Metrication in Guatemala

In May 1910 most of Central America adopted a common system of measurements.[1]

In May 1921 Guatemala became officially metric.[1]

Among the Guatemalan units of measurement some are based on old Spanish units; they include the vara and cuadra linear measurements; the vara cuadrada, the manzana and the cuerda units of area; and the libra, arroba, quintal and garrafón units of weight and volume.

The vara cuadrada or square vara is commonly used in land transactions in Guatemala and 10,000 square varas equal one manzana.[2]

One square vara equals 0.6987 square meters (7.521 sq ft), while one manzana equals 6,987 square metres (1.727 acres).[2]

The term cuerda can refer to areas of different sizes. Cuerdas can refer to areas that are 50 x 50, 40 x 40, 30 x 30, 25 x 25 or 20 x 20 varas (i.e. 2500, 1600, 900, 625, or 400 square varas).[3] In addition, some sources describe a cuerda as 32 x 32 varas. In Guatemala, the linear vara is 0.8421 meters. (The length of vara varies slightly among different Latin American countries.)

• One cuerda of 50 x 50 varas = 1,746.84 square meters (18,802.8 sq ft)
• One cuerda of 40 x 40 varas = 1,117.98 square meters (12,033.8 sq ft)
• One cuerda of 30 x 30 varas = 628.87 square meters (6,769.1 sq ft)
• One cuerda of 25 x 25 varas = 436.71 square meters (4,700.7 sq ft)
• One cuerda of 20 x 20 varas = 279.50 square meters (3,008.5 sq ft)

A Spanish pound (libra) is 460 grams.[2]