What is the Metre Convention?
Q: What is the Metre Convention?
A: The Metre Convention is a treaty that was made in 1875 between 17 countries to set up the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM).
Q: What does the BIPM do?
A: The BIPM is an inter-governmental organization responsible for harmonizing systems of measurement across the world.
Q: What did member countries agree to do under the treaty?
A: Member countries agreed to share costs of running a laboratory on neutral territory, keep international prototype metres and kilograms at this laboratory, compare national prototype metres and kilograms with international prototypes at regular intervals, and have regular meetings to discuss developments in measurement technology.
Q: When was the treaty extended?
A: In 1921, the treaty was extended to cover electrical and all other physical measurements.
Q: What did this enable the BIPM to do?
A: This enabled the BIPM to published standards for the International System of Units (SI), which defined units of measurements used in science and engineering in a logical manner as well as standardized how physical quantities are written.
Q: How many member countries were there in 2014?
A: In 2014, there were 55 member countries.
