quintal

The quintal is descended from the Roman centarius (= 100 as) through the Arabic kintar or qintar. The common element in all the units below is that they are, or were originally, 100 of some smaller unit of mass. Sometimes spelled kintal or kintall.

1

Various units of mass. Some 20th century values, primarily in South America:

Angola (UN 1966)	= 100 kilograms. This is a survival of the quintal metrique.
Argentina	100 libras (about 101.27 lbs av.)
Belize , Dominican Republic, 20th century	= 100 pounds, approximately 45.36 kilograms.
Bolivia Technical Factors..., 1972, page 103.	100 libras, = 46.00 kilograms.
Brazil	Prior to June 1931 the quintal was spelled kintal.
Chile Technical Factors..., 1972, page 120.	= 4 arrobas = 100 libras (Castilian), about 46 kilograms (approximately 101.4 pounds av.)
Costa Rica [Costa Rica. Ministerio de formento.] Medidas y pesas del sistema métrico, y tablas de equivalencia con las antiguas. San José de Costa Rica: Imprenta nacional, 1885. Technical Factors..., 1972, page 137.	= 4 arrobas = 100 libras = 46.006272 kilograms. Modern sources simply give 46.00 kg.
Colombia Technical Factors..., 1972, page 132; UN, 1966.	= 4 arrobas = 50 kilograms*, (approximately 110.231 pounds). Used for grain.
Cuba Technical Factors..., 1972, page 140.	= 4 arrobas = 100 libras = 46.00 kilograms
Czechoslovakia Technical Factors..., 1972, page 143; UN, 1966.	= 50 kilograms*, (approximately 110.231 pounds). Used for hops.
Ecuador Technical Factors..., 1972, page 150.	= 4 arrobas = 100 libras = 46 kilograms (approximately 101.4 pounds av.) Also called a media.
El Salvador (per Statesman's Yearbook 93-94, contrary to UN 1966).	= 100 libras = 46 kilograms (approximately 101.4 pounds av.)
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, Spain, and Venezuela , 20th century, Technical Factors..., 1972, page 150.	= 100 libras (Castilian), about 46 kilograms (approximately 101.4 pounds av.)
Mexico	46.04 kilograms (approximately 101.5 pounds av)
Paraguay (UN 1966)	45.9 kilograms (approximately 101.2 pounds)
Portugal (plural, quintaes)	58.752 kilograms (about 129.5 pounds av).
United States, 1866 – 1982. Legalized in this sense by the Act of July 28, 1866, and declared invalid in Federal Register Feb 26, 1982, 47 FR 8399-8400.	= 100 kilograms. This is a survival of the quintal metrique.

In many of the above countries the quintal = 4 arroba = ¹⁄₂₀th tonelada.

*The 50-kilogram value arises from earlier units of mass (the libra and pfund (560 g), respectively, for Colombia and Czechoslovakia) which were approximately half a kilogram; thus a hundred of these units became metrified as 50 kilograms.

2

In pre-revolutionary France, = 100 livre, approximately 107.7 pounds av. in Paris.

4

In the old metric system, 100 kilograms.

5

In British colonies in North America, at least as early as 18th – 19th century, the quintal used for fish was a unit of mass, 112 pounds (the British hundredweight).

Waterston page 169.
Lederer page 189.

6

In Bolivia, ? – 20th century, various units of capacity:

Department	Town	Volume in liters	Commodity
Chuquisaca	Azurduy	60
	Camargo	54
	Tarabuco	34
La Paz	Apolo	60
	Luribay	48
	Quime	48
Potosi	Betanzos, Cotagaita, Tupiza, Uncía	54
	Pulaxi	47.52
	Puna	49
	Tarapaya	48.84
	Villcaya	46
Oruro	Challapata, Oruro, Poopó	48
Oruro	Huanuni	30	pisco
Tarija	Tarija	54

[Bolivia] Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganaderia y Colonizacion. Dirección General de Economia Rural.
Resumen General de Medidas típicas de la República de Bolivia.
Corrected and revised by the Departamento de Muestreos y Padrones.
[La Paz]: Departamento de Muestreos y Padrones, 1956.

Page 10, 13, 28, 34 and 41. (Page numbering is not continuous.)

7

In Bolivia, ? – 20th century, various units of mass:

Department	Town	Mass in kilograms	Commodity
La Paz	Coroico	55.22	coca
Potosi	San Pedro	60.10	grain
Potosi	Vila Betanzos	50.06	flour, muko (salivated flour used to make a type of chicha)
Oruro	Huanuni	48.30	chuño (freeze-dried potatoes)
Oruro	Huanuni	57.50	oca

Pages 16, 31 and 35. (Page numbering is not continuous.)