Why do different countries have different outlet plugs?

Answer by  Anonymous

Countries defined their own power plug standards to protect their own local manufacturers. Same reason why the UK/Australia/NZ drives on the left and the US/Europe drives on the right. The British Empire of the day wanted people to buy British cars. Protectism lost relevance with a global economy.

Answer by  thooyavangmailcom (16)

Each countries have different outlet plugs because every country has different power supply. The voltage and the current range will be different for every country according to their climatic condition. For example 3 phase current will be different in voltage and frequency for every countries. The plug will be designed likewise. So we need to use different plugs.

Answer by  JYas (68)

I think it has something to do with the metric system. If you notice, the USA seems to be the only country that uses a different system. Is that good or bad? I think it is bad. If we used the same system as everyone else, we wouldn't experience these problems.

Answer by  MNarasimhan (27)

The reason behind this is that the supply of power varies from country to country. For Eg. in India you have 240V of power supply, compared to America, which is 115V of power supply. The Indian model of outlet plugs are round, because they have to supply high voltage power. On the contrary, flat outlet plug is enough for USA.