It may be mildly interesting, but does it really matter what small countries aren't metric? Does that count really "justify" the US position? If we just focus on economically powerful countries, we can look at OECD or G20 countries. These countries dominate world trade to the degree that the others basically round to zero.
On such a list, nobody is completely non-metric, but the US is least so. A certain percentage of the UK wishes they could be as non-metric as the US (but they really aren't). The issue with roads (and beer) probably makes them second lowest. Canada has a few issues with non-metrication as a result of being next door, and is probably third. Everybody else really is pretty near 100%, and well removed from the bottom three. For the bottom three, finishing the job is frankly more important than time wasted on exact percentage of non-conformance. ________________________________ From: "Anthony O'conner" <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Thu, July 8, 2010 5:00:26 PM Subject: [USMA:48111] Re: S.Leone goes metric after 49 years Here is some more information from a 1975 article: http://www.airpower.au.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1975/mar-apr/fraser.html In Let's Go Metric Mr. Frank Donovan says: By 1971 all but fifteen countries in the world were using the metric system or were in the process of converting to it or were studying how they would convert to it. The only non-metric countries were Barbados, Burma, Gambia, Ghana," Jamaica, Liberia, Muscat, Oman, Naura, Sierra Leone, Southern Yemen, Tonga, Trinidad, and of course, the United States. All of the non-metric partners of the United States in an otherwise all metric world are small islands or backward or emerging countries. More than 95 percent of the people of the world measure by the metric system or are learning how to. Most of those who do not are in the United States.1 (pp. 31-32)I would suspect that the most of these countries have converted to some degree but may still have remnant old units still clinging to life. I've been to Oman (Muscat is its capital and is not a separate country). Everything I saw was metric. I was in a modern supermarket and took an extensive look att he prepackaged goods. All metric only labels, even US brand names. Deli foods were in kilograms, weather in degrees Celsius, petrol in litres. Southern Yemen no longer exists. It was merged with North Yemen in 1990. It is not mentioned in the USMA graph: http://lamar.colostate.edu/%7Ehillger/internat.htm The USMA also admits (thus US, Burma & Liberia are not the only three): The main points to be garnered from the chart (above) are: 1. Only a few small countries, including some un-listed Caribbean nations heavily influenced by the U.S., have not formally adopted the use of SI. 2. Among countries not claiming to be metric, the U.S. is the only significant holdout. Only Jamaica is said to have converted (1998). The chart is incomplete but how incomplete I can't say. Maybe someone from the USMA can and also give us a status report on the countries mentioned by Mr. Frank Donovan in 1975. Hope this helps further. ________________________________ From: Howard Ressel <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Thu, July 8, 2010 9:23:00 AM Subject: [USMA:48091] Re: S.Leone goes metric after 49 years Hmm I always thought there were three non metric countries, now that Sierra Leone has gone metric, its back to three or is it? How many others are out there that are not metric that we don't know about. -- "Go for a Metric America" Howard Ressel Project Design Engineer, Region 4 (585) 272-3372 >>> On 7/7/2010 at 12:56 PM, in message <[email protected]>, "Anthony O'conner" <[email protected]> wrote: > I don't know if anyone came across this, but it seems like another country > is > giving up on British imperial. It seems people in Sierra Leone > associate imperial measurements with cheating. > > I wonder Sierra Leone's move will encourage Liberia to do the same. > > Does anyone know when Sierra Leone will begin to convert things like petrol > > pumps and grocery store scales, Weather reporting, etc? > > > Does anyone know what is already metric in Sierra Leone? > > > http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100611/wl_africa_afp/sleonelawparliamentmeasur > ement_20100611174708 > > > > S.Leone goes metric after 49 years > > > Friday, 2010-06-11, 13:47 ET > > > FREETOWN (AFP) * Sierra Leone's parliament has passed a law adopting the > metric > system of measurement after 49 years using the British imperial system, > Trade > and Industry Minister David Carew told reporters Friday. > > "The law modifies the weight and measures act of 1961 under which the > imperial > unit of measurement had been used and now adopts the universally accepted > metric system," he said. > > "The law will enable us to get the correct measurement of foodstuffs and > other > commodities since measurement terminologies like pound and mile have been > replaced with kilometres and kilograms." > > Many housewives, like Hawanatu Silla, welcomed the new law. > "It will help to reduce cheating by market women and butchers who had used > the > pound measurement to defraud customers buying meat, cups of rice and other > consumables." > The law stipulated fines ranging from 300 to 6,000 dollars for defaulters > including trade inspectors who cheat while using the metric system. > > Sierra Leone is the sole member of the three-nation economic organisation, > the > Mano River Union (MRU) which comprises Guinea and Liberia, that maintained > the > use of the imperial system of measurement, officials said. > > The metric system is the world's most common method of measuring units > although > is still not fully used by some countries, notably the United States. > > > >
