Editing Metrication (section)

==Overview==
The process of metrication is typically initiated and overseen by a country's government, generally motivated by the necessity of establishing a uniform measurement system for effective international cooperation in fields like trade and science. Governments achieve metrication through either mandatory changes to existing units within a specified timeframe or through voluntary adoption.

While metric use is mandatory in some countries and voluntary in others, all countries have recognised and adopted the SI, albeit to different degrees, including the United States. As of 2011, ninety-five percent of the world's population live in countries where the metric system is the only legal system of measurement.<ref name="Vera2011">{{cite thesis |id={{ProQuest|924487292}} |last1=Vera |first1=Hector |date=2012 |title=The Social Life of Measures Metrication in the United States and Mexico, 1789–2004}}</ref>{{rp | at=p. 49, ch 2}}

According to the [[National Institute of Standards and Technology|National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)]], there are only three countries that do not have mandatory metric laws ([[Liberia]], [[Myanmar]], and the [[United States]]),<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2023-08-28 |title=U.S. Metrication Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) |url=https://www.nist.gov/pml/owm/metric-si/us-metrication-frequently-asked-questions-faqs |journal=NIST |language=en |quote=In 1971, the National Bureau of Standards (NBS, now NIST) published the combined reports of the U.S. Metric Study,  which also contained a map depicting a list of countries 'uncommitted' to mandatory metrication (Figure 2). The U.S. and other countries listed were described as 'Islands in a Metric World.' The flaw with this perspective was that the concept didn't recognize that the U.S. had been 'metric' since 1866, when the metric system was first legalized. A few years after the U.S. Metric Study was published, Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act adopting voluntary metrication that was signed into law by President Ford in 1975. Over time, various versions of the map/country list became integrated into even more metrication publications. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Factbook is one of the often cited sources of the U.S./Liberia/Burma metric myth. The first unclassified version of the CIA Factbook was published around the same time the U.S. Metric Study. It's likely that the original list of 'uncommitted' countries was incorporated, then edited as countries adopted mandatory metric laws. Over the years, many web resources have quoted the CIA Factbook, perpetuating the metric myth and elevating the map to a pop culture meme. The U.S. metrication status is best described as a Metric Continuum.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Benham |first=Elizabeth |date=2020-10-06 |title=Busting Myths about the Metric System |url=https://www.nist.gov/blogs/taking-measure/busting-myths-about-metric-system |journal=NIST |language=en}}</ref> however a research paper completed by Vera (2011) stated in practice there were four additional countries, namely the [[Compact of Free Association|United States COFA]] countries ([[Federated States of Micronesia]], [[Marshall Islands]] and [[Palau]]), and [[Samoa]]. 

[[Samoa]] has since mandated metric trade.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Metrology – Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour |url=https://www.mcil.gov.ws/?page_id=5087 |access-date=2024-06-24 |language=en-US |quote=All commercial engagements are to use the metric units.}}</ref><ref name="Vera2011"/>{{rp||pages=60, 494–496}}

In 2018, the Liberian government had pledged to adopt the metric system.<ref name="tlo_20180525">{{Cite web |last=Dopoe |first=Robin |url=https://www.liberianobserver.com/business/govt-pledges-commitment-to-adopt-metric-system/ |title=Gov't Pledges Commitment to Adopt Metric System |publisher=Liberian Observer Corporation |work=The Observer |date=25 May 2018 |access-date=8 December 2018 |archive-date=9 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109004653/https://www.liberianobserver.com/business/govt-pledges-commitment-to-adopt-metric-system/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>  In 2013, the Myanmar Ministry of Commerce announced that Myanmar was preparing to adopt the metric system as the country's official system of measurement, and [[Myanmar units of measurement#Adoption of SI (metric) system|metrication in Myanmar]] began with some progress was made (road signs and temperature are legislated to be in metric), however there had been very little progress in local trade.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kohler|first=Nicholas|date=3 March 2014|title=Metrication in Myanmar|url=http://archive-3.mizzima.com/opinion/features/item/10955-metrication-in-myanmar/10955-metrication-in-myanmar|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818172934/http://archive-3.mizzima.com/opinion/features/item/10955-metrication-in-myanmar/10955-metrication-in-myanmar|archive-date=18 August 2017|access-date=18 August 2021|website=Mizzima}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=10 October 2013|title=Myanmar to Adopt Metric System|work=Eleven|url=http://elevenmyanmar.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3684:myanmar-to-adopt-metric-system&catid=44:national&Itemid=384|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140210092143/http://elevenmyanmar.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3684:myanmar-to-adopt-metric-system&catid=44:national&Itemid=384|archive-date=10 February 2014}}</ref> 

{{As of|2023}}, the United States has a national policy of adopting the metric system based on the [[Metric Conversion Act]] of 1975, amended by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, and Presidential Executive Order 12770 of 1991, and all [[United States government]] agencies are required to adopt it.<ref>{{Cite web |website=NIST |date=5 February 2015 |title=Metric (SI) Program |url=https://www.nist.gov/pml/owm/metric-si |access-date=14 November 2023 |archive-date=28 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128043131/https://www.nist.gov/pml/owm/metric-si |url-status=live }}</ref>

The metrication process can take years to implement and complete: for instance, [[Guyana]] adopted the metric system in 2002 and was only able to make it mandatory in local trade 2017 after the metric system was fully adopted in schools.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Metrification plan to be implemented in all 10 regions – GNBS |url=https://guyanachronicle.com/2017/06/25/metrification-plan-to-be-implemented-in-all-10-regions-gnbs/ |access-date=15 November 2023 |website=Guyana Chronicle|date=25 June 2017 }}</ref> [[Antigua and Barbuda]], also officially metric, is moving slowly in its metrication process, with a new push in 2011 for all government agencies to convert by 2013 and the entire country to use the metric system by the first quarter of 2015.<ref name="anb">{{cite news|title=Finance minister outlines metrication plans, goals and timetable|url=http://www.antiguaobserver.com/finance-minister-outlines-metrication-plans-goals-and-timetable/|access-date=12 November 2011|work=Antigua Observer|date=18 October 2011|archive-date=10 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110163640/http://www.antiguaobserver.com/finance-minister-outlines-metrication-plans-goals-and-timetable/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Other metric [[Caribbean]] countries, such as [[Saint Lucia]] officially metric 2000,  are still in the process toward full conversion.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20050322T200000-0500_77361_OBS_ST_LUCIA_BEGINS_DRIVE_TO_IMPLEMENT_METRIC_SYSTEM_TO_CATCH_UP_WITH_REGION.asp |title=St Lucia begins drive to implement metric system to catch up with region |agency=Associated Press |year=2005 |newspaper=The Jamaica Observer |access-date=5 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018000003/http://jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20050322T200000-0500_77361_OBS_ST_LUCIA_BEGINS_DRIVE_TO_IMPLEMENT_METRIC_SYSTEM_TO_CATCH_UP_WITH_REGION.asp |archive-date = 18 October 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[United Kingdom]] has officially embraced a dual measurement system. The United Kingdom as of 2007 halted [[Metrication in the United Kingdom|its metrication process]], and retain imperial units of the mile and yard in road markings, [[pint]]s for returnable milk containers, and (with Ireland) for the pint for draught beer and cider sold in pubs.<ref name="Weights and measures: the law">{{Cite web |title=Weights and measures: the law |url=https://www.gov.uk/weights-measures-and-packaging-the-law |access-date=2023-11-15 |website=GOV.UK |archive-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030170848/https://www.gov.uk/weights-measures-and-packaging-the-law |url-status=live }}</ref> Throughout the 1990s, the [[European Commission]] helped accelerate the metrication process for member states, for the implemented the [[European units of measurement directives|Units of Measure Directive]] to promote trade. This acceleration caused public backlash in the United Kingdom, and in 2007 the United Kingdom announced that it had secured permanent exemptions listed above and, to appease British public opinion and to facilitate trade with the United States, the option to include imperials units alongside metric units could continue indefinitely.<ref name="Weights and measures: the law"/><ref name="EUGivesUp">{{cite news |date=11 September 2007 |title=EU gives up on 'metric Britain |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6988521.stm |access-date=23 May 2009 |archive-date=17 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217214248/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6988521.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The United Kingdom and the United States face ongoing resistance toward metrication, which may be partially rooted in a belief that their cultural identity is intertwined with the traditional measurement systems they historically have used.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vincent |first=James |date=16 January 2023 |title=The battle of the standards: why the US and UK can't stop fighting the metric system |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/16/23507199/us-uk-anti-metric-sentiment-beyond-measure-james-vincent-excerpt |access-date=15 November 2023 |website=The Verge}}</ref> This has resulted in a review of mandatory sales and trade of metric units by the UK government. The outcome of this review with over 100&nbsp;000 respondents was that a majority had limited or no appetite for increased use of imperial measures.<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 June 2022 |title=Choice on units of measurement: markings and sales |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/choice-on-units-of-measurement-markings-and-sales |access-date=15 November 2023 |website=GOV.UK |archive-date=7 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107040700/https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/choice-on-units-of-measurement-markings-and-sales |url-status=live }}</ref>