| Country | Date signed Treaty of Meter | Date of law, decree, etc. | Use permitted, effective date | Use compulsory, effective date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | 19 April 1951 | |||
| Algeria | — | 1843 | ||
| Argentina | 1877 | 1863 | 1 January 1887 | |
| Australia | 1947 | |||
| Austria | 1875 | Article 5 of the law of 23 July 1871. For land measures, ¶22 of the law of 12 July 1898. | 1 January 1873 | 1 January 1876. For land, 1898. |
| Bangladesh | July 1982 | July 1982 | ||
| Belgian Congo | 17 August 1910 | |||
| Belgium | 1875 | 1 January 1820, at first with older units revalued [1836?] | ||
| Bolivia | 1871 | 1893 | ||
| Brazil | 1921 | 26 June 1862 [1872, compulsory?] | ||
| Bulgaria | 1911 | 1 January 1892 | ||
| Burma | 1920 | |||
| Cambodia | 1914 | |||
| Cameroon | 1970 | |||
| Canada | 1907 | 1871 | ||
| Chile | 1908 | 1848 [1865?] | ||
| China | 1977 | 1903 | ||
| 29 August 1908 | ||||
| 1929, wholesale trade, official transactions; | ||||
| 1959 | ||||
| Cochin China | 1911 | |||
| Colombia | 1854 [> 7?}, compulsory; another says 1853 | |||
| Costa Rica | by convention with Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Salvador | 1855 | 1 January 1912. | |
| Croatia | 2008 | |||
| Cuba | 1858; others say 17 July 1849 | |||
| Cyprus | 1986 | |||
| Czech Republic | 1922 | |||
| Czechoslovakia | 1876 | |||
| Denmark | 1875 | 1 April 1910 | 1 April 1912 | |
| Dom. Republic | 1954 | August 1, 1913 | ||
| Ecuador | 1865 | |||
| Egypt | 1962 | 1873 | Compulsory for gov’t use, 1891. legal, 1976; 1951,feddan retained. | |
| El Salvador | 1 January 1886 | |||
| Eritrea | ||||
| Ethiopia | 1963, compulsory | |||
| Finland | 1923 | [?1886] | 1887 | 1 January 1892 |
| France | 1875 | |||
| Germany | 1875 | 1 January 1872 | ||
| Great Britain | 1884 | 1864 | See UK. | |
| Greece | 2001 | 28 September 1836 | 1836 | 1922 [introduced 1898; compulsory since 1959] |
| Guatemala | by convention with Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Salvador | 1 January 1912 | ||
| Guinea | 1910 | |||
| Haiti | 1921 | |||
| Honduras | April 1, 1897 Statesman’s Yearbook>/1912 UN1966 | |||
| by convention with Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Salvador | 1 January 1912 | |||
| Hungary | 1875 (as Austria-Hungary); 1925 (as Hungary) | 1 January 1876 | ||
| Iceland | 1907 [30 December 1909, compulsory] | |||
| India | 1957 | 1920,1947 | April 1963 | |
| Indonesia | 1960 | 1949 | ||
| Iran | 1975 | 8 January 1933 | ||
| Iraq | ||||
| Ireland | 1925 | 1864 | December 31, 1994 | |
| Israel | 1985 | 1928 (from Palestine) | ||
| Italy | 1875 | Adopted as early as 1803 in Milan. | 26 July 1861 | |
| Japan | 1885 | 1 January 1893 | March 1921 | |
| Jordan | 1953 | |||
| Kazakhstan | 2008 | |||
| Kenya | 2010 | |||
| Latvia | 1920 | |||
| Lebanon | 22 August 1935. | |||
| Lithuania | 1920 | |||
| Luxembourg | 1 January 1820 | |||
| Malaysia | 2001 | |||
| Malta | 1921, compulsory only for customs ICT says 1914 | |||
| Mauritius | 1878 (some say 1876) | |||
| Mexico | 1890 | 1857 | [1862] compulsory after 16 September 1896 | |
| Netherlands | 1929 | — | 1 January 1820 | |
| Netherlands Antilles | 1 July 1876 | |||
| Nicaragua | 7 January 1893 | |||
| by convention with Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Salvador | 1 January 1912 | |||
| Nigeria | 1962 | |||
| Northern Ireland | 1864 | |||
| North Korea | 1982 | |||
| Norway | 1875 | 1879 | 1 July 1882 | |
| Pakistan | 1973 | |||
| Paraguay | 4 July 1899 | 1 January 1901 | ||
| Persia | ||||
| Peru | 1875 | 10 March 1869 | ||
| Phillipines | 1860 [1869, general use since 1916] | |||
| Poland | 1925 | 1919 | ||
| Portugal | 1876 | 14 December 1852 | [introduced 1860–63;] compulsory 1872 others say 1 January 1870 | |
| Portuguese colonies | 25 September 1905 | |||
| Puerto Rico | 1864; 18 March 1899 | 1 Jan 1888; 1860 | ||
| Romania | 1884 | 1 January 1884 | ||
| Russia | 1875 | 1 January 1900 | ||
| Salvador | by convention with Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua | 1 January 1912 | ||
| Saudi Arabia | 2011 | 3 December 1964 | ||
| Serbia | 1879; 2011 | 1863 others say 1 Jan 1883 | ||
| Siam | 1912 | |||
| Singapore | 1994 | 1971 | ||
| Slovakia | 1922 | |||
| South Africa | 1964 | |||
| South Korea | 1959 | |||
| Spain | 1875 | 19 July 1849 | 1 January 1859, in some areas, 1853 | |
| Sweden | 1875 | 1878 | 1883 | |
| Switzerland | 1875 | 1835 | 1837: 12 cantons base traditional units on metric. | |
| 1 January 1877, (some say 1873) | ||||
| Syria | 22 August 1935 | |||
| Thailand | 1912 | 17 December 1947, compulsory but others say 1923 | ||
| Tunisia | 2012 | |||
| Turkey | 1875 | 1881 | 1882, enforced only for grain | |
| 26 March 1931 | ||||
| Union of Soviet Socialist Republics | 1918, Soviet Russia; 1 January 1927 | |||
| United Arab Republic | 1961 | |||
| United Kingdom | 1884 | 1896: Weights and Measures (Metric System) Act | 1896 | Weights and Measures Act 1986 removes from statutes the furlong, chain, rood, square mile, cubic yard, cubic foot, cubic inch, bushel, peck, fluid drachm, minim, grain, pennyweight, stone, hundredweight, cental, quintal, dram, apothecaries ounce, drachm, scruple and metric ton. |
| 1973: UK joins EEC, has 5 years to metrify | 1 Oct 1995: inch, foot, yard, fathom, mile, fluid ounce, gill, pint, quart, gallon, therm, acre, troy ounce, avoirdupois ounce and pound abandoned. 1995: metric required on packaged goods | |||
| 1978: first compulsory orders | 2000: metric required for goods sold loose | |||
as of 1 Jan 2000, the only remaining imperial units are,
| ||||
| United States of America | 1875 | 1866: legal for trade. 1893: traditional units based on metric prototypes. | ||
| Uruguay | 1908 | 1864 | 2 October 1894 [1962?] | |
| Venezuela | 1879 | 1857 | ||
| Vietnam | late 18th c | |||
| Yugoslavia | 1883. 1919 |
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