I agree with Aaron. Because the US Constitution is amendable it can be changed to reflect the opinions and conventions of the times - case in point the 18th and 21st Amendments. It's age and the fact that it is still in use doesn't indicate an outdated, immovable, set-in-stone document rather one whose authors had the foresight to include a way to make revisions as they are needed to update the whole and keep it current with changing needs. Moving with the times is not an exclusively European virtue. It's just my opinion, but to this outsider it appears that Europe clings much more tightly to its traditions than anything in the New World (i.e. royalty, monarchies, patrimonies etc.).
MeestuhDuht, I don't understand you reference to the 2nd amendment. Could you please clarify your meaning?
Having "the oldest written constitution" does not in any way mean that it's better, just that Americans prefer to add amendments rather than rewriting the document. It's really just an editing choice.
I just couldn't wrap my head around the idea that the US, which is a relatively new country, had an older constitution than the UK, France, Germany, Denmark, etc., etc.
Although France and Germany have a long history, as modern states they are relatively young. The French Fifth Republic came into being in 1958; Germany was only united into one country in 1871, and the current constitution was instituted after WWII.
Denmark's constitution was originally adopted in 1849 - before that it was an absolute monarchy.
The UK dates from 1707, with the union of the crowns of England and Scotland. It has a constitution, but not one that is written down in a single document.
England has a history of legal and constitutional development (Magna Carta, Bill of Rights, Common Law) that goes back a long way, and influenced the drafters of the US Constitution.
But China's current state has only been around, like, 50 years right? Because of the Chinese civil war. So the USA is pretty old when you look at the length of its current government
According to Wikipedia, the first French Constitution was adopted in 1791, and there has been at least 13 constitutions since (the most recent one, from 1958, established the Fifth Republic).
I wouldn't say that France is young as a modern state.
Culture ≠ Country. The current iteration of China is significantly different than the China of centuries past. Ditto with India. That's not a judgement on their present or respective histories
I’d say he actually is correct. Due to colonization, the majority of countries around the world have only existed in their modern forms for less than 100 years. The countries that I can think of that are specifically older than the United States are probably a third of the countries in Europe, China, Japan, Iran, Turkey, and maybe a few others that I cannot recall at the moment. The rest have more recently unified or gained independence from someone else. That’s not to say they didn’t exist before colonization, but many were controlled by foreign powers until much more recently.
I guess the word Romani made the clue misleading. I personally thought the gypsies came somewhere from Eastern Europe. Also had an impression they resided in Ireland and northern U.K.
Roma/Romani are a nomadic Indian people who ended up mostly migrating to Europe. They now mostly live in eastern Europe. Somewhere between .25-0.5 million of them were killed in the Holocast. They're the original "gypsies," which word possibly originates from people thinking they were Egyptian.
Most gypsies in the UK and Ireland are Irish travellers rather than Roma, although there's Roma groups too.
(Some of, perhaps a plurality- popular misconception that it's possible for "a people" to be discrete and extant for all time) the ancestors of today's Roma migrated to Europe from India. I was under the impression that the name Roma/Romani came from the fact that many of them first settled in Romania before spreading elsewhere in Europe, but looked it up before posting and apparently that's not the case. Anyway there are still huge numbers in Romania but they are all over Europe.
i think the names of the roma and romania are related and I'm sure many went to romania but settled is a silly choice of words for the (at the time) nomads
Far from "mostly flat plains", it's mostly hilly. Alpine and subalpine regions cover about 40% of the country. In any case, it's an Alpine country just as it is also a Mediterranean country.
"Bolivia" is the one answer I missed, just because I'm ignorant and didn't get the meaning of "Western Hemisphere" (I thought it was the "Northern Hemisphere"). Shame on me.
One could ask you the same. "Inspired by" is not generally used in the same way as "based on". The latter is used to refer to an adaptation of real events, whereas the former is used to convey "we took some ideas from this to make our own story". In that sense, which I believe Flabber would agree on, the comment is correct, even if it is a bit of a nitpick.
The "small" threw me of in the melania question for eastern european standards is it of average size ( I know it said alpine, but that got me more confused, after liechtenstein not working I started to even doubt were the alps were, thought what small countries could there be.. monaco? san marino?)
I would leave it out it doesn't help the question,at all
@Sifhraven - that's just not accurate at all. None of the European microstates are in Eastern Europe. Slovenia is either the second- or third-smallest country in Eastern Europe, depending on whether you consider Kosovo a country. It's certainly not 'average by Eastern European standards'.
I'm guessing the smallish bit of Mali that's in the eastern hemisphere is bigger than the difference in size between it and Bolivia, or otherwise excludes it.
can the word starting with g in the clue about the romani please be removed seeing as that word (the one with the g) is considered an ethnic slur. thank you.
I understand you wanted to clarify who the Romani are for those who may not know, but g*psy is commonly regarded as a slur by most (though certainly not all) Roma people. Can you please remove this word? Potential ignorance of readers as to who the Roma are isn't a valid excuse for invoking a slur. At least put an asterisk in it so folks can learn that this word is offensive to many. I appreciate your understanding. :-)
Melania Trump wasn't actually born in Slovenia because Slovenia didn't exist at the time. Melania Trump was actually born in Yugoslavia. You might want to reword that clue.
How do you define 'most educated ', please? It's a very broad term. Most people able to access education? in school? literate? numerate? most people with most letters after their names?
Would love to know what led to the conclusion of Israel being the most educated country in the Middle East, as most sources online would contest this. If we’re talking literacy, Jordan takes first place. If we’re using PISA scores, Israel doesn’t even make the top 5, and if we’re using The Education Index, part of the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Human Development Index (HDI), UAE stands out prominently as first.
Even when asking ChatGPT to pull from many sources and use standardised measures of educational attainment, it concludes this:
"Based on the major indicators the UAE currently stands out as the most educated country in the Middle East overall.
Here's why:
1. Education Index
UAE ranks 17th globally in the UN Human Development Report (2023/2024).
High expected (17.2 years) and mean years of schooling (12.8 years).
2. PISA Scores
Highest in the region in mathematics, reading, and science among Middle Eastern participants. Recognized by OECD for excellence
in creative thinking and financial literacy education.
3. Literacy Rate
Among the highest in the Arab world, with adult literacy over 93%, and nearly 100% youth literacy.
4. Education Reforms and Investment
UAE consistently invests a large portion of its GDP into education. It has strong digital infrastructure and early integration of AI and tech in classrooms.
Other strong contenders include Qatar and Jordan—Qatar performs well in PISA and invests heavily in education, while Jordan boasts a very high literacy rate and a strong academic culture. But overall, UAE checks the most boxes across quality, access, and global performance metrics."
Once again, ChatGPT is wrong. Israel is higher than UAE and any other Middle East country in every aspect of PISA score (Mathematics: rank 38 for Israel, 43 for UAE, Science: 37 v 47, Reading: 30 v 48). However you are correct that UAE has a higher education index per UN. In adult literacy rate the highest is Jordan and in youth literacy rate the highest is a tie between Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon. Given that there are multiple different ways to do this calculation that give conflicting results, I think the clue should just be scrapped
MeestuhDuht, I don't understand you reference to the 2nd amendment. Could you please clarify your meaning?
Denmark's constitution was originally adopted in 1849 - before that it was an absolute monarchy.
The UK dates from 1707, with the union of the crowns of England and Scotland. It has a constitution, but not one that is written down in a single document.
England has a history of legal and constitutional development (Magna Carta, Bill of Rights, Common Law) that goes back a long way, and influenced the drafters of the US Constitution.
I wouldn't say that France is young as a modern state.
Roma/Romani are a nomadic Indian people who ended up mostly migrating to Europe. They now mostly live in eastern Europe. Somewhere between .25-0.5 million of them were killed in the Holocast. They're the original "gypsies," which word possibly originates from people thinking they were Egyptian.
Most gypsies in the UK and Ireland are Irish travellers rather than Roma, although there's Roma groups too.
I would leave it out it doesn't help the question,at all
thank you by lovecountry
And you have a typo - "came" - "come" in the penultimate question.
Even when asking ChatGPT to pull from many sources and use standardised measures of educational attainment, it concludes this:
"Based on the major indicators the UAE currently stands out as the most educated country in the Middle East overall.
Here's why:
1. Education Index
UAE ranks 17th globally in the UN Human Development Report (2023/2024).
High expected (17.2 years) and mean years of schooling (12.8 years).
2. PISA Scores
Highest in the region in mathematics, reading, and science among Middle Eastern participants. Recognized by OECD for excellence
3. Literacy Rate
Among the highest in the Arab world, with adult literacy over 93%, and nearly 100% youth literacy.
4. Education Reforms and Investment
UAE consistently invests a large portion of its GDP into education. It has strong digital infrastructure and early integration of AI and tech in classrooms.
Other strong contenders include Qatar and Jordan—Qatar performs well in PISA and invests heavily in education, while Jordan boasts a very high literacy rate and a strong academic culture. But overall, UAE checks the most boxes across quality, access, and global performance metrics."