Does the World, Except for the US, Use the Metric System?
The metric system is one of the world’s most popular measuring systems. It is used in most countries in the world, with the large exception of the United States. Even in the U.S., however, scientific measurements are expressed in terms of the metric system. The metric system itself was developed in France in 1791. It took a few years to catch on and be approved by the French government in 1799. Those were the years of the Napoleonic Wars, and the government had other matters it considered more pressing. The metric system was eventually approved for general use in France and then gradually spread to other countries. It nearly became the official measuring system of the U.S. as well. The United States, however, kept its allegiance to the old English measuring system, even when Britain embraced the metric system. Only two other countries in the world, Liberia and Myanmar, still embrace the “English” measuring system. Shipments to and from these countries that involve transferal of goods t
