The traditional Burmese units of measurement were a
system of measurement
A system of units of measurement, also known as a system of units or system of measurement, is a collection of units of measurement and rules relating them to each other. Systems of measurement have historically been important, regulated and defi ...
used in
Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
.
Myanmar was one of three countries that had not adopted the
International System of Units
The International System of Units, internationally known by the abbreviation SI (from French ), is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. It is the only system of measurement with official s ...
(SI)
metric system
The metric system is a system of measurement that standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...
as their official system of weights and measures according to the 2010 CIA Factbook. However, in June 2011, U Kyaw Htoo from the
Myanmar government
Myanmar ( formerly Burma) () operates ''de jure'' as a unitary assembly-independent republic under its 2008 constitution. On 1 February 2021, Myanmar's military took over the government in a coup, causing ongoing anti-coup protests.
Po ...
's
Ministry of Commerce A ministry of trade and industry, ministry of commerce, ministry of commerce and industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce.
Notable examples are:
List
*Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...
began discussing proposals to reform the measurement system in Burma and adopt the kilogram for domestic trade, reasoning that this would simplify foreign trade which it conducts exclusively in metric; and in October 2013, Pwint San, Deputy Minister for Commerce, announced that the country was preparing to adopt the metric system.
, Myanmar government web pages in English used
imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* Imper ...
and
metric
Metric or metrical may refer to:
Measuring
* Metric system, an internationally adopted decimal system of measurement
* An adjective indicating relation to measurement in general, or a noun describing a specific type of measurement
Mathematics
...
units inconsistently. For instance, the Ministry of Construction used miles to describe the length of roads and square feet for the size of houses,
but square kilometres for the total land area of new town developments in Yangon City.
the Ministry of Agriculture used acres for land areas. the Ministry of Foreign Affairs used kilometres (with mile equivalents in parentheses) to describe the dimensions of the country.
Length
Mass
Volume
Money
Adoption of SI (metric) system

In October 2013, the Ministry of Commerce announced that Myanmar was preparing to adopt the
International System of Units
The International System of Units, internationally known by the abbreviation SI (from French ), is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. It is the only system of measurement with official s ...
(SI) as the country's official system of measurement.
[
Examples of metrication in Myanmar include weather forecasts by the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology being given with temperatures in ]Celsius
The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius temperature scale "Celsius temperature scale, also called centigrade temperature scale, scale based on 0 ° for the melting point of water and 100 ° for the boiling point ...
. Petrol in Myanmar is sold with prices in Burmese kyat
The kyat ( or ; ; ISO 4217 code MMK) is the currency of Myanmar (Burma). The typical notation for the kyat is "K" (singular) and "Ks." (plural), placed before the numerals followed by "/-". Amounts less than K. 1/- are typically denoted w ...
per litre (K/L). Speed limits in Myanmar are given by law in kilometres per hour (km/h).Strict speed limit enforcement begins in Mandalay , The Myanmar Times
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See also
* Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
* Burmese alphabet
The Burmese alphabet (, MLCTS: ''mranma akkha.ya'', ) is an abugida used for writing Burmese, based on the Mon–Burmese script. It is ultimately adapted from a Brahmic script, either the Kadamba or Pallava alphabet of South India. The ...
* Burmese language
Burmese (; ) is a Tibeto-Burman languages, Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Myanmar, where it is the official language, lingua franca, and the native language of the Bamar people, Bamar, the country's largest ethnic group. Burmese dialects are a ...
References
Bibliography
*
{{systems of measurement, sp=oxford
Customary units of measurement
Systems of units
Units Of Measurement
A unit of measurement, or unit of measure, is a definite magnitude (mathematics), magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other qua ...
Economy of Myanmar
Culture of Myanmar
Units of measurement by country