Re: [NTLK] OT Kilometers

From: James Tegart (jtegart_at_earthlink.net)
Date: Sun May 02 2004 - 19:35:39 PDT


Here is the heart of the matter when it comes to metric and imperial
units (taken from the US Metric Association website):

Which other countries, besides the U.S., do not use the metric system?
According to a survey taken several years ago, the only other countries
that have not officially adopted the metric system are Liberia (in
western Africa) and Myanmar (also known as Burma, in southeast Asia).
These two countries did not have an official policy of converting to
metric, at least at the time of the survey. Most other countries have
either used the metric system for many years, or have adopted the metric
system within the last 30 years. Although there is some controversy
about how to define whether a country is metric, the fact remains that
among countries with non-metric usage the U.S. is the only significant
holdout.
Use of the metric system is ever growing, especially linked with the
wider acceptance of global standards which are mostly in metric
measurements. Just as English has become the global language of
commerce, the metric system has become the global language of
measurement. Thus the phrase heard more and more:
"Speak in English, and Measure in Metric."

Jim

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