In Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, approximate units of measure were derived from natural actions or objects such body parts, later standardised for the purpose of commerce. Some Swedish and, later, Russian, units were also used.

The measurements were first standardized by law in 1665 and were revised in 1735. Before this, measurements often varied between towns. The king's bailiff in the town of Porvoo

Porvoo

Porvoo is a city and a municipality situated on the southern coast of Finland approximately east of Helsinki. Porvoo is one of the six medieval towns in Finland, first mentioned as a city in texts from 14th century...

, for example, used two sets of measures: a big one for collecting tax in kind from the populace and a smaller set to remit the assets to the king, keeping the difference for himself. However, nowadays the proverb mitata Porvoon mitalla (to measure in Porvoo units) has a positive meaning of measuring in excess or generously.

Certain units were standardized to the metric system

Metric system

The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...

 in 1861, and Finland fully converted to the metric system in 1880.

Length

Table of length units
Unit	Relative value	Metric value	Imperial value	Notes
linja	1/144	~2.06 mm	~0.081 in	The width of barleycorn.
tuuma	1/12	~24.74 mm	~0.97 in	The width of thumb. Metrinen tuuma = 25 mm.
vaaksa	1/2	~148.44 mm	~5.84 in	The distance between the tips of little finger and thumb, when the fingers are fully extended. Today defined as 150 mm.
jalka	1	~296.9 mm	~11.68 in	The length of a human foot.
kyynärä	2	~593.76 mm	~1.94 ft	The distance from the elbow to the fingertips. The usual unit on measuring everyday lengths. Metrinen kyynärä = 500 mm.
syli	6	~1.8 m	~5.9 ft	Fathom; the distance between the fingertips of both hands when the arms are raised horizontally to the sides. In maritime, syli is 1/1000 of nautical mile Nautical mile The nautical mile is a unit of length that is about one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian, but is approximately one minute of arc of longitude only at the equator...  (1.852 m).
vakomitta	120	~213.6 m	~700.78 ft	The furrow's length on field.
virsta	600	~1068.84 m	~0.66 mi	2672 m (Swedish) 1068.84 m (Finnish). Related to the Russian verst Verst A verst or werst is an obsolete Russian unit of length. It is defined as being 500 sazhen long, which makes a verst equal to 1.0668 kilometres .... .
peninkulma (old)	3000	~5344.2 m	~3.32 mi	Before year 1600 5 virsta; after 1600 10 virsta. The distance a barking dog can be heard in still air.
peninkulma (new)	6000	~10.6884 km	~6.64 mi	Before year 1600 5 virsta; after 1600 10 virsta. The distance a barking dog can be heard in still air.
päivämatka	12,000	~20 km	~12.42 mi	The distance of one day's travel.

Maritime units

• meripeninkulma – 1852 m. Same as nautical mile
  Nautical mile
  The nautical mile is a unit of length that is about one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian, but is approximately one minute of arc of longitude only at the equator...
  
  . One angular minute at equator.
• kaapelinmitta – 185.2 m. 1/10 of a nautical mile.
• syli – 1.852 m. 1/1000 of a nautical mile. Seldom used.
• solmu – nautical miles per hour. Speed unit.

Obsolete:

• merisekunti* – 30.8666 m. 1/60 of nautical mile
• meritertia* – 0.51444 m. 1/3600 of nautical mile

Area

Table of area units
Unit	Relative value	Metric value	Imperial value	Notes
kannunala		~88.15 m²	~818.91 sq ft	1000 square jalka.
kapanala		~154 m²	~1430.66 sq ft (158.96 sq yd)	1/32 of tynnyrinala. The area (of field) that could be sown with one bushel of grain.
panninala		~2464 m²	~22890.56 aq ft (2543.4 sq yd)	16 kapanala, 1/2 of tynnyrinala. The area (of field) that could be sown with one panni of grain.
tynnyrinala		~4936.5 m²	~45860.09 sq ft (5095.565 sq yd)	The area (of field) that could be sown with one barrel of grain.
äyrityisenmaa	1			3,926 square kyynärä. The area which grows grain worth of one äyrityinen Örtug Örtug was a medieval currency unit in Sweden. The name is also used in the micronation of Ladonia .-References:***Nordisk Familjebok... for taxation.
äyrinmaa	3			11,777 square kyynärä. The area which grows grain worth of one äyri Öre Öre is the discontinued centesimal subdivision of the Swedish krona. The plural and singular are the same in the indefinite forms, whereas the singular definite form is öret and the plural definite is örena. The name derives from the Latin aureus , the name of a coin worth 25 denarii... for taxation.
penninginmaa	125			490,790 square kyynärä. The area which grows grain worth of one penninki Swedish penning The penning was a Swedish coin first minted between 995 and 1030 and then from about 1150 until 1548. It remained a unit of account until 1777.... for taxation.

Dry measure

Table of volume (dry) units

Unit	Relative value	Metric value	Imperial value	Notes
jumpru	1/16	~8.18 ml	~0.29 FLOZ Fluid ounce A fluid ounce is a unit of volume equal to about 28.4 mL in the imperial system or about 29.6 mL in the US system. The fluid ounce is distinct from the ounce, which measures mass...	From Swedish jungfru, virgin. Also for liquids.
kortteli	1/4	~327.15 ml	~11.51 FLOZ	Used for both length (14.845 cm, same as vaaksa) and volume. Name derives from Swedish kvartdel, meaning "quarter". As unit of length 1/4 of kyynärä.
tuoppi	1	~1.3274 L	~46.72FLOZ (2.336 PT Pint The pint is a unit of volume or capacity that was once used across much of Europe with values varying from state to state from less than half a litre to over one litre. Within continental Europe, the pint was replaced with the metric system during the nineteenth century... )	Literally tankard. Also for liquids.
kannu	2	~2.6172 L	~4.61 PT	Also called pikkukappa (exactly 2.5 L).
kappa	4	~5.4961 L	9.67 PT (4.84 QT Quart The quart is a unit of volume equal to a quarter of a gallon, two pints, or four cups. Since gallons of various sizes have historically been in use, quarts of various sizes have also existed; see gallon for further discussion. Three of these kinds of quarts remain in current use, all approximately... )	Still in use (as exactly 5 liters) as kappa or isokappa at market places to measure potatoes.
nelikko	32	~43.986 L	38.72 QT (9.68 GAL Gallon The gallon is a measure of volume. Historically it has had many different definitions, but there are three definitions in current use: the imperial gallon which is used in the United Kingdom and semi-officially within Canada, the United States liquid gallon and the lesser used United States dry... )	Used for dry measure.
panni	64	~87.96 L	19.36 GAL	Used for dry measure.
tynnyri	128	~175 L	38.49 GAL	Barrel for dry measure.
lästi	1536	~2110 L	464.14 GAL	Used for dry measure.

Liquid measure

Table of volume (liquid) units

Unit	Relative value	Metric value	Imperial value	Notes
jumpru	1/16	~8.18 ml		From Swedish jungfru, virgin.
kortteli	1/4	~327.15 ml		Used for both length (14.845 cm, same as vaaksa) and volume. Name derives from Swedish kvartdel, meaning "quarter". As unit of length 1/4 of kyynärä.
tuoppi	1	~1.3274 L		Literally tankard. Used for liquids.
kannu	2	~2.6172 L		Also called pikkukappa (exactly 2.5 L).
kappa	4	~5.4961 L		Also for dry substances.
ankkuri	30	~39.26 L		Used for liquid measure.
tynnyri	96	~125.6 L		Barrel for liquid measure.
lästi	1152	~1507 L		Used for liquid measure.

Mass

Table of mass units

Unit	Relative value	Metric value	Imperial value	Notes
luoti	1/16	~13.95 g		The weight of a musket ball.
unssi	1/8	~27.9 g
markka	1	~213.8 g		Name of the Finnish monetary unit 1861-2002
naula	2	~425.6 g		metrinen naula = 500 g
leiviskä	40	~8.5004 kg		metrinen leiviskä = 10 kg
sentneri	200	~42.56 kg		1 Senttaali = 200 metrinen naula = 100 kg.
kippunta	800	~170 kg

Miscellaneous

• askel (pace) – Roughly one meter for an adult male - a rough but convenient way to measure distances while walking.
• hehto – hectoliter, 100 liters, potatoes
• kivenheitto (Throw of a rock) – 100 kyynärä (approx 50 m). Today to describe something to be very near.
• poronkusema – (approximately 7.5 km). A Lappish measurement of distance; the distance a reindeer
  Reindeer
  The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
  
   can travel before needing to stop to urinate. Today used to describe something that is at a very obscure distance away.
• Poronkusemaa kuukaudessa – similar to furlongs per fortnight, about 2.9 mm/s
• tusina – 12
• toltti – 12 (lumber)
• tiu – 20 (eggs)
• puntti – 20 (matchboxes)
• kerpo – 31 (lampreys; 30 as a bunch and one for tying)
• krossi – 144 (pencils)
• kiihtelys – 40 (squirrel pelts)
• riisi – 500 (paper sheets)
• tonni – 1000 (usually refers to 1000 kg, but can refer also anything of 1000, especially money)
• motti – 1 m³ (firewood or waste paper)

External links

• Scandinavian units