It used to be like this in British English (the so-called long scale, where milliard was 10^9 and billion was a million millions, 10^12).
Now, indeed, the split is roughly along the line of English (and Russian, Turkics and Arabic) on the short scale side and everyone else, especially Continental European language speakers on the other.
It's not a universal rule: Brazil is maybe the largest defector from the Continental European group to the short scale, but Canada reinforces the rule by using both, with the choice being dictated by whether you're speaking English or French.
Now, indeed, the split is roughly along the line of English (and Russian, Turkics and Arabic) on the short scale side and everyone else, especially Continental European language speakers on the other. It's not a universal rule: Brazil is maybe the largest defector from the Continental European group to the short scale, but Canada reinforces the rule by using both, with the choice being dictated by whether you're speaking English or French.