Good Quiz! I was going to ask about why you didn't include France (because of Guadalupe) like the other Countries Closest to the U.S. quiz, but I just went back and saw your comment there about it. I agree with not adding overseas regions. Keeps things simple.
Effing Iceland! (Not that I remembered Ireland either). Also those Federated States.. I tried Fiji, Finland and France, each of them 3 times before I concluded there must be an error.
It isn't. If you exclude overseas territories and departments, Fed St Micronesia is closest, via Hawaii, 4356 km / 2707 miles away. If you include overseas territories and departments, then Guadeloupe, 335 km / 208 miles from US Virgin Islands, makes France the closest.
I know France is accepted as an answer now, but I do want to reiterate the point that if your definition of 'overseas territories' excludes Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana, then by that same definition it also excludes Hawaii. Including Hawaii as a non-overseas territory of the US is just an exercise in American exceptionalism and at odds with factual reality.
If you include Hawaii, then you should include Guadeloupe. France being not a federal state, departements are even more integrated to it than states are to the USA.
But if Federated States of Micronesia works for "F", then I guess Dominion of Canada should work for "D". (And, for a proximity to Greece quiz, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia should work for "T".)
That's very offensive to pastafarians, who believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster as their Lord and Saviour. May you be touched by His Noodly Appendage. Ramen!
I think there needs to be more consistency with the world country quizzes. Sometimes Congo is accepted for both countries, sometimes not. Sometimes it's Micronesia, sometimes it must be Federated States of Micronesia. No one argues that China should start with a P for People's Republic of China, or Australia should start with a C for Commonwealth of Australia. Your instructions said to use the names of the countries from the Countries of the World quiz, and there Micronesia is an accepted answer, so I didn't even think of it as a possibility for an F country. I don't care what we call the countries as long as there is consistency.
The name of that country is Federated States of Micronesia. Many quizzes (including this one) also accept "Micronesia" as a type-in, but that's not because it's the country's name. It's just to save you typing lots of letters!
But once you start with "that's the name of the country", then you should be consistent. For example, "Republic of Iceland" starts with an "R", not an "I", "United Mexican States" is closer to the USA than the United Kingdom, so that should be the answer for "U"... etc ... etc
I think the "short names" should be used for all countries except maybe for the case of the two Congos (since they share the same name), and that seems to be the general practice with quizzes on this site. Not sure why Micronesia deserves "special treatment".
jerry, i think it should be the letter people associate with the country, the common name of the country. Most people dont think 'federated states of micronesia', but rather micronesia.
Agreed, we've changed our tune on this one, and generally we use Micronesia in our quizzes now for that country. We'll stay in synch with Dan's Federated States... usage from the Countries of the World quiz, but now the nearest country starting with F, assuming FSM starts with M, is accepted as a type-in.
Federated States of only appears in front of Micronesia to distinguish the country from the broader region of Oceania which has the same name. Maybe Federated States will evolve into the default name over time rather like United States has managed to do. Overall we use the common names of countries, otherwise there would be a heap of mismatches: not only would, as you point out, Mexico start with U, but North Korea, Venezuela and China would start with D, B and P respectively!
If you Google Micronesia right now, your first result will be the region but the sidebar and second result will be the country. The US State Department and the United Nations both list Micronesia alphabetically under the letter M with "Federated States" parenthetically following. As you point out, maybe Federated States will evolve over time into the default name, but the fact is, at present, it hasn't.
When there are only 1 or 2 countries in the world that start with a given letter, they're going to be the closest country to the US no matter where they're geographically located...
No they don't. Honestly, all the people complaining about the "Federated States of Micronesia" should start with an M are the same type of people saying the "United States of America" starts with an A
I would have thought that France was nearer to USA than FSO Micronesia is to Hawaii....... don't like the use of FSOM as it's always called Micronesia in the World Quiz which is quoted as derivation.
These quizzes need to get together on certain topics. Yes, the official name is Federated States of Micronesia but on other countries quizzes, they use Micronesia, just like Ivory Coast instead of Cote de Ivoire.
Silly to have Micronesia accepted for F and sillier still to expect people (other than dedicated nitpickers) to enter Federated States of Micronesia for F.......... so why not I = Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, R = Republic of Albania, T = Territory of American Samoa, P= Principality of Andorra, C = Commonwealth of Australia, K = Kingdom of Bahrain ..... All of these just as valid as Micronesia's silly F initial. (Many other examples if needed)
You really should change F. On literally every other quiz it is "Micronesia", and it is also the common short name for the country. I've seen your attempted defense, and it is very weak. Just change it to France and drop Micronesia from the quiz.
It was an outstanding and brilliantly argued argument actually, but we have changed our tune and are closer to your line of thinking now. Both answers work now.
Liberia 6763 km / 4203 miles; the actual L answer 5293 km / 3289 miles. With Liberia, check out where the nearest point on the US is on a globe - you'll be surprised.
I typed "France" and "Federated States of Micronesia" appeared. I then typed "France" again and was told "You've already answered that (Federated States of Micronesia)."
We've responded several times about this already, but we'll go over it one more time. For people who consider the country Micronesia (full name Federated States of Micronesia) starts with an F, then the correct answer is Micronesia. But if you consider Micronesia starts with an M, then France becomes is the right answer. We allow both answers to cover both possible approaches by quizzers.
Maybe it's because I'm from Canada but, my first attempt at F was Finland. When that didn't work I tried France and it auto-filled with FSM. I found that confusing. When I read through the comments, I found the answer but, I still didn't feel right. Since there are only four countries that start with F I didn't think it would be too much effort to Google it. Here's what I found:
from Point Barrow, Alaska to Nuorgam, Finland - 2658 mi.
from Ni'ihau, Hawaii to Kosrae, FSM - 2714 mi.
from Sail Rock, Maine to Pointe de Corsen, France - 2877 mi.
from Kalae, Hawaii to Volivoli beach, Fiji - 3067 mi.
Actually, I thought of this because a couple of months ago I remember reading an interesting fact that Canada was closer to Norway than Ireland. I hadn't really thought too much about it before but, when I looked into it, it made sense. After all we live on a sphere, not a mercator projection. Ever since, whenever I think about distances between countries I consider the polar routes.
Thanks for your interesting research, and as regards Finland and FS Micronesia, you are absolutely right! Finland is closer than FSM as you say, so we'll get the quiz updated. France is 2163 km / 1344 miles away from Florida, as Guadeloupe is a part of France proper, but since quizzes like these often work off the distance from Metropolitan France (ie the part of France in Europe), we do accept France as a type-in.
I thought that interesting comment was from Jetpunk but, I can't seem to find it now.
I'm sort of new to this so, if I missed something (like an island that belongs to Hawaii or FSM) that I don't know about, I apologize for wasting your time but, I still think it's worth mentioning.
Hey, I think I found a glitch in the system. When you try writing France, it writes Finland, but I'm pretty sure that this is just from the close words thing.
Counting Hawaii should also allow French Guyana to be counted towards France.
I think the "short names" should be used for all countries except maybe for the case of the two Congos (since they share the same name), and that seems to be the general practice with quizzes on this site. Not sure why Micronesia deserves "special treatment".
Countries Closest to Europe A-Z
Countries Closest to Asia A-Z
Countries Closest to Oceania A-Z
Countries Closest to South America A-Z
Countries Closest to North America A-Z
Countries Closest to Africa A-Z
of Micronesia'...well thanks I guess
quiz: F.S. Micronesia
me: yea that
from Point Barrow, Alaska to Nuorgam, Finland - 2658 mi.
from Ni'ihau, Hawaii to Kosrae, FSM - 2714 mi.
from Sail Rock, Maine to Pointe de Corsen, France - 2877 mi.
from Kalae, Hawaii to Volivoli beach, Fiji - 3067 mi.
Actually, I thought of this because a couple of months ago I remember reading an interesting fact that Canada was closer to Norway than Ireland. I hadn't really thought too much about it before but, when I looked into it, it made sense. After all we live on a sphere, not a mercator projection. Ever since, whenever I think about distances between countries I consider the polar routes.
I love this site. I'm always learning something new.
I'm sort of new to this so, if I missed something (like an island that belongs to Hawaii or FSM) that I don't know about, I apologize for wasting your time but, I still think it's worth mentioning.
Keep up the good work. It looks like your bringing enjoyment to lots of people.
I type-in France,then I got Finland?!
Also why is France a type-in for Finland?
You should update the quiz.