Home > Decimal separator

Originally (near the end of the first millennium CE), a bar over the units digit was used. Later, a separator (a short, roughly vertical, ink-stroke) between the units and tenths position became the norm. When type-set, it was convenient to use the existing comma, stop, or point marks for this purpose.

In many countries, therefore, the comma is used to mark the decimal units position; however, in predominantly English-speaking countries, a stop (.) or point (raised dot: ·) is commonly used as the decimal point symbol.

(For numeral systems other than decimal, the analogous point is known as a radix point.)

Examples of use:

• In France, Netherlands, and much of Latin Europe: 1 234 567,89
• In Germany: 1.234.567,89
• In Switzerland (mainly German-speaking Switzerland): 1'234'567,89
• In the UK and USA: 1,234,567.89 or 1,234,567·89; the latter is more commonly found in older, and especially handwritten, documents nowadays; many UK schools now teach the SI style.
• SI style: 1 234 567.89 (dot countries) or 1 234 567,89 (comma countries)

1 Dot countries

Countries where a dot is used to mark the radix point include:

Australia, Botswana, Canada (English-speaking), ChinaThis article is on the geographic and cultural entity. For other meanings, see China (disambiguation). China ( Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: , Hanyu Pinyin: Zhongguo, Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo) is a country in continental East Asia with some oute, Costa RicaThe Republic of Costa Rica is a republic of Central America. Remarkably for the region, Costa Rica has stood as a bastion of stability and democracy since the minor civil war of the late 1940s that brought President Jose Figueres Ferrer to power. In fact,, Dominican RepublicRepublica Dominicana ( In Detail) National motto: Dios, patria, libertad (God, Country, Liberty Official language Spanish Capital Santo Domingo President Leonel Fernandez Area Total % water Ranked 138th 48,730 km² 1,6% Population Total ( 2002) Density Ran, El SalvadorEl Salvador ( Spanish for "The Savior") is a republic in Central America with a population of approximately 6. 2 million people. History Main article: History of El Salvador El Salvador achieved independence from Spain in 1821 and from the Central America, GuatemalaFor the city, see Guatemala City. The Republic of Guatemala is a country in Central America, in the south of the continent of North America, bordering both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, Belize to the north, HondurasHonduras is a nation of northern Central America, bordered to the west by Guatemala and El Salvador, to the south by Nicaragua and the Pacific Ocean and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras and the Caribbean Sea. The nation of Belize (formerly "British Ho, Hong KongThe Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or Hong Kong (, pinyin: Xinggng, WG: Hsiang-kang, Cantonese IPA, Jyutping or Penkyamp: hoeng1 gong2, meaning Fragrant Harbour , is one of two Special Administrative Regions (SARs) of the People's Republic of Chi, IndiaThe Republic of India is a large multicultural country in South Asia, with a population of over one billion. The Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, and is the world's second-fastest growing economy., Ireland, Israel, Japan, Korea (both North and South), Malaysia, Mexico, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Panama, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States,