Which currency is divided into five khoums, making each khoum worth one-fifth of a unit?

The currency divided into five khoums, making each khoum worth one-fifth of a unit, is the Mauritanian ouguiya.

Mauritania is unusual because its currency does not use the more common decimal subdivision of 100 minor units. Instead, one ouguiya is divided into five khoums. The word ouguiya comes from the Hassaniya Arabic pronunciation of “auqiya,” an Arabic unit of weight.

Mauritania introduced the ouguiya in 1973, replacing the CFA franc as the country’s currency. A redenomination took effect in 2018: the new ouguiya was worth five old ouguiyas, while the name and the five-khoum structure were retained.

The five-khoum system is a useful reminder that national currencies are not always decimal. The ouguiya’s subdivision is especially distinctive because it is one of the very few modern currencies based on fifths rather than hundredths.