Honduran units of measurement


A number of units of measurement were used in Honduras for length, mass, volume etc. In Honduras, the metric system was adopted in 1910, and has been compulsory since 1912, under a joint convention between Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.

Pre-metric units

Before the introduction of the metric system, a number of modified Spanish, 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 0.8128 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 vara2 = 1.727 acres = 6,989 m2 ≈.7 hectare
1 labor = 1 million vara2
1 legua = 25 labors = 25 million vara2

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 = 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 ≈ 1.017 qt
1 fanega = 12 almudes = 48 cuartillos ≈ 55.50 l ≈ 1.960 ft3