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:Short scale is the " means "a thousand millions" (109), " Trillion " means "a thousand billions" (1012), and so on. :Long scale is the English translation of the French term ''échelle longue''. It refers to a system of numeric names in which every new term is '''''1 000 000 times''''' greater than the previous term: " Billion " means "a million millions" (1012), " Trillion " means "a million billions" (1018), and so on. Note that the difference between the two scales grows as numbers get larger. The long-scale billion is a ''thousand'' times larger than the short-scale billion, but the long-scale trillion is a ''million'' times larger than the short-scale trillion, and so on. For most of the 19th and 20th Centuries , the United Kingdom uniformly used the long scale, while the United States Of America used the short scale, so that the two systems were often referred to as "British" and "American" usage respectively. Today, the UK uses the short scale exclusively in official and Mass Media usage and, although some long-scale usage still continues, the terms "British" and "American" no longer reflect usage. COMPARISON For a more extensive table, see Names Of Large Numbers . Since ''bi'' refers to 2 and ''tri'' refers to 3, the logic in the names is:
::To get from one named order of magnitude to the next, multiply by a thousand.
::To get from one named order of magnitude to the next, multiply by a million. In other words, a billion (bi / two) has twice as many zeros as a million, and a trillion (tri / three) has three times as many zeros as a million, etc. The old word " Milliard ", also found in many other languages, can be used for 109 but is unknown in American English and not used in British English - however, 'Yard', which derives from 'milliard', is used on financial markets, as unlike 'billion', it is unambiguous. HISTORICAL AND LANGUAGE CONTEXT The existence of the different scales means that care must be taken when comparing large numbers between languages or countries, or when using old documents in countries where the dominant scale has changed over time. For example, British English documents from 1900 used long scale values, which are different from current British short scale usage. Both scales were used in France and Italy at various times in their history, but these countries (and most other Europe an countries) now officially use long scale. In addition, apparently identical words in different languages may mean different values. For example, the French word 'billion' (1012) translates to the English word 'trillion' (usually 1012), not 'billion' (usually 109). However, the German word 'Billion' and the Dutch word 'biljoen' both refer to 1012. See Current Usage below. HISTORY CURRENT USAGE Long scale countries 106 = one million, 109 = one milliard / thousand million, 1012 = one billion, 1015 = one billiard / thousand billion, 1018 = one trillion, etc. Most countries and languages in the world use the traditional long scale, with many using a word similar to ''milliard'' to mean 109, and/or a word similar to ''billion'' to mean 1012. Some examples of long scale use, and the words used for 109 and 1012, are: : (''mil millones'', ''billón'') : (''Milliarde'', ''Billion'') : (: ''Milliarde'', ''Billion'') : ( French-speaking : ''milliard'', ''billion'') : (''milijarda'', ''bilijun'') : (''miliarda'', ''bilion'') : (''milliard'', ''billion'') : (''miljardi'', ''biljoona'') : (''milliard'', ''billion'') : (''Milliarde'', ''Billion'') : (''milliárd'', ''billió'' or ''ezer milliárd'') : (''milljarður'', ''billjón'') : (''milliard'', ) : (''miliardo'', ) : (''milijardas'', ) : (''milliard'', ''billion'') : (''miliard'', ''bilion'') : ("mil milhões", ''bilião'' or "bilhão") : (''miliard'', ) : (''milijarda'' милијарда, ''bilion'') : (''miliarda'', ''bilión'') : (''miliarda'', ''bilijon'') : (: ''miliard'' or typ. ''mil milions'', ''bilió'') : (''miljard'', ''biljon'') : (: ''miliardo'', ) Short scale countries 106 = one million, 109 = one billion, 1012 = one trillion, etc. = English language-speaking countries Most English-language countries use the short scale. For example: : : (English-speaking) : : : : - albeit with residual usage of the long-scale : =Other languages and countries :, which despite speaking Portuguese, uses 109 = ''bilhão'', 1012 = ''trilhão'', etc. =Short scale use with long scale milliard Some countries adopted the short scale for ''the seldom-occurring'' higher numbers (such as 1012), but kept the traditional word "milliard" instead of the short-scale "billion". Countries that adopt this usage include: : () : : : () : () =Short scale use but with other terminology :, which despite using the word εκατομμύριο ("hundred-myriad") for 106 continues with terms for 109 (δισεκατομμύριο, "bi-hundred-myriad"), 1012 (τρισεκατομμύριο, "tri-hundred-myriad"), 1015 (τετράκις εκατομμύριο, "tetra-hundred-myriad"), and so on. Greek Numbers and Numerals (Ancient and Modern) , Harry Foundalis, part of a Greek tutorial at foundalis.com; accessed May 20 , 2007 . Both long and short scales countries :, a Spanish-speaking US Commonwealth country, generally uses short scale (109 = ''billón'', 1012 = ''trillón'') in economic and technical matters, but the long scale is used in publications intended for a Latin American audience outside Puerto Rico. Neither short nor long scale countries The following countries have their own numbering systems and use neither short nor long scales: : - see Chinese Large Numbers . - which features symbols for all the Myriad s up to 10 44. : - see Indian Numbering System - which is commonly used. For Indian English speakers see Below . : - see - which uses myriads as in Chinese. : North Korea - see Korean Numerals - which uses a traditional myriad system for the larger numbers, with special words and symbols up to 10 48.'' NOTES ON CURRENT USAGE 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 these countries is sometimes obscure. =US 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. =UK usage :"Billion" has meant 109 in most sectors of official published writing for many years now. The UK Government , BBC , and most other broadcast or published Mass Media , use the short scale exclusively in all contexts. Anyone using billion to mean 1012 in British English may be misunderstood. However, this short scale usage is not uniformly accepted and the "traditional usage" of a billion to mean 1012 is not unknown. :The long scale term "milliard", for 109, is obsolete in British English (though its derivation "yard" is still used as slang in the London money, foreign exchange and bond markets). Before the recent widespread use of "billion" for 109, UK usage generally referred to ''thousand million'' rather than milliard. =Australian usage :In Australia, some documents use the term ''thousand million'' for 109 in cases where two amounts are being compared using a common unit of one 'million'. As of 1999, the Australian Government's financial department did not consider short scale to be standard, but used it occasionally {Link without Title} . The current recommendation by the Australian Department of Finance and Administration (formerly known as AusInfo), and the legal definition, is the short scale. Education, media outlets, and literature all use the short scale in line with other English-speaking countries. =Indian usage :Like the other English speaking countries, India also is currently strongly influenced by the standard U.S. short scale use. However (outside of financial media) the use of "billion" by Indian English speakers highly depends on their educational background. Some Indians may continue to use the traditional British long scale. In everyday life, Indians largely use their Own System - for instance, Indian English commonly use the words '' Lakh '' to denote ''100 thousand'', and '' Crore '' to denote ''ten million'' (i.e. 100 lakhs). Italian language usage Italy – with France – was one of the two European countries partially converted to the short scale during the 19th century, but returned to the original long scale in 20th century. In Italian, the word ''bilione'' officially means 1012. Colloquially, ''bilione'' can mean both 109 and 1012; ''trilione'' both 1012 and (rarer) 1018 and so on. Therefore, in order to avoid ambiguity, they are seldom used. Forms such as ''mille miliardi'' (a thousand milliards) for 1012, ''un milione di miliardi'' for 1015, ''un miliardo di miliardi'' for 1018, ''mille miliardi di miliardi'' for 1021 are much more common Federico Peiretti ("Archimede e i grandi numeri") . Esperanto language usage The official Esperanto words ''biliono'', ''triliono'' etc. are ambiguous, and the inherently international nature of Esperanto communication compounds the problem by preventing any national presumption in favour of long or short scale. Ambiguity may be avoided by the use of the unofficial but generally-recognised suffix ''-iliono'' appended to a numeral indicating the power of a million, e.g. ''duiliono'' (from ''du'' meaning "two") = (106)2 = 1012, ''triiliono'' = 1018, etc. ''Miliardo'' is an unambiguous term for 109. Use of "thousand milliard" In those countries using the term milliard, the term "thousand milliard" is occasionally used, but only in budgetary contexts. One milliard Currency units has become the major Budget ary Unit , as in the National Debt of Germany at the end of 2004 was about 1418 milliard Euro s. In all other contexts in these same countries, 1012 is always termed "billion" and not "thousand milliard". ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES Unambiguous ways of identifying large numbers include:
SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS Modern UK usage
Traditional UK usage
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