# Legal size paper in Asia **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 31, 2016, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-size-paper-in-asia/764548 "2016-08-31T06:41:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ishiigenji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/94ad74/32.png) [@ishiigenji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ishiigenji)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-size-paper-in-asia/764548/1 "2016-08-31T06:41:01Z")
I heard legal size paper (8-1/2x14) is in use in various South and South East Asian countries like India, Indonesia and Thailand. Is that true? I am curious to know they actually use this size paper, and how often they are seen. Any input/discussion about legal size paper is also welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-size-paper-in-asia/764548/2 "2016-08-31T07:07:52Z")
I know you can find it in Thailand, but I don’t know what they do with it. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-size-paper-in-asia/764548/3 "2016-08-31T07:30:44Z")
Not my area of expertise by a long shot, but I thought that they used metric paper sizes in that part of the world. Poking around on google, I found that there’s a size called F4 which is 210 mm × 330 mm or 8.27 in × 12.99 in, which is pretty close to US legal size (8.5 x 14.0 in). Wikipedia has this to say about it: > [@](#): > > Although metric, based on the A4 paper size, and named to suggest that it is part of the official ISO 216 paper sizes, it appears to be only a de facto standard. > **[Foolscap folio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F4_%28paper%29)** > > Foolscap folio, commonly contracted to foolscap or cap or folio and in short FC, is paper cut to the size of 8.5 × 13.5 in (216 × 343 mm) for printing or to 8 × 13 in (203 × 330 mm) for "normal" writing paper (foolscap). This was a traditional paper size used in some parts of Europe, and the British Commonwealth, before the adoption of the international standard A4 paper. > A full (plano) foolscap paper sheet is actually .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-p... Wikipedia’s article on paper size says this about F4: > [@](#): > > common in Southeast Asia. Sometimes called “foolscap” there. A sheet of F4 can be cut from a sheet of SRA4 (two from SRA3 etc.) with very little wastage. ---
**Author:** ![ishiigenji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/94ad74/32.png) [@ishiigenji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ishiigenji)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-size-paper-in-asia/764548/4 "2016-08-31T07:55:14Z")
So for some reason, that paper size is still common in those Asian countries who adopted the A4 size… Is it used for some specific reason? For example in America, I remember seeing them when leasing an apartment, or at a DMV (if my memory’s right…) ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-size-paper-in-asia/764548/5 "2016-08-31T13:35:37Z")
In Pakistan, legal size is used on all Official docs. No idea why. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-size-paper-in-asia/764548/6 "2016-08-31T16:32:27Z")
To make official transactions legal, of course! It’s all magic anyway. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-size-paper-in-asia/764548/7 "2016-09-01T15:37:15Z")
The Philippines doesn’t use legal size paper but rather long paper: 8.5" x 13". Standard size is 8.5" x 11".