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OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿšจ It's time for the April 2024 edition of #fridaygeotrivia! ๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿšจ

This weekend the Christian world celebrates Easter, so our thoughts naturally turn to Easter Island ๐Ÿ—ฟ a remote territory of Chile ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฑ 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:
โ€ข 1 answer per toot
โ€ข must include #fridaygeotrivia hashtag and emoji flag

Full rules on the blog: blog.opencagedata.com/post/geo

๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿšจ It's time for the April 2024 edition of #fridaygeotrivia! ๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿšจ

This weekend the Christian world celebrates Easter, so our thoughts naturally turn to Easter Island ๐Ÿ—ฟ a remote territory of Chile ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฑ 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.

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

A mere four hours to go until this month's #fridaygeotrivia contest

See you here at โฒ๏ธ17:00 Berlin ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช / 4p London ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง / noon New York ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ time.

Details: blog.opencagedata.com/post/geo

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

1/ Next week (26th March ๐Ÿ—“๏ธ) is the first ever Geomob Edinburgh, which is reason enough for us to turn this week's #geoweirdness focus to Scotland ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ

๐ŸŒ๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡

Details of @geomob #geomobEDI
thegeomob.com/post/mar-26th-20

#scotland

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

2/ So first up Scotland ๐Ÿด๓ 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?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countrie

It's part of the UK ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง, but has its own legal system:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_la

Some day we'll do a UK #geoweirdness thread, but be warned it will very, very long. No country (countries?) is/are as odd.

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

Last week's #geoeducation thread seemed to really resonate, so let's do another.

Many people come to our service because they need geocoding. They don't (yet) really know anything about open data.

So this week let's break down why using open data matters. #opendata

๐ŸŒ๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

2/ The "open" in "open data" has to do with the idea that you have freedom to do more with the data.

Background: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_dat

But what exactly does that mean in the context of geodata?
#geoeducation

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

Let's close out the week with a geo thread. This time #geoeducation rather than #geoweirdness

Today we feature our address-formatting project. What is it, and what is the problem we are trying to solve?

๐ŸŒ๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

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. ๐Ÿ˜•

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿšจ Let the Feb. 2024 #fridaygeotrivia game begin ๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿšจ

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 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ธ with Icelandic

โ€ข 1 answer per toot
โ€ข must include #fridaygeotrivia hashtag and the emoji flag of the country

Full rules on the blog:
blog.opencagedata.com/post/geo

๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿšจ Let the Feb. 2024 #fridaygeotrivia game begin ๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿšจ

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.

Ilya Zverev

@opencage As a person from ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ช Estonia I should mention it :) #fridaygeotrivia

(wouldn't the list be like 150 countries long?..)

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

Don't forget - #fridaygeotrivia later today.

Who will take home the coveted emoji trophy ๐Ÿ† ?

The game begins at 17:00 Berlin time / 4pm London / 11am New York.

Details:
blog.opencagedata.com/post/geo

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

Despite this being a leap year, this Friday, the 23rd ๐Ÿ—“๏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 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช time / 4pm London ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง / 11am New York ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ

Details and rules: blog.opencagedata.com/post/geo

Past questions: blog.opencagedata.com/tagged/f

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

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 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Germany (Deutschland), FR for ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท France, MX for ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Mexico, etc

"ISO" stands for International Organization for Standardization, the
international body that assigns the codes.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internat

1/

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 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Germany (Deutschland), FR for ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท France, MX for ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Mexico, etc

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

2/ For historical reasons many territories have their own ISO codes, despite being part of another country.

An example is ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ท Puerto Rico (PR) which is part of the ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States (US)

The process of assigning codes is not quick, it may be some time before a "new" country has an official code. ๐Ÿ‡ฝ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Kosovo , recognized by 98 UN member states, does not yet have an official ISO code.

This is why our API returns both ISO codes and a "country_code" field
See: opencagedata.com/guides/how-to

#geoweirdness

2/ For historical reasons many territories have their own ISO codes, despite being part of another country.

An example is ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ท Puerto Rico (PR) which is part of the ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States (US)

The process of assigning codes is not quick, it may be some time before a "new" country has an official code. ๐Ÿ‡ฝ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Kosovo , recognized by 98 UN member states, does not yet have an official ISO code.

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

โฐ It's time! โฐ Let the January 2024 #fridaygeotrivia begin!!!

Our question: name countries that share a time zone and the same first letter of their name. Example: Sweden ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช and Switzerland ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ

โ€ข By name we mean the English common short name, so โ€œGermanyโ€, not โ€œDeutschlandโ€ or โ€œFederal Republic of Germanyโ€

โ€ข only one answer per toot

โ€ข you must include #fridaygeotrivia tag (else very hard to see answers)

โ€ข you must include the emoji flag of the country

Details:
blog.opencagedata.com/post/geo

Go!

โฐ It's time! โฐ Let the January 2024 #fridaygeotrivia begin!!!

Our question: name countries that share a time zone and the same first letter of their name. Example: Sweden ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช and Switzerland ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ

โ€ข By name we mean the English common short name, so โ€œGermanyโ€, not โ€œDeutschlandโ€ or โ€œFederal Republic of Germanyโ€

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

Don't forget! #fridaygeotrivia is today!

We play here on mastodon at 17:00 Berlin ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช time / 4pm London ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง / 11am New York ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ

Who will start 2024 with the coveted emoji trophy ๐Ÿ†?

rules / details:
blog.opencagedata.com/post/geo

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

Most of this week the OpenCage team is back in London ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง for a day of team planning, meetings, and Geomob @geomob on the evening of Wednesday, the 24th.

Come along if you are in London, the speaker lineup looks great, and the post talk discussion over drinks is always fun:

thegeomob.com/post/jan-24th-20

Big thanks to Geovation for again hosting Geomob, and our fellow sponsors GEOLYTIX, Ed Parsons, Esri UK, SplashMaps, and @mappery

#geomobLON

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

๐ŸŒ๐ŸŒŽ๐ŸŒโ‰๏ธ Get it in the calendar ๐Ÿ—“๏ธ The first #fridaygeotrivia match of 2024 is one week from today. We will play on Friday, 26th Jan, here on Mastodon at 17:00 Berlin ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช time, 4pm London ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง, 11am New York ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ

Details / rules on the blog:
blog.opencagedata.com/post/geo

You can practice by reviewing past questions:
blog.opencagedata.com/tagged/f

Hope you can join us

๐ŸŒ๐ŸŒŽ๐ŸŒโ‰๏ธ Get it in the calendar ๐Ÿ—“๏ธ The first #fridaygeotrivia match of 2024 is one week from today. We will play on Friday, 26th Jan, here on Mastodon at 17:00 Berlin ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช time, 4pm London ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง, 11am New York ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ

Details / rules on the blog:
blog.opencagedata.com/post/geo

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

Let's close out the week with a geo thread. This time #geoeducation rather than #geoweirdness

Today's topic is one that doesn't get as much respect as it should.
Ask most people about geocoding, they automatically think forward geocoding - turning text (an address or placename) into coordinates.

Today though we'll cover the opposite: reverse geocoding

1/n

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

2/ Reverse geocoding is turning coordinates (latitude, longitude) into location info.

So 52.3877830, 9.7334394 becomes "PhilipsbornstraรŸe 2, 30165 Hanover, Germany" as you can see on our demo page.

opencagedata.com/demo

Those are the coordinates of OpenCage HQ, BTW

So far, so simple, right?

#geoeducation

Ilya Zverev

@opencage Regarding reverse geocoding with OpenStreetMap, there are some other complications one should be aware of. Like polygons and interpolations. I'd recommend my own FOSDEM talk, "Reverse Geocoding Is Not Easy":

youtube.com/watch?v=sjE6xy0BBg

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿšจ Here we go - the final #fridaygeotrivia of 2023.

Question: name three countries such that A shares a land border with B which shares a land border with C which shares a land border with A, but they do NOT share a tri-point (point where all three countries meet)

As an example: Germany ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช, Belgium ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช, and France ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท

As always:
1. one answer per toot please
2. you must include hashtag and emjoi flags

Full rules and details: blog.opencagedata.com/post/geo

๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿšจ Here we go - the final #fridaygeotrivia of 2023.

Question: name three countries such that A shares a land border with B which shares a land border with C which shares a land border with A, but they do NOT share a tri-point (point where all three countries meet)

As an example: Germany ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช, Belgium ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช, and France ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

Feeling like you didn't get much done in 2023?

Well, it is not too late, you can still close out the year with a victory in #fridaygeotrivia

We play this Friday ๐Ÿ—“๏ธ 29th Dec. at 17:00 ๐Ÿ•” Berlin ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช time, 4pm ๐Ÿ•“ London ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง, 11am ๐Ÿ•š New York ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ

Details / rules / etc: blog.opencagedata.com/post/geo

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

Wait, what's that there behind the tree? ๐ŸŽ„

Could it be ... yes, it is! Our Christmas gift ๐ŸŽ to you, our followers ... a #geoweirdness thread about ... Christmas Island ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฝ

1/n

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

2/ The island was named Christmas Island ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฝ when it was sited by an English sea captain on 25 December 1643.

Christmas Island is an external territory of Australia ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ, but for historical reasons it has its own ISO 3166-1 code: "CX", a good example of why our geocoding API returns both ISO codes and a "country_code"

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_a

#geoweirdness

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

The world is starting to wind down for a well-deserved holiday break, BUT before you log off fully and put your feet up by the fire ๐Ÿ”ฅ, don't forget to add a calendar reminder for ... the final #fridaygeotrivia of 2023!

We will play on the final Friday of the month, ๐Ÿ—“๏ธ 29th Dec. at 17:00 ๐Ÿ•” Berlin ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช time, 4pm ๐Ÿ•“ London ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง, 11am ๐Ÿ•š New York ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ

Who will carry the coveted emoji trophy ๐Ÿ† into the new year?

As always the details of how to play and prizes are on the blog:
blog.opencagedata.com/post/geo

The world is starting to wind down for a well-deserved holiday break, BUT before you log off fully and put your feet up by the fire ๐Ÿ”ฅ, don't forget to add a calendar reminder for ... the final #fridaygeotrivia of 2023!

We will play on the final Friday of the month, ๐Ÿ—“๏ธ 29th Dec. at 17:00 ๐Ÿ•” Berlin ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช time, 4pm ๐Ÿ•“ London ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง, 11am ๐Ÿ•š New York ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

Looking for that extra edge against fierce #fridaygeotrivia competition?

Best thing to do is quiz yourself with the past questions, which you can also find over on the blog:
blog.opencagedata.com/tagged/f

See you here on the 29th! Until then we wish everyone an enjoyable and relaxing holiday break with friends and family.

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

After recently exploring the #geoweirdness of Ireland ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช, in this week's thread we stay in Europe (and the EU ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ) to consider the geographic oddities of Slovenia ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฎ

1/n

#slovenia #slovenija

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

2. Slovenia ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฎ is at the eastern edge of the Alps - it is one of eight Alpine countries: ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฎ

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alps

The country's highest peak is Mount Triglav (three head) and the mountain's three peaks are represented on the Slovenian flag

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

๐Ÿšจ The November 2023 #fridaygeotrivia game begins!

Our question: Name pairs of countries such that

- they share a land border with each other
- they do NOT share a border with a mutual third country
- each of the two countries borders more than one country

Of course as always you need the emoji flags and the #fridaygeotrivia hash tag

Show previous comments
Andreas Hartl

@opencage well then

Denmark ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Canada ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ via Hans Island
#fridaygeotrivia

Sรฉan Billings

@opencage Denmark ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ / Canada ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ via Hans Island #fridaygeotrivia

Andreas Hartl

@opencage Malaysia ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡พ Thailand ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ญ #fridaygeotrivia

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