day (woman/man), with everyday activities and walking 2–5 km (1.5–3 mi). The figures vary significantly with age, weight and activity.

• 1 hp = 0.735 kW ≈ 3/4 kW (2% off)

  or 0.746 kW ≈ 3/4 kW (0.5% off)

• 1 kW = 1.360 hp (metric)

  or 1.341 hp (imperial)

• 1 kcal ≈ 4.2 kJ ≈ 4 kJ (<5% off)
• 1 kJ ≈ 0.24 kcal ≈ 1/4 kcal

Metric units

The metric system uses prefixes to indicate a multiple or fraction of a base unit (i.e. metre, gram, litre, etc.). The most common prefixes are listed below.

Miscellaneous

If you prefer not to do any maths at all, there are websites and apps that may be of use. For instance, major weather websites and apps have an option to allow you to display the relevant measures (e.g. temperature, wind speeds) in metric or imperial units. Smartphones have internal apps that help you convert between metric and imperial measurements.

See also

• Clothing sizes
• Wikivoyage:Measurements