A number of

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 ...

have been used in

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

to measure length, mass, area, capacity, and other such quantities. In 1950, Somalia adopted the

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 ...

, which has been compulsory there since 1972.

System before metric system

A number of units were used. These units were local and varied with materials and provinces.

Length

Several units were used to measure length. One top was equal to 3.92 m. One cubito was equal to 1/7 top.

Mass

A number of units were used to measure mass. One rottolo (pound) was equal to 0.448 kg. Some other units are given below: 1 okia (ounce) = rottolo 1 frasla = 36 rottolo 1 gisla = 360 rottolo.

Area

One darat was equal to 8000 m².

Capacity

Two main systems, dry and liquid, were used.

Dry

Several units were used to measure dry capacity. One chela was equal to 1.359 L. Some other units were given below: 1 tabla = 15 chela 1 gisla = 120 chela.

Liquid

One caba was equal to 0.453 L.

References

{{Systems of measurement Culture of Somalia