Andorra, Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada, Dominican Republic, Gabon, Jamaica, Libya, Mauritania, Mexico, Oman, St. Kitts-Nevis, Uganda, United States of America, Vietnam.
Within each of these nations is something that no other country has. “Country” and “nation” are here defined synonymously as a geographic political entity so designated on Google Earth, by now surely the globally-recognized definitive source and ultimate arbiter of all geographic information.
Some will claim that the UK should also be on this list, but after doing the appropriate research into the subject, it seems to me to have been properly excluded from the list.
…And in point of fact, it’s not been confirmed that Canada belongs on this list, although it seems very likely to me that Canada is properly included.
So. What is this most remarkable thing?
Hint: Canada is a relatively recent addition to this list.
“by now surely the globally-recognized definitive source and ultimate arbiter of all geographic information.”
Funny you should say that:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/11/nicaragua-troops-calero-island-google-maps (unless that is what you were referring to)
As for the trivia, I’m stumped. Did the Dalai Lama recently attend a baseball game in Canada?
I’ve been completely stumped by this one. Not from lack of trying, either.
The national mottoes of Andorra, Argentina, Bulgaria, and the United States all reference “unity” in one form or another, but the Dominican Republic and Canada do not, and Mexico doesn’t even appear to have a national motto.
That’s the closest I’ve gotten.
I didn’t mention “mapping software” out of the blue. You can solve this one with Google Earth and nothing else. If you use Google Earth, be sure to set the camera to a level where you can see most of the nation all at once.
Since I’m departing for Italy on Saturday morning, some time Friday night I’m going to have to reveal the answer if no one gets it.
The answer is quadripoints of political subdivisions within the nation:
USA: 37° N, 109° 2’ 42” W (likely the most well-known quadripoint)
Canada: 60° N, 102° W
Mexico: 24° 33’ N, 100° 48’ W
Jamaica: 18° 12’ 11” N, 72° 29’ 33” W
Dominican Republic: 18° 39’ 18” N, 71° 33’ 11” W
St. Kitts-Nevis: 17° 22’ 7” N, 62° 48’ 10” W
Argentina: 37° 34’ 22” S, 68° 14’ 33” W
Andorra: 42° 32’ 50” N, 1° 33’ 45” E
…etc. I did not count quadripoints encompassing provinces/states/oblasts/prefectures from multiple nations, such as might be found at 54° 21′ 48″ N, 22° 47′ 32″ E (quadripoint between Russia, Lithuiania, and two provinces of Poland). Nor did I count quadripoints between tertiary boundaries such as U.S. counties, of which there are thousands, if not tens of thousands.
New trivia upon my return.