United States customary units are a system of measurements commonly used in the United States. Many U.S. units are virtually identical to their imperial counterparts, but the U.S. customary system developed from English units used in the British Empire before the system of imperial units was standardized in 1824. Several numerical differences from the imperial system are present.
The vast majority of U.S. customary units have been defined in terms of the meter and the kilogram since the Mendenhall Order of 1893 (and, in practice, for many years before that date). These definitions were refined by the international yard and pound agreement of 1959.
According to the CIA Factbook, the United States is one of three countries (the others being Liberia and Burma/Myanmar) that has not adopted the International System of Units (SI) metric system as their official system of weights and measures. The U.S. does not primarily use SI units in its commercial activities, although they are standard in science, medicine, and government (including the U.S. Armed Forces), as well as many sectors of industry.
Read more about United States Customary Units: History, Units of Length, Units of Area, Units of Capacity and Volume, Units of Mass, Cooking Measures, Units of Temperature, Other Units, Other Names For U.S. Customary Units
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