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Actually British use - officially - the short system like 50 years now... The long system mostly remained in continental Europe...
And I asked you 
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
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Yes, the British Government has used 1 billion == 1,000,000,000 since 1974.
It's been at least that long since I last read (or believed) any statistics released by the British Government.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Our government has also reported figures in terms of "billions", and then been unable to clarify which definition they were using.  
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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That's because our government is really intelligent.
Though I am unable to confirm which definition of intelligent I am using.
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The British 10^9 billion is used for financial values (esp. by the Government); the British 10^12 billion is still more common outside of finance. The advice is never use the word Billion, use 10^9 / 10^12; or, when talking to 'ordinary' people use thousand million / million million. Same for Trillions etc. The generic 'gazillion' can be used without clarification as it just means an extraordinarily large amount.
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No kilomillion?
The simple answer has been hanging around right under their noses this whole time.
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Using SI units: Giga for 1,000,000,000 (9 zeros) and Tera for 1,000,000,000,000 (12 zeros)
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1 zero. 1 billion == 1 gigabyte == 1,073,741,824 bytes 
At least, that's how I count nowadays.
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IOW, a "billion" has 11110 zeroes
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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An infinite number, if you count leading zeros.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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How many would you like?
Short count == 1,000,000,000 == 9
Long count == 1,000,000,000,000 == 12
Very long count == 1,0000,0000,0000,0000 == 16
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2 (possibly 3 if you count the leading one): 0x3B9ACA00
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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None, Sir, that's an 'o'.
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Long count is more logical.
Add six zeroes for every step in size
Million - 1 000 000
Billion - 1 000 000 000 000
Trillion - 1 000 000 000 000 000 000
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Quote: Add six zeroes for every step in size
Argument against: other scales change prefix every three zeros (kilo, mega, giga, etc.)
Another argument for: "bi" - twice as many, hence 12, "tri" three times as many, hence 18
You can choose one side but it's hard to argue that's more "logical".
Mircea
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Well, yes I can.
You don't have to agree, but that's another story. 
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Mircea Neacsu wrote: Another argument for: "bi" - twice as many, hence 12, "tri" three times as many, hence 18
Quad = 4 times as many...
Quadrillion = 10^24
Having 12 zeros for a billion is more consistent with the posterior numbers than having 9 zeros.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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No, not adding six. Either add three (short count) or double (long count).
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I had actually thought that the metric was squaring them...
Million = A thousand times thousand
Billion = A million times a million
Trillion = A billion times a billion
 
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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No. Not squaring. Raising to the power.
Billion=Bi million=million^2=10^12 zeros total
Trillion=Tri million=million^3=10^18 zeros total
Quadrillion=Quad million=million^4=10^24 zeros total
...(and so on)
You can think of it more easily using geometry. Assuming that your geometric shapes have all sides identical, and one side corresponds to one million (which is your base unit and has six zeros), a:
triangle=tri angle=three times the side=10^18 zeros total
quadrangle=quad angle=four times the side=10^24 zeros total
...(and so on)
I don't mention a "biangle" because that does not exist :P
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A billion of what?
It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it.
― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food
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A billion of zeroes, of course
GOTOs are a bit like wire coat hangers: they tend to breed in the darkness, such that where there once were few, eventually there are many, and the program's architecture collapses beneath them. (Fran Poretto)
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In Spain and Germany (and AFAIK another countries in the EU) one billion are 12 zeros
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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