Bed size
Dimensions and names vary considerably around the world, with most countries having their own standards and terminology.
In addition, two mattresses with the same nominal size may have slightly different dimensions, due to manufacturing tolerances, amount of padding, and support type.
Examples of such nomenclature are names like "Single", "Full" or "Double", "Queen" or "King" size.
In most countries, using the International System of Units, bed dimensions most often appear in centimeters, and often only by width and length.
[10] In the United States, Canada and other regions influenced by the former British Empire, dimensions are often in inches.
Bed sizes are defined in centimeters in all European countries, although supplementary Imperial equivalents are sometimes shown in the United Kingdom.
Standard sizes are:[16] These sizes are for Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
[21] Most NBF manufacturers use designs dimensioned in feet and inches with the metric indicators not being exact equivalents.
[22] There can legally be a tolerance of up to ±2 cm (0.8 in) between the quoted measurements and the size of the mattress itself.
The sizes of mattresses use non-numeric labels such as a "king" or "full", but are defined in inches.
Historically most beds were "twins" or "doubles" but in the mid-1940s larger mattresses were introduced by manufacturers.
[30] Less common sizes include: There are also a number of specialty sizes for specific use cases: Bedding in the United States must state the type of bed it is intended for, in addition to the dimensions in both inches and centimeters.
[citation needed] In South Africa, bed sizes have standard lengths of either 188 or 200 cm (74 or 79 in),[38] with the latter being called "XL" variants.
Bedroom furniture and bedding of U.S. standard sizes can be purchased in major cities there.
