As is our tradition let's head into the weekend with a #geoweirdness thread!
With less than three weeks to go until the next Geomob Barcelona (on 29 May ๐๏ธ) it's fitting that we take a look at the geographic oddities of Catalonia.
Today we consider country calling codes - the phone number prefixes used to route calls to different countries. For example +49 for DE ๐ฉ๐ช, +61 for AU ๐ฆ๐บ, etc.
What is the longest chain of countries such that each successive country/territory in the chain shares a land border with and has a calling code greater than the previous one?
Example chain: FR ๐ซ๐ท (+33) - ES ๐ช๐ธ (+34) - PT ๐ต๐น (+351)
Today we consider country calling codes - the phone number prefixes used to route calls to different countries. For example +49 for DE ๐ฉ๐ช, +61 for AU ๐ฆ๐บ, etc.
What is the longest chain of countries such that each successive country/territory in the chain shares a land border with and has a calling code greater than the previous one?
London is an ancient city dating back 2000 years. The Romans founded the first recorded settlements around 47 AD. The Roman conquest lasted until around the 5th century, and various Roman ruins can still be found in the city.
After a few weeks of #geoweirdness threads, this weekend let's switch things up and do some #geoeducation
One topic that often comes up around location data is privacy ๐ต๏ธ
If you accurately know where someone spends their time, you can often figure out who they are. Users of our geocoding API have to send us location info. So, how can they ensure privacy?
2/ From day one, we've known one of the key value propositions of our geocoding API is that some customers really do NOT want to share data with Google and other internet giants.
So privacy has been a continual focus for us, not an afterthought.
We're a ๐ฉ๐ช ๐ช๐บ German legal entity thus fully compliant with GDPR.
This week's #geoweirdness thread is dedicated to our friends up north in Finland ๐ซ๐ฎ since in two day's time (on ๐๏ธ April 9th) Geomob Finland will take place in Turku.
2/ A famous Finnish geographic oddity is the tiny island of Mรคrket crossed by the Finland ๐ซ๐ฎ / Sweden ๐ธ๐ช border.
After Finland built a lighthouse in 1885 on the island's highest point it was realised the lighthouse was actually on the Swedish side, so the border was adjusted via a land swap to include the lighthouse in 1985.
๐จ๐จ It's time for the April 2024 edition of #fridaygeotrivia! ๐จ๐จ
This weekend the Christian world celebrates Easter, so our thoughts naturally turn to Easter Island ๐ฟ a remote territory of Chile ๐จ๐ฑ in the Pacific.
That led to this month's question: name countries/territories (places with ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes) named after Biblical references.
remember: โข 1 answer per toot โข must include #fridaygeotrivia hashtag and emoji flag
๐จ๐จ It's time for the April 2024 edition of #fridaygeotrivia! ๐จ๐จ
This weekend the Christian world celebrates Easter, so our thoughts naturally turn to Easter Island ๐ฟ a remote territory of Chile ๐จ๐ฑ in the Pacific.
That led to this month's question: name countries/territories (places with ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes) named after Biblical references.
1/ Next week (26th March ๐๏ธ) is the first ever Geomob Edinburgh, which is reason enough for us to turn this week's #geoweirdness focus to Scotland ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ
2/ So first up Scotland ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ is #geoweird in that it's not really clear what exactly it is. Is it a country? A region? A country within a country?
2/ Here's the problem: addresses all over the world do not look the same.
Different countries do things differently, and sometimes there are even differences within countries.
Some countries have postcodes, other don't. Some have states/provinces or abbreviations in their address. And different pieces of the address are ordered differently. It's a mess. ๐
On Feb 21st the world celebrated "International Mother Language Day", in honor of which our question this month is: Name countries that have only one official language, and that language has no official status (national or regional) in any other country.
An example is Iceland ๐ฎ๐ธ with Icelandic
โข 1 answer per toot โข must include #fridaygeotrivia hashtag and the emoji flag of the country
On Feb 21st the world celebrated "International Mother Language Day", in honor of which our question this month is: Name countries that have only one official language, and that language has no official status (national or regional) in any other country.
Despite this being a leap year, this Friday, the 23rd ๐๏ธ is already the final Friday of the month, which of course means we will again play #fridaygeotrivia
See you here at 17:00 Berlin ๐ฉ๐ช time / 4pm London ๐ฌ๐ง / 11am New York ๐บ๐ธ
There are few better ways to enjoy the weekend than with a #geoweirdness thread.
Today let's talk about deleted ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes.
Some background: ISO codes are the two letter codes commonly used to represent countries. For example DE for ๐ฉ๐ช Germany (Deutschland), FR for ๐ซ๐ท France, MX for ๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico, etc
"ISO" stands for International Organization for Standardization, the international body that assigns the codes.
There are few better ways to enjoy the weekend than with a #geoweirdness thread.
Today let's talk about deleted ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes.
Some background: ISO codes are the two letter codes commonly used to represent countries. For example DE for ๐ฉ๐ช Germany (Deutschland), FR for ๐ซ๐ท France, MX for ๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico, etc
2/ For historical reasons many territories have their own ISO codes, despite being part of another country.
An example is ๐ต๐ท Puerto Rico (PR) which is part of the ๐บ๐ธ United States (US)
The process of assigning codes is not quick, it may be some time before a "new" country has an official code. ๐ฝ๐ฐ Kosovo , recognized by 98 UN member states, does not yet have an official ISO code.
2/ For historical reasons many territories have their own ISO codes, despite being part of another country.
An example is ๐ต๐ท Puerto Rico (PR) which is part of the ๐บ๐ธ United States (US)
The process of assigning codes is not quick, it may be some time before a "new" country has an official code. ๐ฝ๐ฐ Kosovo , recognized by 98 UN member states, does not yet have an official ISO code.
2/ Catalonia is today the name given to an autonomous region of Spain ๐ช๐ธ
Historically, Catalonia's borders extended further. The 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees saw Spain cede "Northern Catalonia" to France ๐ซ๐ท
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_the_Pyrenees
#geoweirdness