Concept

Metrication

Summary
Metrication or metrification is the act or process of converting to the metric system of measurement. All over the world, countries have transitioned from local and traditional units of measurement to the metric system. This process began in France during the 1790s, and is still continuing more than 200 years later, with the modern International System of Units, as the metric system has not been fully adopted in all countries and areas. Today, most countries have the metric system as their official system of measurement. Some have adopted it as their official system but have not yet completed the process of metrication. Some others have not made any commitment to adopting it. There is not a general consensus in the sources as to the number of countries that fall into each of these categories. According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's The World Factbook (2023), the only countries that have not fully adopted the metric system are Myanmar, Liberia, and the United States. According to a paper by Vera, the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Palau, and Samoa have adopted the metric system officially, but have not transitioned in practice. According to a Liberian journalist, Liberia uses U.S. customary units, but is committed to adopting the metric system in the future. The government of Myanmar stated that the country had a metrication goal of completion by 2019, which was not met. Some countries, such as Guyana, adopted the metric system but have had trouble implementing it. Antigua and Barbuda, also officially metric, is moving toward total implementation of the metric system but more slowly than expected. The government had announced that they have plans to convert their country to the metric system by the first quarter of 2015. Other Caribbean countries such as Saint Lucia are officially metric but are still in the process toward full conversion. In the United Kingdom, the metric system is the official system for most regulated trading by weight or measure purposes but some imperial units remain the primary official unit of measurement.
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