Taiwan, on the other hand, isn't a recognized country by most of the world, doesn't have a UN seat (got taken away), and isn't allowed to call itself "Taiwan" at any international event. At the very least, the fact that it's called Taiwan in the test instead of the official International name (Chinese Taipei) or factional name (ROC) should be questioned.

Please note: these are facts about the status of Taiwan and do not include my opinion of whether it deserves to be a country.

Though another point against the test is that it calls "Burma" "Burma" instead of "Myanmar" at the same time that it considers Taiwan a country... (though it at least accepts Myanmar, even if it incorrectly changes the name to Burma...)

Got all of the bastards (not racist) except for Cyprus, which I'd debate because it's a member of the bloody European Union. The lack of Russia was quite odd as well, especially as Turkey is in there.

Burma is the country's name in English. Otherwise we'd have to be referring to Nippon and Deutschland and Bharat.

Myanmar is the official English and UN name and is the recognized name by numerous countries. The significance is the name was changed to Myanmar by the current controlling power which is militaristic and many question the legitimacy of the name-change.

"The official English name was changed from "the Union of Burma" to "the Union of Myanmar" in 1989 by the country's government and since then has been the subject of controversy and mixed incidences of adoption."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Burma

Taiwan controls its borders. Egypt, Israel, and Jordan control Palestine's borders. Taiwan has complete control over its territory. Palestine doesn't. You can book a flight into Taiwan. You cannot fly into Palestine / West Bank / Gaza. Taiwan has a single functioning government. Palestine has two.

I think the test isn't going by international recognition as much as which states operate as de facto countries. Does the test consider South Ossetia to be a country? It should.

Edited to fixed horrendous grammar.

A lot of what you said about Taiwan depends on 1. Who you ask and 2. Where you are. The only thing undeniably correct there is that Taiwan has it's own functioning government, but so does each of the States in the USA. What makes a state (official sense, as in: a country) a state is recognition, otherwise it's a nation under control of another state.

It doesn't, which is yet another inconsistency to considering Taiwan a country.

Lack of Russia is odd indeed, but I'm not sure why Turkey's presence would be. Unless, of course, you mean that they both have land in both Asia and Europe. And Cyprus being in the EU does not equal Cyprus not being Asian. Turkey has been a candidate for membership for some time and if granted I don't see any reason for it to be considered non-Asian.

I actually took the test, finally: wondered where my grade E O-level geography would get me, which was 32 of them, surprisingly. Rather irritated at some of those I missed, like Syria, but unsurprised at others, like East Timor. Most frustrating was Nepal whose name I just couldn't remember. Because my memory is crap.

Edit: and after my previous comment, I forgot to include Cyrpus. Hurrr-de-durrr.

You dispute the fact that Taiwan controls its own territory?

Every state in the US has a government, but they're all subordinate to the federal government. Taiwan's government isn't subordinate to anyone. That's a major difference.

Is Chechnya a state? It's another Russian vassal state like Ossetia. What makes South Sudan a state? The fact that other countries said so?

The definition of state is fuzzy enough that the test can cut some corners and leave some 'states' out.

OT: I didn't do stellar on the test, but my spelling isn't very hot, and I hate having to beat a clock.

China and the US do

That depends on who you ask, like I said. Officially Taiwan isn't sovereign.

Unlike Ossetia, though, it has no recognition at all as a sovereign territory AFAIK.


The definition of a state, nation-state, sovereign state, and nation are all pretty crystal clear. Taiwan does not satisfy sovereign state as its sovereignty is both contested and denied by most of the world.

The US doesn't control Taiwan. It "protects" Taiwan but the Taiwanese government rules Taiwan. They control Taiwan's exports, Taiwan's currency, immigration into Taiwan. They make the laws that govern Taiwan.

Palestine has no currency, doesn't control immigration into itself, and cannot control its exports. It's also divided into two 'states' at the moment.

The only reason Taiwan isn't recognized is because of China.* Israel and the US don't want Palestine recognized, but there are other reasons as to why it's not an actual state (yet).

*and because they claimed they were China for a long time.


Neither state is recognized by very many nations. They still function as states. Other nations choose whether or not to recognize them based more on politics than realities on the ground.


They have definitions but how any given area falls into them is anything but clear. Political scientists like devising neat little boxes that reality blurs into real world shades of grey.

And now my argument quota for the day has been exceeded. . .

Erm, not exactly what I was referring to. Officially Taiwan isn't sovereign. The fact that they run the show is irrelevant. Most states are completely self-sufficient but that doesn't make them sovereign.

Never said that I thought Palestine should be a country. Nor have I said Taiwan should be a country. I'm just saying the facts, and the fact is Taiwan is not officially a country.


There's no shades of grey for definitions... There is for shoulds and coulds though, which I refuse to state my opinion on, rather I am pointing out flaws and discrepancies in the quiz and stating facts. Nothing more. There are other Places in the same boat as Taiwan, which is just a fact of the world we live in.

Got 8. No [censored] clue. How do people get more than 20? =/

I saw a map once.

Yeah just once though.

Yeah but apart from the well known ones, there's loads of countries with weird names in Asia. Plus, since it's Asia...

I could name more in Europe. Probably only guess a few in Africa.

i r uneducated

EDIT: [censored] Kyrgyzstan

Agreed. I have no position on if they should be considered such, just that Taiwan is functionally an independent country.


Agreed. The test is flawed. I was attempting to rationalize why Taiwan would be included and not Palestine. Maybe the test maker is politically biased or simply not very knowledgeable.

There's no grey in the definitions themselves but applying them can lead to inconsistencies and illuminate grey areas.

I think being old helps. Even someone as unobservant as me can't help but absorb some information over the years.

From playing EU3. Sadly a lot of them don't exist any more though. I also knew Kyrgyzstan, but I wasn't even going to attempt to spell it.

http://www.vbmap.org/pictures/asia/asiapoliticallarge.gif By looking at this from time to time. And as Turns-The-Page said, playing games like EU3 helps too.

thought i would be coming in here with a low score, but im actually not bad it seems compared to some

17. Would of got 20 if i could spell them. Azerjban Kezhakstan and kriggystan. Though tbh, i didnt realise most of the ones i got were classed as asia, was just naming countries.


edit- 59/196 for countries of the world quiz. Didnt realise i know so little of africas countries

I know the Asian countries...I just can't spell them all right. :/ It took me the five minutes to spell Vietnam.

Although it's spelt "Vietnam", it's pronounced "throat wobbler mangrove".

I guess I need to play some EU3 and look at maps in my spare time.

And grow older.

I mean it's odd that Russia isn't considered 'asian' when Turkey is (as they both have territory in Europe). As to Cyprus, it's culturally european (apart from North Cyprus, but it isn't recognised as a nation), so I don't see it as being as anything other than european.

Then I agree with you. Initially it seemed as if you used EU membership only to determine whether or not it was Asian or European, which seemed a bit shallow, but it being culturally European is a fair point.