A native system of weights and measures was used in Imperial Russia and after the Russian Revolution

Russian Revolution of 1917

The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...

, but it was abandoned in 1924 when the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 adopted 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...

.

The Tatar system is very similar to the Russian one, but some names are different.

The system existed since ancient Rus', but under Peter the Great, the Russian units were redefined relative to the English system

English unit

English units are the historical units of measurement used in England up to 1824, which evolved as a combination of the Anglo-Saxon and Roman systems of units...

. Until Peter the Great the system also used Cyrillic numerals

Cyrillic numerals

The Cyrillic numerals are a numbering system derived from the Cyrillic script, used by South and East Slavic peoples. The system was used in Russia as late as the early 18th century when Peter the Great replaced it with Arabic numerals....

, and only in the 18th century Peter the Great replaced it with the Hindu-Arabic numeral system

Hindu-Arabic numeral system

The Hindu–Arabic numeral system or Hindu numeral system is a positional decimal numeral system developed between the 1st and 5th centuries by Indian mathematicians, adopted by Persian and Arab mathematicians , and spread to the western world...

.

Length

The basic unit is the Russian cubit

Cubit

The cubit is a traditional unit of length, based on the length of the forearm. Cubits of various lengths were employed in many parts of the world in Antiquity, in the Middle Ages and into Early Modern Times....

, called arshin, which has been in use since the 16th century. It was standardized by Peter the Great

Peter I of Russia

Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...

 in the 18th century to measure exactly twenty-eight English inches (71.1 cm). Thus, 80 vershoks = 20 piads = 5 arshins = 140 English inches.

A piad or chetvert is a hand span

Span (unit)

A span is the distance measured by a human hand, from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger. In ancient times, a span was considered to be half a cubit...

, the distance between ends of the spread thumb and index finger

Index finger

The index finger, , is the first finger and the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the first and third digits, between the thumb and the middle finger...

.

Unit	Russian	Translation	Ratio	Metric Value	English units
tochka		point	1/2800	0.254 mm	1/100 inch
liniya		line	1/280	2.54 mm	1/10 inch; cf. line Line (length) The line is a unit of measurement, one line being equal to of an English inch. It was defined as one-quarter of a barleycorn, which defined the inch even before 1066. The French ligne was simarly defined as of the pouce...
diuym		inch	1/28	2.54 cm	1 inch
vershok		“tip” or “top”	1/16	4.445 cm	1 ¾ in; cf. 19" rack unit Rack unit A rack unit or U is a unit of measure used to describe the height of equipment intended for mounting in a 19-inch rack or a 23-inch rack...
piad, chetvert	,	“palm”, quarter	1/4	17.78 cm	7 in; cf. span Span (unit) A span is the distance measured by a human hand, from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger. In ancient times, a span was considered to be half a cubit...
fut		foot	3/7	30.48 cm	1 ft
arshin		yard	1	71.12 cm	2 ⅓ ft
sazhen		fathom Fathom A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems, used especially for measuring the depth of water.There are 2 yards in an imperial or U.S. fathom...	3	2.1336 m	7 ft
versta		turn (of a plough Plough The plough or plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture... )	1500	1.0668 km	3,500 ft
milia		mile	10,500	7.4676 km	24,500 ft

Alternative units:

• Swung sazhen = 1.76 m
• Skewed, or oblique sazhen = 2.48 m
• Double versta or border versta, , used to measure land plots and distances between settlements = 2 verstas (comes from an older standard for versta)

Area

• Desiatina
  • Treasury/official desiatina = 10,925.4 m² = 117,600 ft² = 2,400 square sazhen
  • Proprietor's = 14,5672 m² = 156,800 ft² = 3,200 square sazhen
    • 3 proprietor's desiatinas = 4 official desiatinas

Volume

As in many ancient systems of measurement the Russian distinguishes between dry and liquid measurements of capacity. Note that the chetvert appears in both lists with vastly differing values.

Dry measures

Unit	Russian	Translation	Ratio	Metric value	Imperial value	US Customary United States customary units United States customary units are a system of measurements commonly used in the United States. Many U.S. units are virtually identical to their imperial counterparts, but the U.S. customary system developed from English units used in the British Empire before the system of imperial units was...
chast		part	1/30	109.33 cm3	0.219 pt	0.263 pt
kruzhka		mug Mug A mug is a sturdily built type of cup often used for drinking hot beverages, such as coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. Mugs, by definition, have handles and often hold a larger amount of fluid than other types of cup. Usually a mug holds approximately 12 fluid ounces of liquid; double a tea cup...	2/5	1.312 L	2.309 pt	2.773 pt
garnets		pot	1	3.279842 L	2.886 qt	3.466 qt
vedro		bucket Bucket (unit) A bucket was an imperial unit of liquid volume, equivalent to four gallons or 18.18436 litres. It is thus equivalent in size to the dry unit kenning. The unit was one of the less-common ones and has been outlawed for use in trade for a long time....	4	13.12 L	2.886 gal.	3.466 gal.
chetverik		quarter	8	26.239 L	2.886 p. Peck A peck is an imperial and U.S. customary unit of dry volume, equivalent to 2 gallons or 8 dry quarts or 16 dry pints. Two pecks make a kenning , and four pecks make a bushel....	2.978 p.
osmina		one-eighth	32	104.955 L	2.886 bsh. Bushel A bushel is an imperial and U.S. customary unit of dry volume, equivalent in each of these systems to 4 pecks or 8 gallons. It is used for volumes of dry commodities , most often in agriculture...	2.978 bsh.
chetvert		quarter	64	209.91 L	5.772 bsh.	5.957 bsh.

Liquid measures

Unit	Russian	Translation	Ratio	Metric value	Imperial	US Customary
shkalik, kosushka	,	measure, shot Shot glass A shot glass is a small glass designed to hold or measure spirits or liquor, which is either drunk straight from the glass or poured into a mixed drink....	1/200	61.5 mL	2.16 fl. oz. 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...	2.08 fl. oz.
charka		a wine glass	1/100	123 mL	4.33 fl. oz.	4.16 fl. oz.
butylka (vodochnaya)		bottle (vodka)	1/20	615 mL	21.64 fl. oz. (1.08 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... )	20.796 fl. oz. (1.3 pt)
butylka (vinnaya)		bottle (wine)	1/16	768.7 mL	1.35 pt	1.625 pt
kruzhka		mug Mug A mug is a sturdily built type of cup often used for drinking hot beverages, such as coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. Mugs, by definition, have handles and often hold a larger amount of fluid than other types of cup. Usually a mug holds approximately 12 fluid ounces of liquid; double a tea cup...	1/10	1.23 L	2.16 pt (1.08 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... )	2.6 pt (1.3 qt)
chetvert		quarter	1/8	1.537 L	1.35 qt	1.624 qt
vedro		bucket Bucket (unit) A bucket was an imperial unit of liquid volume, equivalent to four gallons or 18.18436 litres. It is thus equivalent in size to the dry unit kenning. The unit was one of the less-common ones and has been outlawed for use in trade for a long time....	1	12.29941 L	10.821 qt (2.71 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... )	12.997 qt (3.249 gal.)
bochka		barrel Barrel (unit) A barrel is one of several units of volume, with dry barrels, fluid barrels , oil barrel, etc...	40	491.98 L	108.22 gal.	129.967 gal.

Weight/mass

Unit	Russian	Translation	Ratio	Metric value	Imperial and US Customary value
dolia		part	1/9216 = 1/962	44.435 mg	0.686 gr
zolotnik Zolotnik A zolotnik was a small Russian unit of weight, equal to 0.1505 avoirdupois ounces, or 4.2658 grams . Used from the 10th to 20th centuries, its name is derived from the Russian word zoloto, meaning gold. It is therefore related to the words gold and yellow...		“golden one”	1/96	4.26580 g	65.831 gr (0.152 oz Ounce The ounce is a unit of mass with several definitions, the most commonly used of which are equal to approximately 28 grams. The ounce is used in a number of different systems, including various systems of mass that form part of the imperial and United States customary systems... )
lot			1/32	12.7974 g	0.451 oz
funt		pound Pound (mass) The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...	1	409.51718 g	14.445 oz (0.903 lb Pound (mass) The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement... )
pood Pood Pood , is a unit of mass equal to 40 funt . It is approximately 16.38 kilograms . It was used in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Pood was first mentioned in a number of documents of the 12th century....			40	16.3807 kg	36.121 lb
berkovets			400	163.807 kg	361.206 lb (25.8 st)

The pood was used in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, 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...

, Belarus

Belarus

Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

 and Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

. Pood was first mentioned in a number of documents of the twelfth century. It may still be encountered in documents dealing with agricultural production (especially with reference to cereals), and has been revived in determining weights when casting bells in belfries following the rebirth of the Orthodox Churches in the former Soviet lands.