The khoums is the subdivisory unit of the Mauritanian monetary system, the Ouguiya

Mauritanian ouguiya

The ouguiya , also spelt "ougiya," is the currency of Mauritania. It is the only circulating currency other than the Malagasy ariary whose division units are not based on a power of ten, each ouguiya comprising five khoums .The ouguiya was introduced in 1973, replacing the CFA franc at a rate of 1...

. Five khoums make an ouguiya, hence one khoums can be expressed as MRO/0.2

When the ouguiya was adapted in 1973, it replaced the CFA franc

CFA franc

The CFA franc is the name of two currencies used in Africa which are guaranteed by the French treasury. The two CFA franc currencies are the West African CFA franc and the Central African CFA franc...

 as 5 francs to the ouguiya, thus a khoums was equal to the franc. As the franc had no subdivisional unit, all wealths in francs could be converted to ouigiya with no rounding. On the khoums coin (minted in Krenmica Mint, Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

), the obverse is in Arabic with the date of the Islamic Calendar

Islamic calendar

The Hijri calendar , also known as the Muslim calendar or Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic...

 and the reverse in French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 in the Gregorian Calendar

Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...

 with national arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 on each side, identical to all other Mauritanian coins. However, on the Arabic side, instead of a number like on the other coins, the word خمس is used.

The khoums is one of only two subdivision of currency that is not in a multiple of ten, the other being the Malagasy iraimbilanja

Iraimbilanja

The iraimbilanja is the divisory currency unit of Madagascar, being equal to one fifth of an ariary. The old Malagasy franc is equal in value to one iraimbilanja. As of early 2011 the value of one iraimbilanja is about US$0.0000989....

, also based on the franc

Franc

The franc is the name of several currency units, most notably the Swiss franc, still a major world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions and the former currency of France, the French franc until the Euro was adopted in 1999...

.

As of early 2011 the value of one khoum is about US$0.0007092.