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Everything you’ve always wanted to know about standards

Plugs & sockets around the world

A complete overview of electric plugs in use in every country around the globe

Driving on the left

Why do some countries drive on the left?

Country TLDs

A full list of all country TLDs (Internet top-level domains)

Alphabets & scripts around the globe

An outline map showing the distribution of the world’s most important alphabets and scripts

About WorldStandards

As global trade intensifies in our ever shrinking world, there is more than ever a need to agree upon universal standards. Not only to make everybody’s life easier, but also to avoid an awful lot of waste.

Just imagine how much we could save if there was only one kind of domestic electric plug, if we all drove on the same side of the road, if we all used the same system of measurement, if sizes of clothes and shoes were the same all over the world, etc.

Standards are an essential part of modern life and make things go off smoothly. In an ideal world, everything would be globally standardized. Unfortunately, we do not live in that ideal world, so there is still a long way to go. This website not only wants to raise awareness of the problems different standards cause, but it is also a passionate plea for more standardization. There are still way too few actual ‘world standards’. Let us help make life simpler, and try to make our limited resources go further: let’s standardize.

I sincerely hope that this website will be a fascinating source of information for everyone who is interested in the subject of standards and cultural idiosyncrasies.

Conrad H. McGregor