# What Country Is This? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 9, 2008, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369 "2008-08-09T02:16:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/1 "2008-08-09T02:16:49Z")
Watching the Olympics, the announcers too quickly announced some tiny country between Spain and France. Any clue what country this is? Spance? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/2 "2008-08-09T02:20:28Z")
Probably Andorra. (I am boycotting the Olympics this year in protest of China’s human rights record, so I did not watch the opening ceremonies.) ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/3 "2008-08-09T02:20:29Z")
Most likely Andorra. ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/4 "2008-08-09T02:40:42Z")
[QUOTE=DrFidelius] Probably Andorra. (I am boycotting the Olympics this year in protest of China’s human rights record, so I did not watch the opening ceremonies.) [/QUOTE] You missed one of the most spectacular performances ever seen by man. The time and effort that must have been put in was breathtaking. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/5 "2008-08-09T02:45:01Z")
Hi there, Hu. ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/6 "2008-08-09T02:50:44Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Hi there, Hu. [/QUOTE] 😛 I’m Irish actually ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/7 "2008-08-09T02:54:43Z")
[QUOTE=DrFidelius] (I am boycotting the Olympics this year in protest of China’s human rights record, so I did not watch the opening ceremonies.) [/QUOTE] That’ll show 'em… ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/8 "2008-08-09T04:10:39Z")
[QUOTE=Jinx] Watching the Olympics, the announcers too quickly announced some tiny country between Spain and France. Any clue what country this is? Spance? 😃 [/QUOTE] **Jinx** , in the years you have posted here, have you NEVER learned to do a simple search for answers on the internet? Are you really incapable of looking at a map of the area and answering your own question?? :eek: **Argent Towers** , I agree with Laudenum that that was a spectacular display by the Chinese. As opening ceremonies go, it was spectacular. The parade of athletes was interesting, if for no other reason than the non-alphabetic order of the countries (they might have shown what they meant about how the nations were ordered relative to the number of strokes in the Chinese characters for their nation with some examples…). ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/9 "2008-08-09T04:19:30Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] (they might have shown what they meant about how the nations were ordered relative to the number of strokes in the Chinese characters for their nation with some examples…). [/QUOTE] The examples are a bit difficult because Chinese characters are ordered not just by the number of strokes, but by stroke type. There are complex rules for which type of stroke goes in what order, but I was never able to learn them, much to the chagrin of my Mandarin teacher. [Interesting info here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke_order), though. There’s also a great site which shows animations for proper stroke order. Here they are for the characters in [mei3](http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/character-stroke-order.php?searchChinese=1&zi=%E7%BE%8E) [guo2](http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/character-stroke-order.php?searchChinese=1&zi=%E5%9C%8B), which means America. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/10 "2008-08-09T05:48:01Z")
[QUOTE=Laudenum] You missed one of the most spectacular performances ever seen by man. The time and effort that must have been put in was breathtaking. [/QUOTE] This is not hyperbole. I was totally amazed by the entire show . . . especially the segments that seemed to be computer-driven, but were not. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/11 "2008-08-09T07:43:02Z")
[QUOTE=LurkMeister] Most likely Andorra. [/QUOTE] Well, there is only one country that borders both France and Spain, so that would have to be the one. [Andorra](http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.573815,1.521606&spn=0.388339,0.615234&z=11) it is. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/12 "2008-08-09T11:48:56Z")
[Telsa Coils at Olympics.](http://portagedailyregister.com/989210ae-64fa-11dd-b83e-001cc4c002e0.html) ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/13 "2008-08-09T14:01:33Z")
Wikipedia has a [list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympics_national_flag_bearers) of the nations in the order they came in as well as their names in Chinese, which determined the order. For fun, see if you can guess which country failed to qualify and isn’t there. Brunei ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/14 "2008-08-09T14:42:05Z")
[QUOTE=askeptic] That’ll show 'em… [/QUOTE] Hey, you tilt at your windmills and I’ll tilt at mine. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/15 "2008-08-09T20:28:10Z")
[QUOTE=DrFidelius] Hey, you tilt at your windmills and I’ll tilt at mine. [/QUOTE] La Mancha is way south of Andorra, though. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/16 "2008-08-09T23:59:40Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] There’s also a great site which shows animations for proper stroke order. Here they are for the characters in [mei3](http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/character-stroke-order.php?searchChinese=1&zi=%E7%BE%8E) [guo2](http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/character-stroke-order.php?searchChinese=1&zi=%E5%9C%8B), which means America. [/QUOTE] So, the first character linked apparently means “sheep”. The second character linked means “enclosure”. Does this mean that the literal Chinese name for America is “sheep enclosure”? I mean, there are times when I find it hard to argue with this concept, but come _on_! A little diplomacy, please! ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/17 "2008-08-10T00:10:41Z")
[QUOTE=phouka] So, the first character linked apparently means “sheep”. The second character linked means “enclosure”. [/QUOTE] Nah. Most characters have subparts called “radicals” which often give pronunciation and meaning clues. Some radicals by themselves are characters. The sheep radical by itself is the top part of [mei3](http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/wordsearch.php?searchMode=C&word=%E7%BE%8E) which means beautiful or America; while [guo2](http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/wordsearch.php?searchMode=I&characterMode=s&word=8298) means nation or country. The radical in guo2 is the box around the character which is the part that means enclosure. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/18 "2008-08-10T00:11:26Z")
[QUOTE=phouka] So, the first character linked apparently means “sheep”. The second character linked means “enclosure”. Does this mean that the literal Chinese name for America is “sheep enclosure”? I mean, there are times when I find it hard to argue with this concept, but come _on_! A little diplomacy, please! [/QUOTE] You’ll be glad to hear the characters for America actually mean “beautiful country”. Nothing to do with sheep! ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/19 "2008-08-10T00:15:37Z")
[QUOTE=hibernicus] You’ll be glad to hear the characters for America actually mean “beautiful country”. Nothing to do with sheep! [/QUOTE] While mei3 does mean beautiful, I’m pretty sure that mei3 guo2 is just a phonetic approximation of “America” and doesn’t actually carry that meaning. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369/20 "2008-08-10T00:55:55Z")
[QUOTE=DrFidelius] Probably Andorra. (I am boycotting the Olympics this year in protest of China’s human rights record, so I did not watch the opening ceremonies.) [/QUOTE] I watched some of the opening, and turned it off when I felt it wasn’t going to get much better. It seemed like an infinitely hyped version of synchronized swimming. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-is-this/459369.md?page=2)