Long and short scales

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The long and short scales are two powers-of-ten number-naming systems that are consistent with each other for smaller numbers, but are distinct for larger numbers. Much of the world has adopted either the short or long scale. Countries using the long scale include most countries in continental Europe and most that are French-speaking, German-speaking and Spanish-speaking. Use of the short scale is found in most English-speaking and Arabic-speaking countries, as well as most Eurasian Post-Soviet countries, Israel, and Brazil. For smaller powers of ten (one, ten, hundred, thousand, and million), the short and long scales are identical; they however differ for larger powers of ten. The long scale grows between names by multiples of one million (106) whereas the short scale grows by multiples of one thousand (103). For example, the short scale billion is one thousand million (109), whereas in the long scale, billion is one million million (1012), making the word 'billion' a false friend between...

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