Note: @Jerry928 requested that we use Timor-Liste as the country name. The official JetPunk name is still East Timor and, as always, both answers will be accepted.
Because the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) official short form in English and all other languages for the country is Timor-Leste, which has been adopted by the United Nations, the European Union, and the national standards organisations of France (AFNOR), United States (ANSI), United Kingdom (BSI), Germany (DIN), and Sweden (SIS), all diplomatic missions to the country by protocol, and the CIA World Factbook. The official names of Timor-Leste in the country's three official languages are Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (English), República Democrática de Timor-Leste (Portuguese), and Repúblika Demokrátika Timór-Leste (Tetum).
Have you told the Spanish or French, who call it Timor Oriental, or the Germans, who call it Osttimor?
I could probably rattle off similar examples from 200 other languages, that aren't stupid enough to bow down to linguistic edicts from overreaching and barely functioning third-world governments.
Equatorial Guinea has got 528 km of land borders Cameroon (183 km) and Gabon (345 km) - source Wikipedia, so it should be on the list - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Equatorial_Guinea#Boundaries
To date, this one has had me stumped. I've looked and looked at that previously, even to the extent of emailing the Bahrain Givernment to ask if Passport Island really is bisected by the country border, or whether Passport Island lies wholly in Saudi or Bahraini territory. If anyone can get a definitive answer please send it through!!!
Surely it can't be too different from a bridge, not considered a border. Other man-made features aren't considered in these kinds of data either, which is why Jutland isn't really an island, even though it is technically split via canal. At least those are my thoughts.
Verdict is still out on this one. When you search 'Bahrain' or 'Saudi Arabia' on google maps, the respective halves of Middle/Passport Island are included in the boundaries of each country, which would support the notion that there is a land border there. On the other hand, when you zoom into it on Google Maps, it does not show a border. That said, the design concept of the 'island' was to have two separate islands connected by a land bridge (isthmus), and further, and perhaps compelling, is that both countries separately report a population of 10 on their respective sides is the island, as opposed to one or the other reporting a/the total population of 20.
Middle Island or "Passport Island" is a manmade island, but it is indeed split between the two nations. It even has (or maybe had) a McDonald's restaurant on the Saudi side and another on the Bahrain side.
They aren't "omitted" - Belize is included and the rest of Central America is not because they did not make the top 20. Panama has total borders of 555km, just missing the list.
Gambia's borders are 749km, so probably quite far away from the top 20. In other news, how did you managed to post the question, when you clearly don't have access to internet to find out yourself?
Gibraltar is an overseas territory of the UK so would not be counted as per the quiz instructions, but if it was it's technically an island so it would have no border.
Hi Quizmaster, there is actually a land border between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. There is a small border island where the 2 countries meet. Border is smaller than the Vatican one but it's still a land border even if the island is mostly artificial
It's not confirmed, but there is a possibility that there's an even short land border between India and Sri Lanka on Adam's Bridge. I wouldn't count it for this quiz, but it's an interesting tidbit on the matter.
so annoyed. I of course knew about the UK and Ireland, but i figured that the border was much too long and thus never even tried it. They were the only 2 i missed. :-(
East Timor has a little exclave which, if you look at it, seems to double the length of its border with Indonesia. But yeah, I still would have guessed that South Korea had a way longer border.
By the way, have you driven across that border? It's completely unmarked, not even fenced, and un-signed as well. The only way you know you've crossed it is if you keep a close eye on a map while you drive there.
To be fair, it is not as simple as that. We could argue it either way. Firstly, Bahrain: I even wrote to the Bahraini Government off its website asking them where the country boundary in the manmade Passport Island area is. Is Passport Island wholly within one country or the other, or does it bisect Passport Island? I never received an answer and I haven't got a clear answer from anywhere else either. For Singapore, a causeway has been built between Singapore and Malaysia. Technically there is a small water gap and bridge at one end, but it is all-but-closed in. For now, we treat islands connected via man-made islands and causeways still as islands without a land border.
If you're referring to the border on Saint Martin island (where French St Martin, a part of France, borders the country of Sint Maarten, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, for 10 km), we've covered that in the instructions.
For some reason I got Haiti/DR immediately, but only entered Ireland when I thought of that border.
I could probably rattle off similar examples from 200 other languages, that aren't stupid enough to bow down to linguistic edicts from overreaching and barely functioning third-world governments.