Chile adopted the metric system in 1848. Previously, the Spanish system of measures was used.[1]
Since colonization, Chile had always used a unit system based on the Spanish customary units. In 1843, a law[2] was passed formalizing it, and defining its fundamental unit, the vara, as a fraction of a metre.
Later, during the presidency of Manuel Bulnes, a law was passed on 29 January 1848,[3] adopting the Metric System. Finally, Chile signed the Metre Convention in 1908.