Ornato Y Limpieza Publica

Brief history: in May 1910 most of Central America adopted a common system of measurements, and in May 1921 Guatemala became officially metric. Therefore, all road distances are in km; Guatemalan specific is that ALL roads have their distances measured from a spot that is located in the entrance of former presidential palace, now called National palace.

Conclusion

The Guatemalans use the metric system, but also some traditional units of measurement that come from Spain and influence from US English units.

Among the Guatemalan units of measurement some are based on old Spanish units; they include the vara and cuadra linear measurements; the vara cuadrada, the manzana and the cuerda units of area; and the libra, arroba, quintal and garrafón units of weight and volume.

The vara cuadrada or square vara is commonly used in land transactions in Guatemala and 10,000 square varas equal one manzana. One square vara equals 0.6987 square metres (7.521 sq ft), while one manzana equals 6,987 square metres (1.727 acres). A Spanish pound (libra) is 460 grams.

Some United States customary units are also used. These include inches, feet, miles, gallons, pounds and ounces. In shops can find mixture of almost all measures, and you have to be careful when estimating relation between price and amount that you get.

Guatemalans use also measures like spoons and cups.

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