A number of
units of measurement
A unit of measurement is a definite 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 quantity of that kind can be expressed as a multi ...
were used in Honduras for length, mass, volume etc. In Honduras, the
metric system
The metric system is a system of measurement that succeeded the decimalised system based on the metre that had been introduced in France in the 1790s. The historical development of these systems culminated in the definition of the Interna ...
was adopted in 1910, and has been compulsory since 1912, under a joint convention between
Costa Rica,
Guatemala,
Honduras,
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
and
El Salvador.
Pre-metric units
Before the introduction of the metric system, a number of modified Spanish (Castilian
), English and local units were used, and continue to be used today by a large part of the country.
Length
A number of units were used to measure length. One vara was equal to 0.836 m.
Some other units are given below:
1 cuarta = vara
1 tercia = vara
1 mecate = 24 varas.
1 legua = 5,000 varas
Area
The
manzana was used by farmers to measure land area. For large areas, land was customarily measured in labors or legua.
1 manzana = 10,000 vara
2 = 1.727 acres = 6,989 m
2 ≈ .7 hectare
1 labor = 1 million vara
2
1 legua = 25 labors = 25 million vara
2
Mass
Several units were used to measure mass in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador. Some units are given below:
1 caja = 16 kg
1
quintal
The quintal or centner is a historical unit of mass in many countries which is usually defined as 100 base units, such as pounds or kilograms. It is a traditional unit of weight in France, Portugal, and Spain and their former colonies. It is com ...
= 100 libras ≈ 46 kg ≈ 101.4 lbs
1 carga = 2 quintals ≈ 200 lbs ≈ 90.72 kg
Volume
Several units were used to measure capacity in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.
1 botella = 0.63 to 0.67 L.
1 cajuela = 16.6 L.
1 cuartillo varies between countries,
but defined as 4 octavillos or 1/4
almude and contains 1.156 L ≈ 1.222 qt(US) (liquid) ≈ 1.017 qt(Imp)
1
fanega = 12 almudes = 48 cuartillos ≈ 55.50 L ≈ 1.960 ft
3 (1.575 U.S. bushels)
Notes
References
{{Systems of measurement
Honduran culture
Honduras