Long and short scales

The long and short scales are two of several different large-number naming systems used throughout the world for integer powers of ten. Many countries, including most in continental Europe, use the long scale whereas most English-speaking countries use the short scale. In all such countries, the number names are translated into the local language, but retain a name similarity due to shared etymology. Some languages, particularly in East Asia and South Asia, have large number naming systems that are different from the long and short scales.^[1][2]

Long scale is the English translation of the French term échelle longue. It refers to a system of large-number names in which every new term greater than million is 1,000,000 times the previous term: billion means a million millions (10¹²), trillion means a million billions (10¹⁸), and so on.^[1][2]

Short scale is the English translation of the French term échelle courte. It refers to a system of large-number names in which every new term greater than million is 1,000 times the previous term: billion means a thousand millions (10⁹), trillion means a thousand billions (10¹²), and so on.^[1][2]

For integers less than a thousand million (< 10⁹), the two scales are identical. At and above a thousand million (≥ 10⁹), the two scales diverge by using the same words for different number values. These "false friends" can be a source of misunderstanding.

For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, the United Kingdom uniformly used the long scale,^[3] while the United States of America used the short scale,^[3] so that the two systems were often referred to as British and American in the English language. In 1974, the government of the UK switched to the short scale, a change that is reflected in its mass media and official usage.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]} Although some residual usage of the long scale continues in the UK,^[10][11] the phrases British usage and American usage are no longer accurate characterisations. Usage of the two systems can be a subject of controversy. Differences in opinion as to which system should be used can evoke resentment between adherents, while national differences of any kind can acquire jingoistic overtones.^[11]

The first recorded use of the terms échelle courte and échelle longue was by the French mathematician Geneviève Guitel in 1975.^[1][2]

Comparison

The same numerical value has two different names, depending on whether the value is being expressed in the long or short scale. Equivalently, the same name has two different numerical values depending on whether it is being used in the long or short scale.

Each scale has a logical justification to explain the use of each such differing numerical name and value within each scale. The short scale logic is based on powers of one thousand, whereas the long scale logic is based on powers of one million. In both scales, the prefix bi- refers to "2" and tri- refers to "3", etc. However only in the long scale do the prefixes beyond one million indicate the actual power or exponent (of 1,000,000). In the short scale, the prefixes refer to one less than the exponent (of 1,000).

The relationship between the numeric values and the corresponding names in the two scales can be described as:

Value in Scientific notation	Value in numerals	Short Scale		Long Scale
		Name	Logic	Name	Logic
10 0	1	one		one
10 3	1,000	thousand		thousand
10 6	1,000,000	million		million
10 9	1,000,000,000	billion or milliard	1,0002+1	thousand million or milliard
1012	1,000,000,000,000	trillion	1,0003+1	billion	1,000,0002
1015	1,000,000,000,000,000	quadrillion	1,0004+1	thousand billion or billiard
1018	1,000,000,000,000,000,000	quintillion	1,0005+1	trillion	1,000,0003
1021	1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000	sextillion	1,0006+1	thousand trillion or trilliard
1024	1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000	septillion	1,0007+1	quadrillion	1,000,0004
etc.	etc.	To get from one named order of magnitude to the next: multiply by 1,000		To get from one named order of magnitude to the next: multiply by 1,000,000

The root mil in "million" does not refer to the numeral "one". Rather, it refers to the Latin word for "thousand" (milia).

The relationship between the names and the corresponding numeric values in the two scales can be described as:

Name	Short Scale		Long Scale
	Value in Scientific notation	Logic	Value in Scientific notation	Logic
million	106		106
billion	109	1,0002+1	1012	1,000,0002
trillion	1012	1,0003+1	1018	1,000,0003
quadrillion	1015	1,0004+1	1024	1,000,0004
etc.	To get from one named order of magnitude to the next: multiply by 1,000		To get from one named order of magnitude to the next: multiply by 1,000,000

The word milliard, or its translation, is found in many European languages and is used in those languages for 10⁹. However, it is unknown in American English, which uses billion, and not used in British English, which preferred to use thousand million before the current usage of billion. The financial term yard, which derives from milliard, is used on financial markets, as it is unambiguous, unlike billion. Likewise, many long scale countries use the word billiard (or similar) for a thousand long scale billions (i.e. 10¹⁵), and the word trilliard (or similar) for a thousand long scale trillions (i.e. 10²¹), etc.

History

The existence of the different scales means that care must be taken when comparing large numbers between languages or countries, or when interpreting old documents in countries where the dominant scale has changed over time. For example, British-English, French, and Italian historical documents can refer to either the short or long scale, depending on the date of the document, since each of the three countries has used both systems at various times in its history. Today, the United Kingdom officially uses the short scale, but France and Italy use the long scale.

The pre-1974 former British English word billion, post-1961 current French word billion, post-1994 current Italian word bilione, German Billion; Dutch biljoen; Swedish biljon; Finnish biljoona; Danish billion; Spanish billón and the European Portuguese word bilião (with an alternate spelling to the Brazilian Portuguese variant) all refer to 10¹², being long-scale terms. Therefore, each of these words translates to the American English or post-1974 modern British English word: trillion (10¹² in the short scale), and not billion (10⁹ in the short scale).

On the other hand, the pre-1961 former French word billion, pre-1994 former Italian word bilione, Brazilian Portuguese word bilhão and the Welsh word biliwn all refer to 10⁹, being short scale terms. Each of these words translates to the American English or post-1974 modern British English word billion (10⁹ in the short scale).

The terms billion and milliard both originally meant 10¹² when introduced.^[12]

• In long scale countries, milliard was redefined down to its current value of 10⁹, leaving billion at its original 10¹² value and so on for the larger numbers.^[12] Some of these countries, but not all, introduced new words billiard, trilliard, etc. as intermediate terms.^[13][14][15]
• In some short scale countries, milliard was redefined down to 10⁹ and billion dropped altogether, with trillion redefined down to 10¹² and so on for the larger numbers.^[12]
• In many short scale countries, milliard was dropped altogether and billion was redefined down to 10⁹, adjusting downwards the value of trillion and all the larger numbers.

The word million derives from the Old French Milion from the earlier Old Italian milione, an intensification of mille, a thousand. That is, a million is a "big thousand", much as a "great gross" is a dozen gross or 1728 ^[12]

Timeline

Date	Event
1200s	The word million was not used before the 13th century. Maximus Planudes (cir 1260–1305) was among the first recorded users.[12]
late 1300s	The word million entered the English language. One of the earliest references is William Langland's Piers Plowman (written c. 1360-1387),[12] with: Coueyte not his goodes For millions of moneye
1475	French mathematician Jehan Adam recorded the words bymillion and trimillion as meaning 1012 and 1018 respectively.[16] ... item noctes que le premier greton dembas vault ung, le second vault ... cent, le quart vult mille, le Ve vault dix M, le VIe vault cent M, le VIIe vault Milion, Le VIIIe vault dix Million, Le IXe vault cent Millions, Le Xe vault Mill Millions, Le XIe vault dix mill Millions, Le XIIe vault Cent mil Millions, Le XIIIe vault bymillion, Le XIIIIe vault dix bymillions, Le XVe vault mil [sic] bymillions, Le XVIe vault mil bymillions, Le XVIIe vault dix Mil bymillions, Le XVIIIe vault cent mil bymillions, Le XIXe vault trimillion, Le XXe vault dix trimillions ... Translation: ... Item note that the first counter from the bottom is worth one, the 2nd is worth [ten, the 3rd is worth ] one hundred, the 4th is worth one thousand, the 5th is worth ten thousand, the 6th is worth one hundred thousand, the 7th is worth a million, the 8th is worth ten millions, the 9th is worth one hundred millions, the 10th is worth one thousand millions, the 11th is worth ten thousand millions, the 12th is worth one hundred thousand million, the 13th is worth a billion, the 14th is worth ten billions, the 15th is worth one [hundred] billions, the 16th is worth one thousand billions, the 17th is worth ten thousand billions, the 18th is worth hundred thousand billions, the 19th is worth a trimillion, the 20th is worth ten trimillions ...
1484	Extract from Chuquet's original 1484 manuscript French mathematician Nicolas Chuquet, in his article "Le Triparty en la Science des Nombres par Maistre Nicolas Chuquet Parisien",[17][18][19] used the words byllion, tryllion, quadrillion, quyllion, sixlion, septyllion, ottyllion, and nonyllion to refer to 1012, 1018, etc. Chuquet's work was not published until the 1870s, but most of it was copied without attribution by Estienne de La Roche and published in his 1520 book, L'arismetique.[17] ... Item lon doit savoir que ung million vault mille milliers de unitez, et ung byllion vault mille milliers de millions, et [ung] tryllion vault mille milliers de byllions, et ung quadrillion vault mille milliers de tryllions et ainsi des aultres : Et de ce en est pose ung exemple nombre divise et punctoye ainsi que devant est dit, tout lequel nombre monte 745324 tryllions 804300 byllions 700023 millions 654321. Exemple : 745324'8043000'700023'654321 ... [sic] Translation: ...Item: one should know that a million is worth a thousand thousand units, and a byllion is worth a thousand thousand millions, and tryllion is worth a thousand thousand byllions, and a quadrillion is worth a thousand thousand tryllions, and so on for the others. And an example of this follows, a number divided up and punctuated as previously described, the whole number being 745324 tryllions, 804300 byllions 700023 millions 654321. Example: 745324'8043000'700023'654321 ... [sic] The extract from Chuquet's manuscript, the transcription and translation provided here all contain an original mistake: one too many zeros in the 804300 portion of the fully written out example: 745324'8043000 '700023'654321 ..."
1514	French mathematician Budaeus (Guillaume Budé), writing in Latin, used the term milliart to mean "Millions of millions" or 1012 in his book "De Asse et partibus eius Libri quinqz".[20] .. hoc est denas myriadu myriadas, quod vno verbo nostrates abaci studiosi Milliartu appellat, quasi millionu millione Translation: .. this is ten myriad myriads, which in one word our students of numbers call Milliart, as if a million millions
1549	The influential French mathematician Jacques Pelletier du Mans used the name milliard (or milliart), attributing this meaning to the earlier usage by Guillaume Budé[20]
1600s	The traditional six-digit groups were split into three-digit groups. In France and Italy, some scientists then began using billion to mean 109, trillion to mean 1012, etc. This usage formed the origins of the later short scale. The majority of scientists either continued to say thousand million or changed the meaning of the Pelletier term, milliard, from "million of millions" down to "thousand million".[12] This meaning of milliard has been occasionally used in England,[3] but was widely adopted in France, Germany, Italy and the rest of Europe, for those keeping Chuquet's original long scale billion.
1676	The first published use of milliard as 109 occurred in 1676 in Houck's Arithmetic, published in the Netherlands.[12]
Early 1700s	The short-scale meaning of the term billion was brought to the British American colonies
1729	The first American appearance of the short scale value of billion as 109 was published in the Greenwood Book of 1729, written anonymously by Prof. Isaac Greenwood of Harvard College[12]
Early 1800s	France widely converted to the short scale, and was followed by the U.S., which began teaching it in schools. Many French encyclopedias of the 19th century either omitted the long scale system or called it "désormais obsolète", a now obsolete system. Nevertheless, by the mid 20th century France had converted back to the long scale.
1926	H. W. Fowler's A Dictionary of Modern English Usage[3] noted: It should be remembered that "billion" does not mean in American use (which follows the French) what it means in British. For to us it means the second power of a million, i.e. a million millions (1,000,000,000,000); for Americans it means a thousand multiplied by itself twice, or a thousand millions (1,000,000,000), what we call a milliard. Since billion in our sense is useless except to astronomers, it is a pity that we do not conform.
1948	The 9th General Conference on Weights and Measures received a proposal recommending the universal use of the long scale, inviting the short-scale countries to return or convert. The proposal was considered but not adopted.[21]
1960	The 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures adopted the International System of Units (SI), with its own set of numeric prefixes.[22] SI is therefore independent of the number scale being used. SI also notes the language-dependence of some larger-number names and advises against using such ambiguous terms as billion, trillion, etc.[23]
1961	The French Government confirmed their official usage of the long scale in the Journal Officiel (the official French Government gazette).[24]
1974	British prime minister Harold Wilson explained in a written answer to the House of Commons that UK government statistics would from then on use the short scale.[5] Hansard,[4] for the 20 December 1974, reported it: Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop asked the Prime Minister whether he will make it the practice of his administration that when Ministers employ the word 'billion' in any official speeches, documents, or answers to Parliamentary Questions, they will, to avoid confusion, only do so in its British meaning of 1 million million and not in the sense in which it is used in the United States of America, which uses the term 'billion' to mean 1,000 million. The Prime Minister: No. The word 'billion' is now used internationally to mean 1,000 million and it would be confusing if British Ministers were to use it in any other sense. I accept that it could still be interpreted in this country as 1 million million and I shall ask my colleagues to ensure that, if they do use it, there should be no ambiguity as to its meaning. During the last quarter of the 20th century, most other English-speaking countries (Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, etc.) either followed this lead or independently switched to the short scale use. However, in most of these countries, some limited long scale use persists and the official status of the short scale use is not clear.
1975	French mathematician Geneviève Guitel introduced the terms échelle longue (long scale) and échelle courte (short scale) to refer to the two numbering systems.[1][2]
1994	The Italian Government confirmed their official usage of the long scale.[15]

Current usage

Short scale countries and regions

English language-speaking countries and regions ^{[shortscale note 1]}

10⁶ = one million, 10⁹ = one billion, 10¹² = one trillion, etc.

Most English-language countries use the short scale with 10⁹ = billion. For example:

 Australia ^{[shortscale note 2]}

 Belize

 Gibraltar

 Guyana

 Hong Kong   (English-speaking)

 Ireland   (English-speaking, Irish: billiún trilliún)

 Malta   (English-speaking, Maltese: biljun, triljun)

 Malaysia

 New Zealand

 Philippines   (English-speaking) ^{[shortscale note 3]}

 Singapore   (English-speaking)

 United Kingdom   (see Wales below) ^{[shortscale note 4]}

 United States ^{[shortscale note 5]}

 Zimbabwe   (English-speaking)^[28]

Other short scale countries and regions

10⁶ = one million, 10⁹ = one milliard / billion, 10¹² = one trillion, etc.

Other countries also use a word similar to trillion to mean 10¹², etc. While a few of these countries use a word similar to billion to mean 10⁹, most have kept a traditional long scale word similar to "milliard" for 10⁹. Some examples of short scale use, and the words used for 10⁹ and 10¹², are:

 Albania   (miliard, trilion)

 Armenia   ( միլիարդ , տրիլիոն )

 Belarus   ( мільярд milyard, трыльён trilyon)

 Brazil   (Brazilian Portuguese: bilhão, trilhão)

 Bulgaria   (милиард miliard, трилион trilion)

 Cyprus   (Greek: δισεκατομμύριο disekatommyrio, τρισεκατομμύριο trisekatommyrio, Turkish: milyar, trilyon)

 Estonia   (miljard, triljon)^[29][30]

 Georgia   ( მილიარდი , ტრილიონი )

 Indonesia   (miliar, triliun)  ^{[shortscale note 6]}

 Iran   (Persian: میلیارد milyard or بیلیون billion, تریلیون trillion)^[32][33][34]

 Israel   (Hebrew: מיליארד millyard, טריליון trillyon)

 Latvia   (miljards, triljons)

 Lithuania   (milijardas, trilijonas)

 Myanmar   (ဘီလျံ, IPA: [bìljàɴ]; ထရီလျံ, [tʰəɹìljàɴ])^[35]

 Russia   (миллиард milliard, триллион trillion)

 Saudi Arabia   (Arabic: مليار billion, تريليون trillion)

 Turkey   (milyar, trilyon)

 Ukraine   (мільярд milliard, трильйон trillion)

 Wales   (biliwn, triliwn)

Short scale use but with other terminology

 Greece (εκατομμύριο ekatommyrio "hundred-myriad" = 10⁶; δισεκατομμύριο disekatommyrio "bi+hundred-myriad" = 10⁹; τρισεκατομμύριο trisekatommyrio "tri+hundred-myriad" = 10¹²; τετράκις εκατομμύριο tetrakis ekatommyrio "quadri+hundred-myriad" = 10¹⁵, and so on.)^[36]

Long scale countries and languages

10⁶ = one million, 10⁹ = one milliard / thousand million, 10¹² = one billion, 10¹⁵ = one billiard / thousand billion, 10¹⁸ = one trillion, etc.

The traditional long scale is used by most Continental European countries and by most other countries whose languages derive from Continental Europe (with the notable exceptions of Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Brazil). These countries use a word similar to billion to mean 10¹². Some use a word similar to milliard to mean 10⁹, while others use something equivalent to thousand millions. Some examples of long scale use, and the words used for 10⁹ and 10¹², are:

 Andorra   (Catalan: miliard or typ. mil milions, bilió)

 Argentina   (Spanish: mil millones, billón)

 Austria   (Austrian German: Milliarde, Billion)

 Belgium   (Belgian French: milliard, billion; Flemish: miljard, biljoen; German: Milliarde, Billion)

 Bolivia   (Spanish: mil millones, billón)

 Bosnia and Herzegovina   (Bosnian: milijarda, bilion; Croatian: milijarda, bilijun, Serbian: милијарда milijarda, Билион bilion)

 Chile   (Spanish: mil millones, billón)

 Colombia   (Spanish: mil millones, billón)

 Costa Rica   (Spanish: mil millones, billón)

 Croatia   (milijarda, bilijun)

 Cuba   (Spanish: mil millones, billón)

 Czech Republic   (miliarda, bilion)

 Denmark   (milliard, billion)

 Dominican Republic   (Spanish: mil millones, billón)

 Ecuador   (Spanish: mil millones, billón)

 El Salvador   (Spanish: mil millones, billón)

 Finland   (Finnish: miljardi, biljoona; Swedish: miljard, biljon)

 France   (milliard, billion) ^{[longscale note 1]}

 Germany   (Milliarde, Billion)^[39][40]

 Guatemala   (Spanish: millardo, billón)

 Honduras   (Spanish: millardo, billón)

 Hungary   (milliárd, billió or ezer milliárd)

 Iceland   (milljarður, billjón)

 Italy   (miliardo, bilione) ^{[longscale note 2]}

 Liechtenstein   (German: Milliarde, Billion)

 Luxembourg   (Luxembourgish: milliard, billioun; French: milliard, billion; German: Milliarde, Billion)

 Macau   (Portuguese: mil milhões or milhar de milhões, bilião)

 Macedonia   (милијарда milijarda, Билион bilion)

 Mexico   (Spanish: mil millones or millardo, billón)

 Monaco   (French: milliard, billion)

 Netherlands   (miljard, biljoen)^[42][43]

 Nicaragua   (Spanish: mil millones or milliardo, billón)

 Norway   (milliard, billion)

 Panama   (Spanish: mil millones or millardo, billón)

 Paraguay   (Spanish: mil millones, billón)

 Peru   (Spanish: mil millones, billón)

 Poland   (miliard, bilion)

 Portugal   (mil milhões or milhar de milhões, bilião)

 Romania   (miliard, bilion) ^{[longscale note 3]}

 Serbia   (милијарда milijarda, Билион bilion)

 Slovakia   (miliarda, bilión)

 Slovenia   (milijarda, bilijon)

 Spain   (millardo or typ. mil millones, billón) ^{[longscale note 4]}

 Suriname   (Dutch: miljard, biljoen)

 Sweden   (miljard, biljon)

 Switzerland   (French: milliard, billion; German: Milliarde, Billion; Italian: miliardo, bilione, Romansh: milliarda, billiun^[46])

 Uruguay   (Spanish: mil millones or millardo, billón)

 Venezuela   (Spanish: mil millones or millardo, billón)

Esperanto language   (miliardo, duiliono) ^{[longscale note 5]}

Both long and short scale countries

Some countries use either the Short or Long scales, depending on the internal language being used or the context.

10⁶ = one million, 10⁹ = EITHER one billion (Short Scale) OR one milliard / thousand million (Long Scale), 10¹² = EITHER one trillion (Short Scale) OR one billion (Long Scale), etc.

Country or Territory	Short scale usage	Long scale usage
Canada [shortscale longscale note 1]	Canadian English   (billion = 109, trillion = 1012)	Canadian French   (milliard = 109, billion = 1012).
Puerto Rico	economic & technical (billón = 109, trillón = 1012)	Latin American export publications (millardo or mil millones = 109, billón = 1012)
South Africa [shortscale longscale note 2]	South African English   (billion = 109, trillion = 1012)	Afrikaans   (miljard = 109, biljoen = 1012)

Neither short nor long scale countries

The following countries have their own numbering systems and use neither short nor long scales:

Country	Main article	Notes
Bangladesh,    India,    Nepal,    Pakistan	Indian numerals	For everyday use, but short or long scale may also be in use [other scale note 1]
China (People's Republic),    Taiwan (Republic of China),  Japan,  North Korea,    South Korea	Chinese numerals, Japanese numerals, Korean numerals	All use a traditional myriad system for the larger numbers; special words and symbols up to 1088.

Presence on most continents

The long and short scales are both present on all continents, with usage dependent on the language used. Examples include:

Continent	Short scale usage	Long scale usage
Africa	South African English	Afrikaans
North America	American English, Canadian English	American Spanish, Canadian French
South America	Brazilian Portuguese, English (Guyana)	American Spanish, Dutch (Suriname), French (French Guiana)
Antarctica	Australian English, British English, New Zealand English	American Spanish (Argentina, Chile), French (France), Norwegian (Norway)
Asia	Burmese (Myanmar), Hebrew (Israel), Indonesian, Malaysian English, Persian (Iran), Philippine English,	Portuguese (Macau)
Europe	British English, Hiberno-English, Scottish English, Welsh English, Welsh, Bulgarian, Estonian, Greek, Latvian, Lithuanian, Turkish, Ukrainian	Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and most other languages of continental Europe
Oceania	Australian English, New Zealand English	French (French Polynesia)

Alternative approaches

Unambiguous ways of identifying large numbers include:

• In written communications, the simplest solution for moderately large numbers is simply to write the full amount, for example 1,000,000,000,000 rather than, say, 1 trillion (short scale) or 1 billion (long scale).
• Combinations of the unambiguous word million, for example: 10⁹ = "one thousand million"; 10¹² = "one million million". This becomes rather unwieldy for numbers above 10¹².
• Combination of numbers of more than 3 digits with the unambiguous word million, for example 13,600 million ^[50]
• Scientific notation (also known as standard form or exponential notation, for example 1×10⁹, 1×10¹⁰, 1×10¹¹, 1×10¹², etc.), or its engineering notation variant (for example 1×10⁹, 10×10⁹, 100×10⁹, 1×10¹², etc.), or the computing variant E notation (for example 1e9, 1e10, 1e11, 1e12, etc.) This is the most common practice among scientists and mathematicians, and is both unambiguous and convenient.
• SI prefixes in combination with SI units, for example, giga for 10⁹ and tera for 10¹² can give Gigawatt (=10⁹ W) and Terawatt (=10¹² W), respectively. The International System of Units (SI) is independent of whichever scale is being used.^[22] Use with non-SI units (e.g. "giga-dollars", "giga-miles") is uncommon.

Notes on current usage

Short scale

1. ^ English language countries: Apart from the United States, the long scale was used for centuries in many English language countries before being superseded in recent times by short scale usage. Because of this history, some long scale use persists and the official status of the short scale in anglophone countries other than the UK and US is sometimes obscure.
2. ^ Australian usage: In Australia, education, media outlets, and literature all use the short scale in line with other English-speaking countries. The current recommendation by the Australian Government Department of Finance and Deregulation (formerly known as AusInfo), and the legal definition, is the short scale.^[25] As recently as 1999, the same department did not consider short scale to be standard, but only used it occasionally. Some documents use the term thousand million for 10⁹ in cases where two amounts are being compared using a common unit of one 'million'.
3. ^ Filipino usage: Some short-scale words have been adopted into Filipino.
4. ^ British usage: Billion has meant 10⁹ in most sectors of official published writing for many years now. The UK government, the BBC, and most other broadcast or published mass media, have used the short scale in all contexts since the mid-1970s.^[4][5][6][7]
   Before the widespread use of billion for 10⁹, UK usage generally referred to thousand million rather than milliard.^[8] The long scale term milliard, for 10⁹, is obsolete in British English, though its derivative, yard, is still used as slang in the London money, foreign exchange, and bond markets.
5. ^ American usage: In the United States of America, the short scale has been taught in school since the early 19th century. It is therefore used exclusively.^[26][27]
6. ^ Indonesian usage: Large numbers are common in Indonesia, in part because its currency (rupiah) is generally expressed in large numbers (the lowest common circulating denomination is Rp100 with Rp1000 is considered as base unit). The term juta, equivalent to million (10⁶), is generally common in daily life. Indonesia officially employs the term miliar (derived from the long scale Dutch word miljard) for the number 10⁹, with no exception. For 10¹² and greater, Indonesia follows the short scale, thus 10¹² is named triliun. The term seribu miliar (a thousand milliards) or more rarely sejuta juta (a million millions) are also used for 10¹² less often. Terms greater than triliun are not very familiar to Indonesians.^[31]

Long scale

1. ^ French usage: France, with Italy, was one of two European countries which converted from the long scale to the short scale during the 19th century, but returned to the original long scale during the 20th century. In 1961, the French Government confirmed their long scale status.^[24][37][38]
2. ^ Italian usage: Italy, with France, was one of the two European countries which partially converted from the long scale to the short scale during the 19th century, but returned to the original long scale in the 20th century. In 1994, the Italian Government confirmed its long scale status.^[15]
   In Italian, the word bilione officially means 10¹², trilione means 10¹⁸, etc.. Colloquially, bilione^[41] can mean both 10⁹ and 10¹²; trilione^{[citation needed]} can mean both 10¹² and (rarer) 10¹⁸ and so on. Therefore, in order to avoid ambiguity, they are seldom used. Forms such as miliardo (milliard) for 10⁹, mille miliardi (a thousand milliards) for 10¹², un milione di miliardi (a million milliards) for 10¹⁵, un miliardo di miliardi (a milliard of milliards) for 10¹⁸, mille miliardi di miliardi (a thousand milliard of milliards) for 10²¹ are more common.^[15]
3. ^ Romanian usage: Up to 10¹², Romania uses a standard long scale: milion = 10⁶; miliard = 10⁹; bilion = 10¹² (long scale). For higher values, this pattern does not continue, and the official status of either scale is far from clear.
4. ^ Spanish usage: Spanish-speaking countries sometimes use millardo (milliard)^[44] for 10⁹, but mil millones (thousand millions) is used more frequently. The word billón is sometimes incorrectly used in the short scale sense in those countries more influenced by the United States, but this is considered unacceptable.^[45]
5. ^ Esperanto language usage: The Esperanto language words biliono, triliono etc. used to be ambiguous, and both long or short scale were used and presented in dictionaries. The current edition of the main Esperanto dictionary PIV however recommends the long scale meanings, as does the grammar PMEG.^[47] Ambiguity may be avoided by the use of the unofficial but generally-recognised suffix -iliono, whose function is analogous to the long scale, i.e. it is appended to a (single) numeral indicating the power of a million, e.g. duiliono (from du meaning "two") = biliono = 10¹², triiliono = triliono = 10¹⁸, etc. following the 1×10^6X long scale convention. Miliardo is an unambiguous term for 10⁹, and generally the suffix -iliardo, for values 1×10^6X+3, for example triliardo = 10²¹ and so forth.

Both long and short scale

1. ^ Canadian usage: Both scales are in use currently in Canada. English-speaking regions use the short scale exclusively, while French-speaking regions use the long scale.^[48]
2. ^ South African usage: South Africa uses both the long scale (in Afrikaans and sometimes English) and the short scale (in English). Unlike the 1974 UK switch, the switch from long scale to short scale took time with most English publications now (2011) using the short scale. Some Afrikaans publications briefly attempted usage of the "American System" but that has led to comment in the papers^{[citation needed]} and has been disparaged by the "Taalkommissie" (The Afrikaans Language Commission of the South African Academy of Science and Art)^{[citation needed]} and has thus, to most appearances, been abandoned.

Neither long nor short scale

1. ^ Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi usage: Outside of financial media, the use of billion by Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani English speakers highly depends on their educational background. Some may continue to use the traditional British long scale. In everyday life, Bangladeshis, Indians and Pakistanis largely use their own common number system, commonly referred to as the Indian numbering system – for instance, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and Indian English commonly use the words lakh to denote 100 thousand, crore to denote ten million (i.e. 100 lakhs) and arab to denote thousand million.^[49]

See also

• Googol (number)
• Googolplex (number)
• Names of large numbers
• Names of small numbers
• Orders of magnitude (numbers)

External links

• BBC News article: "Is trillion the new billion?"

References

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2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Guitel, Geneviève (1975) (in French). Histoire comparée des numérations écrites. Paris: Flammarion. pp. 566–574 Chapter: "Les grands nombres en numération parlée (État actuel de la question)", i.e. "The large numbers in oral numeration (Present state of the question)" . ISBN 978-2082111041. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Fowler, H. W. (1926). A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. Great Britain: Oxford University Press. pp. 52–53. ISBN 978-0198605065. http://books.google.com/books?id=Vr7muDFR6j4C&q=billion#v=snippet&q=billion&f=false. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} ""BILLION" (DEFINITION) – HC Deb 20 December 1974 vol 883 cc711W-712W". Hansard Written Answers. Hansard. 1974-12-20. http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1974/dec/20/billion-definition#S5CV0883P0_19741220_CWA_439. Retrieved 2009-04-02. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} O'Donnell, Frank (30 July 2004). "Britain's £1 trillion debt mountain – How many zeros is that?". The Scotsman. http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Britains-1-trillion-debt-mountain.2550147.jp. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
6. ^ ^{a b} "BBC News: Who wants to be a trillionaire?". BBC. 7 May 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/more_or_less/6625545.stm. Retrieved 2010-05-11. 
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